So I’ll start with some #GoodNews of my own before I explain (and as you’ll soon see it really doesn’t need that much explanation!) what #UppityUp is all about… I’ve created this blog. Now to most of you that’s nothing to shout about but to me, who always gets slightly nervy with anything techy and who still can’t quite believe she doesn’t live in a cave yet, this is very much what #GoodNews is about. Doing something you’re fearful of, doing something you love, doing something for others, doing ALL that you can do. I would feel much safer writing, painting, drawing and sculpting but buiding this creature is a challenge for me that I had to take on if I wanted to get Uppity-Up: Good News moving forwards (I apologise to all those people who peruse it disgusted by my clumsy layout choices, awful fonts and whatever… I do like the colours though so you can’t criticise them!) from just being a hashtag on Twitter. This is not my blog but a space for anyone and everyone to share posts, articles, stories, poems, art, film and any other form they wish to choose in order to share Good News stories with as many people as possible.

A lot of people who know me know by now that I’m passionate about focussing on the positive aspects of life, remembering to be grateful for what we have, and acknowledging the good people, good events, good things in life… I’m an optimist on the whole…with a tough side. Some have said I’m full of contradictions. I say I’m balanced. I’m not a do-gooder. I will most probably laugh at someone if they fall over but I’m not nasty… It’s a matter of opinion, isn’t it? Anyway, I’m not easily irked but something that does rile me is that so much attention and glory is given to what’s wrong with the world, society, people, young couples, the elderly, teenagers, children, technology, the environment and anything else you can think of. Of course we need to be aware of problems and injustices so that we can do what we can to improve on these situations through knowledge, action or both. We do. We have a responsibility to do what we can, and the media has a responsibility to inform us of what’s happening in the world…

However, and this is very much my personal opinion (why do I feel compelled to state that? Ridiculous!), the media isn’t doing what it can to share all the positive events that have happened, happen, and that are happening right now. Of course it seems that scandal sells newspapers and a journalist told me a while ago ‘This is what the white middle class reader wants…’ Everything about this sentence made me shudder and I don’t need to explain why. So gossip is what people crave. And then what? These news articles act as great liners for soaking up urine and faeces in cat litter trays? This would definitely be a positive use for some newspaper articles I’ve read recently so that’s some #GoodNew at least! However the media’s job is to inform and it has the power to do that on a huge scale. The influence it has (no matter how much people might scoff at certain newspapers and journalists for their ‘incredible’ news articles) is unmeasurable. People read, absorb, believe and pass it on. Attention to detail is missed but the blazing headline of ‘OUR COUNTRY IS FALLING APART!’ is etched in minds everywhere, as is the feeling that everything is falling apart, and this grows… There is a responsibility that, I believe, much of the media world ignores and that is to keep the morale of all readers, watchers and listeners UP, to encourage people to stay positive, to actually inform them of stories that encourage progress. So much energy and word-space seems to be spent on negative articles that seem to me to be trying to sabotage people’s sense of hope and some people’s lives all to make a quick sell. It’s pretty ugly at times and I find it hard to believe that people really feel they’re learning that much about the world they live in today that will actually benefit them or enhance their lives. Before I continue I want to make it very clear that there are a huge number of brilliant journalists and reporters who deliver concise, balanced, informative, moving news stories, and I am in full admiration of them and I mean that sincerely. They do their jobs well. They deliver news. My issue here lies with the space that is filled with spiteful, unnecessary, dangerous stories by certain journalists who appear to celebrate voicing their prejudice and vicious disdain. This kind of journalism is lazy, thoughtless and irresponsible… As I’ve said before I don’t want to focus on the negative any more than is necessary and so let’s return to Uppity-Up: Good News and using this as a space to bring about a balance. A place that hopefully after you’ve taken a glance, read a few posts, seen some artistic responses to #GoodNews, and whatever else ends up on here, you’ll come away from feeling better, brighter, bolder and more positive. 

So all that I ask you to do is to generate, create and share #GoodNews of any kind with any one. And then share it on here too. It’s simple, easy, free, and uplifting. Not much else to say really, is there? 

Email UppityUpGoodNews@gmail.com to contribute & share your #GoodNews #UppityUp stories on Twitter @Zzzzzandy