By Marcy Franck
"Hi! I hope this email finds you in another dimension where none of this is happening and everything is fine,” wrote author Bess Kalb earlier this month. If there’s a better way to capture the vibe of being a news-reading person in the United States today, I can’t think of one. 

Between headlines riddled with words like “unprecedented” and “devastating” are more articles about burnout than I’ve ever noticed before—which, granted, may be because I have a touch of it myself and am only now paying attention. My For You Page is filled with self-help tips for peeling your nervous system off the ceiling, but I’m sure that’s just TikTok’s algorithm being dramatic.

In case you can relate, this issue features light summer reading you can enjoy equally on a beach, in a log cabin, or under the covers in a fetal position. We’re elevating the art of cultivating joy because it’s a skill that grows more important with every unprecedented, devastating event that unfolds. 

But if your fraught attention span can read no further, we understand. Scroll away knowing that Jane Goodall just got her own Barbie doll, and she’s positively tickled about it. 

Onward, Dear Optimists. If we refuse to give up, things will get better.
THE CASE FOR CLIMATE JOY
More work than an Almond Joy, but just as satisfying.
Woman tending to Earth
Grist compiled nearly a dozen articles about finding joy in the time of climate change—an emotion that may seem elusive to those of us working for climate justice, feeling impacts in our own communities, or reading too many articles about Joe Manchin.

But activists are finding deep joy in athletics, art, organizing, and action, and it’s improving both their mental and physical health, and it's keeping them engaged in this otherwise challenging work. 

THE JOY OF SAVING THE WORLD
A dopamine hit for flexing your impeccable morals.
A unicorn dabbing
The New Republic explored research on the warm glow environmentalists get from doing something good for the planet, and how that special hubba-hubba feeling inspires them to keep taking action. 

What gives you that tingly feeling of ethical righteousness? Whatever it is, it’s not your imagination, it’s science. And science says to keep going with whatever green actions turn you on.

THE CLIMATE OPTIMISTS' GREATEST HITS
Check out a mixtape of our most popular issues to remember the profoundly good climate actions unfolding all over the world.
This is what we call a mixtape, millennials.
YOU JUST DID SOMETHING
GOOD FOR THE PLANET!
Please enjoy your parting gift.
Some of us—and I’m not naming names 🙋‍♀️—get an outsized feeling of accomplishment when we hear the little victory song that plays when we successfully complete The New York Times’ Mini-crossword Puzzle. 

You just took a minute to focus on joy, which is what we all need to keep up our good climate work, so please enjoy the victory song, on a loop, for 90 minutes. Because sometimes more is more.
STAY CONNECTED