Sometimes You Just Need to Stop and Notice How Good We've Got It
I’ve been mulling over something I read online recently - a simple observation about families at a local park that’s really stuck with me. Sometimes the most profound moments are the ordinary ones, aren’t they?
The story was beautifully straightforward: someone watching their kid at a playground on a sunny winter’s day, taking in the scene around them. There was an African dad kicking a football with his children, an Asian father doing the same with his kid nearby, a Middle Eastern family enjoying a picnic while their children played. Kids from all sorts of backgrounds - European, Indian, you name it - just being kids.
What struck me wasn’t just the diversity, but how unremarkable it all was. These weren’t staged moments of multicultural harmony for a tourism brochure. This was just… Tuesday afternoon at the local park. Families doing what families do - making the most of a bit of sunshine, creating memories, being together.
Reading through the responses to this observation, I was genuinely heartened. Sure, there were the usual suspects ready to find fault with anything positive, but overwhelmingly, people got it. They recognised something we sometimes take for granted: that despite all the noise and division we see in the media, most of us are just trying to live good lives alongside each other.
One comment really resonated with me - the observation that there are far more things that unite us than divide us, and we need to watch out for those who profit from exploiting our differences. It’s so true, isn’t it? Politicians and media personalities making bank off manufactured outrage while the rest of us are just trying to get through the day, maybe catch a bit of sun with our kids.
I’ve been working in IT for decades now, and I’ve seen firsthand how technology can both connect and divide us. Social media algorithms love conflict - it drives engagement. But step away from the screen and into the real world, and you’ll find that most people are decent. They’re dealing with the same basic challenges: paying the bills, raising their kids, maybe trying to squeeze in a bit of happiness between the chaos.
The whole thing reminded me of why I love living here, despite all our imperfections. Yes, we’ve got our problems - housing affordability, climate change, the occasional bout of political madness. But we’ve also got something special: the ability to be a nation of people from everywhere, somehow making it work. Not perfectly, not without friction, but making it work nonetheless.
It’s funny how we can lose sight of this when we’re doom-scrolling through the latest crisis or watching yet another politician trying to score points by dividing us. The reality is much more mundane and much more beautiful: families from all over the world, sharing the same patch of grass, all wanting the same basic things for their children.
Maybe that’s what we need more of - not grand gestures or policy announcements, but simple recognition of what’s already working. The everyday multiculturalism that happens when people just get on with their lives, side by side, day after day.
Next time I’m feeling overwhelmed by the state of the world, I think I’ll remember that sunny winter’s day at the park. Sometimes the best reminder that we’re doing alright is right there in front of us - we just need to look up from our phones long enough to see it.