happy

The world, especially this year, is an absolute garbage fire of failure and pain. Between the election and the pandemic, we're barely surviving this hell. To make it all a bit more palatable, or at least to distract you, we've put together this healthy gallery of pleasant memes and tweets. We may not be able to pull a coronavirus vaccine out of our sleeves, but at least we can smile a bit while we wait.

Hallelujah, we've made it to another weekend. With the week's chaos and torturous responsibilities behind us (temporarily) it's important to make the most of our free time. Before we get into the brunching, the friends, and the relaxation, we like to turn to the internet for a little palate cleanser, and there's no greater refresh than happy, wholesome, and life-affirming pictures.

What's better than a cute cat? A cute cat that's happy. That's about the cutest thing we can ever think of. So to brighten your day, here are 10 adorable photos of smiling, happy cats. For more cute cat photos, have a look at these pictures of adorable ginger cats. 

Remember way back in the day when we were about to approach a 4-day weekend? Seems like ancient history now. But there's no reason we cannot reminisce on the pure joy we had looking just a few days ago as we had this rare beauty to look forward to. We were so young back then, so naive. Heck, we had a whole 4-day weekend ahead of us! The options were limitless! Well actually the world is kind of going through something so I'm sure 90% of us spent it indoors, but it still felt good to get a break from the daily BS we all deal with.

Here's my official proposal for 4-day weekends every weekend. Anyone else with me?

Sometimes, since you love your animals so dang much, you want to go the extra mile towards making them happy. Whether it be giving them just another treat today even though they already had some, whether it's taking them on a longer walk outside, or - like in the case of muppetstakewallst, you decided that your dog needs to be able to look outside whenever he wants through the garage and therefore, you have to make them a special gate. 

We're in love with it, the internet has made both of muppetstakewallst's go viral so they love it, and it looks like the dog is as well - which is the most important thing. And honestly, this just makes us want to go the extra mile as well for our pets. 

Get ready for some of the most paw-dorable pictures you've ever seen. Brian Matthews captured these amazing, rare and beautiful pictures near Churchill, northern Canada of polar bear cubs leaving their den with their momma for the very first time to play around in the snow. The pictures clearly capture the nerves the cubs feel of leaving their den for the first time, gazing adoringly at their mom and staying close to her while exploring this beautiful new world. 

As The Irish Sun reports, Matthews said: "It was very humbling to be able to see something that very, very few people get to see. The cubs were really interested in the world in general, they were investigating and playing in the snow, smelling trees, looking around and generally getting their bearings."

He continued: "They seemed quite confident running about and playing in the snow, as long as they weren't too far from their mother. You can see in the photos of them all lying together how big these tiny cubs are going to grow up to be. It was just absolutely amazing to see the cubs playing in front of us, only about 50 metres away, and not at all fazed or spooked that we were there. It's heartening to see the positive side of polar bear conservation work."

Only after they calmed down a bit did the mother bear go and have a big ol' nap, her kiddos continuing to play around in the snow next to her. We hope we will get to see many, many more pictures of animals loving their natural habitats, and that this was the pawfect, smile-inducing start to your morning that you were hoping for. 

There's been a lot of talk about toxic masculinity over the last few years. And while we are in no way arguing that it's not a real issue, we do believe in positive reinforcement. These heartwarming and totally wholesome moments are a glimpse at the amazing ways some men show up, show vulnerability, and make the world a better place. Bravo.

Once a week, we will be featuring an extraordinary animal account on Instagram! Their story, the adorable pictures, and pawesome videos! This week's spotlight goes to the strange and adorable dynamic dup -- Casper and Romeo! 

What happens when happy meets grumpy? Well, we're about to find out! Meet Casper, the happy white Samoyed dog with a constant smile on that beautiful fluffy face! And meet his brother, Romeo, a grumpy cat who seems constantly annoyed at the world, but loves Casper regardless. It's the heartwarming duo that's the world need! Disney, if you're reading this -- this is the story the people want and need! 

Both animals are two white clouds of floof, they just each bore a different facial expression! Get ready, folks, because this may just be the best thing and best duo you've seen all week! Be sure to follow Casper and Romeo on Instagram for more adorableness! 

Read up on last week's star on Instagram, Barnaby, the cat who is adorably disheveled and looks like he hasn't had his morning cup of coffee yet! 

There's been a lot of talk about toxic masculinity these days, and honestly, our cringey neckbeard galleries are ample proof of its existence. While the cringe factor can be fun, we thought it would be refreshing to give some credit to these wonderfully non-toxic and wholesome moments of dudes being dudes.

Jody Fraser, whose love for animals is so big that she ended up having a mini farm right inside of her home, and two of the animals have - unexpectedly - become best friends. Her pig and her kitten are absolutely inseparable. 

Fraser lives just east of Calgary, after having moved to the countryside last year with her two cats, dog and turtle, as CBC reports, and since she had some more space, she decided to get some chickens as well. "So that was the beginning of my fascination with all of the animals," she told the Calgary Eyeopener. Around three months ago, Fraser added a pig to the collective. "He's just the nicest little crazy pig ever and very, very low maintenance," she said. "I've always just loved the pigs. So it's kind of funny how now I have my own." 

The animals living together under the same roof has inevitably brought them all closer, but two of them have become especially good buds." Wilbur the pot-bellied pig, who is now five-months-old, has become best buds with a new 12-week kitten named Billy," and they are too cute together.

"The two, just right from the beginning, became the best buddies ever. They just love each other. I'm not sure where it came from," Foster said. They sleep together and help clean each other. "The pig will clean the kitten, actually, and every once in a while you see the kitten actually cleaning the pig's ears. So it's kind of funny."

Their friendship has made Fraser rethink moving the pig out of the house. "I was only going to keep him in the house because he's still really little… but I was to put him outside in the spring," she said. "I'm hoping that I do decide to still do that, but he's become part of the family now, so I don't see him going outside." 

This little animal family keeps growing, and Foster is always interested in carefully expanding it even more. Follow Wilbur and Billy and their friendship on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok to see more of it. And for more wholesome animal friendships, read about this fox whose brother was run over befriending his human foster mom and two of her dogs. 

Let's end the month the right way, friends, by talking about as many positive animal news stories that we can!

It's not an easy time right now, as we're all aware, and we are all in need of positivity. The news is something that we tend to try to avoid at this point, too many stories that we don't want to hear about anymore. Well, these stories are ones that you will definitely want to tune in for, because we're about to celebrate the best of the very best!

So, read these stories and bask in the positivity, start the month off with a smile and with the kind of stories that you would truly want to talk to your coworkers and friends about! If you want more, check out last month's positive animal news collection.

There is nothing more wholesome and positive than a dog, that's just fact. They're happy and loving and always want to be by your side. And right now, we feel in need of some of that positivity, some extra pure doggo joy brought into our weekend, so we've collected for you guys tweets that are all about dogs and all about being positive. 

Stay strong, dog lovers, make the best of this weekend and don't forget to smooch your dog on the forehead, just because. And if this dose of doggo wholesomeness, click here for some more.