A Little Delight: My Corner of Twitter
Is it too early in the day to say "good night, sweet dreams, I love you"?
Dear Reader,
You probably already know this, if you receive these letters because you follow me on Twitter, but I post “a list of nice things” intermittently throughout the week. Here’s an example from yesterday:
They originated from a gratitude practice I found helpful for my personal mental health (list three things you’re grateful for). Then as the pandemic progressed, I felt helpless in the face of immense tragedy and started posting these lists regularly. The Twitter timeline is often filled with gloomy news (which is necessary!). But I thought it might be helpful to pause for some tiny nice things in the world, because 1) when someone is struggling with their mental health it’s difficult to know that the world is full of little joys, and 2) it’s important for all of us to understand that this world is worth saving; existential nihilism is counterproductive to progressive change. I knew that not everyone would like every single thing listed—I hate coffee, for example!—but I hoped the reader would be able to take at least one nice thing for themselves and leave the rest for other people.
I assumed the lists wouldn’t accumulate many likes, and for many months they weren’t even remotely popular (although they were also definitely worse in the beginning). They’ve never gone viral and I sincerely doubt they ever would. I don’t even think they’re particularly good! From the beginning I’ve kept the phrase “list of nice things” consistent—even in the face of my mortal enemy: the character count—because some people would want to mute the lists (which I fully support). I know the lists aren’t for everyone. I really just felt desperate and wanted to reach at least one person; that would be enough.
To my surprise and sheer delight, a wonderful little community has sprouted around these lists. I frequently see the same people liking the tweets or replying with kind messages. It’s always a universally positive environment. Sometimes one person replies with a lovely memory sparked by one of the listed things, and another person responds to them with their own lovely memory sparked by their reply. Sometimes someone will share a beautiful photo! And sometimes people take the time to write their own marvelous delights, which truly always amazes me.
I started the lists because I didn’t know how to deal with mass despair and wanted to reach out in any way that I could, but I never anticipated that some people would reach out in return. The comments are full of pure joy for me. It’s such a privilege to receive a window into someone’s personal delights or treasured memories. I love seeing the spots of happiness people are experiencing in their own lives. I’m always touched when someone thanks me, because it’s genuinely always my pleasure (it helps my own mental health!) and it’s incredibly sweet to thank someone for a simple tweet. It takes time and effort to write all of these lovely responses. I feel such a sense of community; this has accidentally become the sunniest corner of Twitter (an entirely unbiased opinion).
Twitter has a reputation for being a “hell site,” which isn’t wholly unwarranted. There’s a serious problem of dangerous, unchecked bigotry. The owner is horrible (as was the previous owner). There’s an alarming amount of misinformation and disinformation. The algorithm incentivizes being nasty to other people for trivial reasons. And the incessant Discourse™ certainly gets exhausting.
And yet…there are so many little pockets of deeply kind people! People who take time to write such lovely, thoughtful tweets! People who go out of their way to share interesting books or fantastic songs or thought-provoking poems! And I know for a fact that this corner isn’t the only joyful one. When everyone thought Twitter would crash a few weeks ago, many prematurely said their deathbed goodbyes to their own online communities. They can’t take that back, no matter how jaded their public persona! The truth is that we all love our little corners of Twitter. But this one is the best.
Love, Lily
I didn’t understand the idea of the lamedvovnik until I discovered the power of the list of nice things…
Love this list! Practicing gratitude seems like a difficult thing to do when the world is how it is, but it really does make a difference.