For healthy optimism.

One of my favorite holiday movies is “Love Actually.” A primary reason is for its opening scene, which gives the movie its name. Hugh Grant, playing the Prime Minister of England, tells the story of how when watching people at the welcome gates at Heathrow airport there is evidence that Love Actually is all around. Despite our crazy, stressful, scary world, love and other positive things do exist and more than we and the media let us realize.

Our society is seeking these bright spots and relief from our stress. Several influencers are thankfully giving us what we are searching for:

• Maria Shriver has been featuring people making a positive difference in Architects of Change.
• President Obama shared this message in his December 29, 2017 tweet, which said:

As we count down to the new year, we get to reflect and prepare for what’s ahead. For all the bad news that seemed to dominate our collective consciousness, there are countless stories from this year that remind us what’s best about America.

• Starbucks has been telling stories this year of “ordinary people doing extraordinary things to create positive change in their communities” in a series called Upstanders, now going into Season 2. Season 1 can be found here >
• Bill Gates was the first guest editor of an early January 2018 Time magazine with the heart of the issue on optimism. His “relentless optimism” is driven by seeing real results. Gates makes a strong, yet simple case for focusing on the good: “When you see good things happening, you can channel your energy into driving even more progress.” That’s what we call Better Progress. As to why he decided to edit this issue:

“That is what I hope you will take from this issue of TIME. I’ve asked some of the people I respect most to write about what makes them optimistic. You’ll learn surprising facts about the state of the world, and you’ll meet heroes who save lives every day. It’s a crash course in why and how the world is improving. I hope you’ll be inspired to make it even better.”

The Consumer & Culture Forecast: Help me find positivity and optimism, while restoring my faith in people and institutions to operate for the better good and make better progress.