Joyful

I’ve just started reading the most delightful, interesting book by Ingrid Fetell Lee called “Joyful: The surprising power of ordinary things to create extraordinary happiness”. One story that struck me is about how the mayor of Tirana, Albania, an artist by training, in 2000 rescued this crime-ridden, depressed and demoralized city with a complete turnaround in 4 years, by one day painting a building bright orange. This started a fantastic painting streak which led to real changes in behavior. People stopped dumping garbage in the street, they paid their taxes, they took metal grates off shop windows and they believed the streets were safer even though there were no more police added. And four years later he was awarded World Mayor for the transformation. Can creativity save the world? Seems like it. Here are some photos of Tirana today.