4 Things Still Working in a World that Feels Broken
—Share 4 Somethings June 2026
This month, I’ve been thinking about what’s still working.
Partly because of something that stopped working. Oddly enough, during my year of SHIFT (my One Word for 2026), the right Shift key on my laptop has stopped working. (My space bar has been weird too, among other things.) So every time I type, I’m reminded how things eventually quit working as expected.
But it makes me wonder: amid all the ways I feel the world is breaking down, what is still working?
Below are four things I noticed this month.
I’m linking with Jenn and also sharing my previous month’s One Second Everyday video.
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1. Something I Love
- THE WORK OF PINKIE PROMISES
A few weeks ago, I watched my grandson make a pinkie promise with one of his elderly friends.
It only lasted a few seconds, but it still felt important to me.
Sometimes we assume that the biggest changes happen through international treaties or national debates. And maybe so.
But I also believe the world changes for the better every time two people genuinely connect at any level, whether young or old, Black or white, male or female.
These small pinkie promises still matter, working more than we give them credit for, building trust and hope for our future.
(This friend also gives my grandson a lollipop every week; that counts for something, too.)
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2. Something Sustaining Me
- LOCAL VOLUNTEERS AT WORK
I’m always encouraged when I’m out in my community and see the many volunteer groups that are hard at work picking trash off the roadsides, planting flowers at nursing homes, or running our small-town annual Kiddie Carnival.
For a few weekends each summer since 1957, one of our local service clubs provides volunteers to operate 10 kid-sized rides (ferris wheel, roller coaster, train, and more) for children ages 2-10. With free parking, free admission, and just 50¢ per ticket, it’s a summer highlight for many families.
A few weekends ago we took our grandson to meet up with some of his little friends there. They all had a blast experiencing the thrill of rides and the carnival atmosphere of popcorn and cotton candy.
I appreciate the work of ordinary people who volunteer their time and energy to keep things running smoothly in our individual communities.
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3. Something Carrying Me Forward
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WORKING WITH MY VALUES
The older I get, the more I’ve leaned into identifying and intentionally living my values.
While there are a lot of lists and quizzes to help us figure out our top values, I recently took the Values Bridge assessment (the quiz is free).
Like all quizzes, this one gives you a breakdown of results based on your answers. But it does something extra I haven’t seen before. Instead of simply listing your top values from a list of 16, it shows how your values support—and sometimes compete with—each other.
For example, one of my values is wanting to make the world a better place. Another is having very little desire for public recognition. Those values usually fit together with no problem (I prefer working in the background, not on the stage), but sometimes they create tension. If I want to create change, I sometimes have to be more visible than I’m comfortable with.
Being aware of that tension helps me bridge that gap when it it shows up.
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4. Something I’m Making Space For
- GOVERNMENT AT WORK (SORT OF?)
This is a tricky one. Sometimes it seems our US government does not work at all. We’ve all seen the gridlock and division between parties and politicians.
Yet even in the strain, we see ways that our democratic process does still work, even if slowly and imperfectly.
Last week I traveled to Washington, D.C., with my daughter and fellow volunteers to advocate for reducing gun violence.
We met with staff members from both of our senators’ offices and our congressional representative’s office. While it would have been nice to have met with the actual elected officials, it still felt empowering to meet with their employees who listened carefully, asked questions, and took notes to pass along to their bosses.
Will our conversations create any change in policy? Maybe, maybe not.
But it does create a change in us, knowing we can still use our voices to speak up about issues that matter to us, participating in ways we can.
Now is not the time to stop putting in the work. Happy 250th, America. We’re still a work in progress.
So while my Shift key quit working (and prompted me to upgrade to a new laptop that will work better in many ways), plenty of other things are still working in our world.
- People are still connecting one-on-one.
- Volunteers are still serving.
- Values are still guiding decisions.
- Citizens are still showing up.
Maybe none of these are flashy things with immediate and visible benefits. But they’re enough to keep me hopeful as we move forward.
What do you see working well in your world? Share in the comments.
I’m linking at these blog parties