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2020 Was A Hard Year, So This Man Illustrated The 40 Best News Of The Year To Outweigh The Negativity
With everything that’s happened in 2020—the Covid-19 pandemic, the natural disasters, all the loss and fear—it’s easy to lose hope. But don’t despair! We’re so busy focusing on just the negative news that we’re ignoring the wholesome, heartwarming, and inspiring things happening around us each and every day.
Mauro Gatti, the founder of The Happy Broadcast, illustrates anxiety-free news from around the world and he’s bringing us the best things that happened in 2020 that will lift your spirits and make you believe in humankind again.
“This has been a rough year for the whole world but I’ve never seen so many great stories of human kindness like I’ve seen in 2020,” Mauro told Bored Panda. Read on for our full exclusive and in-depth interview with the Los Angeles-based artist about positive news, his hopes for 2021, and what he did to stay happy this year. Remember to upvote your fave optimistic stories as you scroll down, dear Pandas!
We’re huge fans of Mauro and his art style and we hope you are, too. Make sure to follow The Happy Broadcast on Instagram and elsewhere for all of the latest updates. And, when you’re done enjoying the positive news of 2020 in this list, check out Mauro’s other positive posts on Bored Panda right here, here, and here. They’re a dose of happiness that will leave you smiling all the way into 2021!
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“Despite all the challenges, it looks like humanity understood how deeply we depend on each other and how much our mental health is central to everyone's recovery and well-being,” Mauro told us. “Sharing good news is a joyful experience for all and also an important part of daily conversations.”
Despite the fact that the news can be depressing to read and watch, Mauro still believes it has a very important function—reporting important problems and issues. When they get the spotlight shone on them, we can all come together and prevent these problems from happening again.
“But there is also so much good in this world that just needs to be found and promoted. Never forget that the reason why we have positive news to share is that some amazing and brave individuals did something to solve an issue that worries us all. So, one at a time, we can all make a positive impact. It's our time to BE the positive news,” Mauro said.
It's always struck me as weird when things like condoms are free in some countries, but period items aren't- you can't halt a period!!
Well.. that's good news but how are they going to control and enforce this law?
The illustrator revealed that the things that helped him get through the global pandemic and maintain his sanity were working on The Happy Broadcast, interacting with his community every single day, and… baking bread and pizza. Now, I couldn’t just ignore Mauro mentioning pizza. I just had to find out all about it. After all, there’s nothing like a tasty homemade treat (and some sleep) to make the world seem brighter.
“One of my favorite pizzas, besides the classic Italian Margherita, is pizza Bianca (which means no cheese and no sauce) topped, after being baked, with a cold mix of vegan feta, arugula, olive oil, salt, and fresh thyme. It’s very fresh and different from the usual pizza we eat at a restaurant, but I’m a creative person, so cooking is another avenue to express that,” Mauro said and now I’m itching to try baking something similar at home.
The illustrator also went into detail about the daily routine that helps him stay on top of things. Every morning, he decides what to focus on and work toward that day. “Having a sense of purpose makes me feel less lost. I also try to not spend too much time on my phone scrolling through hundreds of posts and I turn my phone off before I go to bed.” And when he’s feeling blue, he puts on some songs that make him play the air-guitar and the air-drums, like ‘Gloria’ by ‘The Lumineers.’
Mauro’s illustrations are simple, fresh, and fun. He told us that this kind of art style comes naturally to him. “I've always loved doodling... especially things with cute faces because it's so relaxing, creative, and fun! I like the message more than the style, so I don’t spend a lot of time on an illustration. Most of my time is spent sketching all the ideas that float in my brain,” he said.
The illustrator stressed that his advice to young artists would be to focus on what they like to draw, instead of chasing after what’s trendy.
Hey! Phytoplankton don't get the credit they deserve! Phytoplankton actually produce a majority of the oxygen we breathe.
We’re hoping that the following year will turn out to be very different from 2020. Mauro has similar hopes for 2021.
“My hope is that Covid-19 will not turn into Covid-21. We are now armed with knowledge, understanding, and hard lessons learned from this past year and I’m sure we’ll all come together to make sure 2021 will be less challenging and more focused on taking care of our planet and mental health,” he said.
As for his own plans, the artist told Bored Panda that his biggest personal project is still The Happy Broadcast. “I can’t even describe how much this little beacon of positivity means to me. Reading, illustrating, and sharing the work of the fixers, doers, and problem-solvers of the world showed me that the world is not the frightening place portrayed in the media.” And as someone who spends his days writing about the wholesome things in life, I can fully support Mauro’s message.
If you want to support Mauro and The Happy Broadcast, consider following him on Instagram and checking out his book as well!
Actually, within a week of this announcement came another of an a polio outbreak in the Sudan caused by... the vaccine. Probably why the word 'wild' is included. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/sep/02/vaccine-derived-polio-spreads-in-africa-after-defeat-of-wild-virus
Japan have been doing this for decades. Forest bathing. Lots of amazing science behind it.
This is great idea. The only concern could be the cleaning of these public places. We have one fruit tree near my apartment and no one is picking the fruit nor cleaning the rotting leftovers under the tree. Over the summer, every day we have at least 3 wasps at home, despite living in 6th floor. And that's only one single tree. So let's hope someone will think about this :)
Well we now know what it takes to have a successful sex life! Privacy thank you!
If you are growing cannabis the last thing you want is bees. Pollination is the enemy of sensimilla. It causes the female plants to go to seed.
Toni Doherty stripped her shirt off to rescue a koala. I’m surprised her chest could hold such a great, big heart. I just take off my shirt because there are cheeto stains. In all seriousness, all the people who fought the fires, helped the wildlife, help evacuate those who can’t on their own... I just wish good things for you.
Earth has literally become greener than it was 20 yrs ago because of many tree-planting efforts taken by countries like India and China.
On the other hand, WHO (yeah, that WHO) has allowed for Chinese (bullshit) medicine like horn powder etch. to count as real medicine! What a croc
But I am a little bit afraid, that after everything will go back, people will return back to work and their "normal" life and they will find out, that they don't have time to take care for their animals...
I am really curious about whether this is actually good? Algae is one of the most efficient oxygen converters on the planet. How much algae do they need to harvest to make this shirt? How much oxygen would that algae have generated if it was left to live? Are they manufacturing the algae or harvesting it wild? What damage are they doing in the harvesting process? What is the net oxygen profit, after harvesting, processing and manufacturing the algea into a shirt from its original form? I get that we need to wear clothes and this is a really interesting development but it has the potential to cause more harm than good and I hope people ask these questions before simply accepting that its beneficial.
Also, he's kind of an immortal being who cannot die. But he can be sued.
You really took this literally didn't you? Living up to your username, huh? (not hating on you at all though)
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I would like a source on this one.. I am Norwegian, living in Norway and this is news to me.
To be clear, the City of Sydney is an area of inner Sydney. It doesn't mean the whole city.
While never near extinct where I live, beavers and wild pigs were heavily protected for something like 20 years. Went from vulnerable to pest. Just give life a chance.
I hope that's what they actually call them like legally they are called "investEGGators"
This actually goes against what I thought! I thought because of the stress and anxiety so many are facing they would hold on desperately to that cigarette for comfort. A pacifier for adults. Well - great job!!
According to a study on longevity, the biggest predictor is how many people you can truly count as in your support system and the second was how many random people you have a small talk with. Diseases had lesser -ve role to play than the +ve effects of connecting with other people.
Oh I love this! Absolutely! Hell ya! Plus local goods, because they don't have to be transported as far would be cheaper than buying imported! Which is great for jobs!
Barbershops are like more relatable therapy centers. I'm happy for the progress 202 has brought to the world
That's really awesome of them, and I don't want to be that person, but I've read several articles that state face visors make no difference. But I hope they continue to help!
They should also make sure their villages of good internet. Then actively market this idea to people who can work entirely from home. These people will get to live in a lovely community, have short commutes, make a good wage and they will spend their money in the village and thereby invest in the village. Which means more jobs!
I heard a story or an american patient going to the doctor, they kept fainting and felt really lightheaded. No body thought to ask the patient when they had last eaten and when the doctor did finally realize, he could only prescribe pills. Not food. The doctor in the TED talk said they should also have the power to prescribe housing for those who are in desperate need of shelter.
Y'all, if you want to do something right now, start using ecosia as your search engine
This is amazing! I wish mainstream news sources would publish articles like this, but all they do is focus on negative things just so they get more clicks.
I like these kinds of posts, but I'm not sure all of these are true. Afaik deforestation is in no way illegal in Norway. And the one about shelter animals is just sad, because when the lockdowns are lifted lots of those are sent back. Or tossed in a river. I'm all for positivity but don't buy anything.
Y'all, if you want to do something right now, start using ecosia as your search engine
This is amazing! I wish mainstream news sources would publish articles like this, but all they do is focus on negative things just so they get more clicks.
I like these kinds of posts, but I'm not sure all of these are true. Afaik deforestation is in no way illegal in Norway. And the one about shelter animals is just sad, because when the lockdowns are lifted lots of those are sent back. Or tossed in a river. I'm all for positivity but don't buy anything.
