5 things that gave us reason to smile

The stock market has been tanking, inflation keeps its ugly head and a war is still going on in Ukraine.

On World Smile Day, there is not a lot to smile about. Or is there?

World Smile Day, commemorating the first Friday of October, is the brainchild of commercial artist Harvey Ball, creator of what else? The smiley-face symbol. Ball thought we should devote one day each year to smiles and kind acts throughout the world, according to the World Smile Day website. What is the reason behind the argument? The smiley face knows no politics, no geography, and no religion. The idea of Harvey was that neither should we, for at least one day a year, should we, according to the website notes. We spent some time considering the state of our world and tried to find five things that gave us reason to smile. Here are some of our picks:

There is a reason to embrace your inner couch potato: The streaming calendar is full of must-see viewing in the weeks ahead. There is a third and final season of Derry Girls, a return of the Emmy-winning The White Lotus and new episodes of the revamped Beavis Butthead. What do you want to learn more about? This list is a good place to visit.