Other | J.R. Johnson

Archive for the ‘Other’ Category

Beneath the Stars

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, still sick, Thoughts on January 10, 2026| Leave a Comment »

I’d hoped to be over this ~~awful exhausting tedious~~ annoying illness, but there’s always tomorrow. I remain optimistic!

“Do not complain beneath the stars about the lack of bright spots in your life.”

― Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

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Sick Day

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, Thoughts, uuuuuugh on January 9, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Sick today, the annoying kind where your brain doesn’t work. At all.

I’ll be on the couch with a book.

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Work and Hope

Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, inspiration, Thoughts on January 4, 2026| Leave a Comment »

“After that, work and hope. But never hope more than you work.”

― Beryl Markham

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You’ve Got This

Posted in Holidays, Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, encouragement, New Year, Thoughts on January 1, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Welcome to a new year. Past me thought I might need a little encouragement as we step into the unknown. Here’s the letter I wrote myself in case you do too:

Dear FutureMe,

You’ve got this.

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One Good Thing

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, Thoughts on December 31, 2025| Leave a Comment »

This has been a year for the history books, and a lot of it has been bad.

But not all of it.

A recent article got me thinking about the importance of focusing on the good things. In this case, the author forgot his wallet on a train in England and despaired of getting it back.

Need cheering up after a terrible year? I may have just the story you’re looking for

Spoiler alert: A considerate person found it and returned it to him.

Good things happen. Strangers help strangers, neighbors come through in emergencies, people work together to support good causes, and much more.

I try to focus here on the more positive dimensions of life, but it can be hard to do when so much of the world is looking the other direction. Social and other media do their best to highlight the dramatic, the car crashes, the bad news. I get it, it sells, and humanity is programmed to pay attention to problems so we can avoid them.

But I’m certainly not alone in thinking that we’ve gone too far in that direction.

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A lot of positive things have happened this year, in the worlds of science, of technology, of society, and more. Need a source of happier news? I may have promoted this site before but I’m going to do it again, because David Byrne and his mission deserve it.

Reasons to be Cheerful

We tell stories that reveal that there are, in fact, a surprising number of reasons to feel cheerful…. Reasons to be Cheerful was founded by artist and musician David Byrne, who believes in the power of approaching the world with curiosity—in art, in music, in collaboration and in life….Through stories of hope, rooted in evidence, Reasons to be Cheerful aims to inspire us all to be curious about how the world can be better, and to ask ourselves how we can be part of that change.

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In some ways, it’s also been a challenging year personally, but alongside the difficult we’ve also had the encouraging.

Before I go to bed I try to ask myself, “What was good today?” Even on the worst days there’s at least one good thing.

Friends (multiple!) put out some terrific new stories. Saving baby squirrels. Donating to help our community. Hiking in the woods. Ice cream after.

Those are just a few of my good things. What are yours?

“Find the good. It’s all around you. Showcase it and you’ll start believing in it.”

— Jesse Owens

Happy New Year!

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Keep Doing It

Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, Thoughts, writing on December 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »

“Scared is what you’re feeling. Brave is what you’re doing.”

― Emma Donoghue

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Reminder to Self

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, Thoughts on December 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.”

— Pelé

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