Sweet Tea: On happiness

The latest World Happiness Report is out. Finland ranked at the top for the ninth year in a row, but what’s really interesting is how social media seems to influence outlook.

In general, researchers noticed a negative correlation between social media use and happiness, especially among young people. But the answer doesn’t seem to be total abstinence. The happiest young people used social media, but for less than an hour a day.

“It is clear that we should look as much as possible to put the ‘social’ back into social media,” said Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, co-editor of the report.

Let’s get into this week’s stories, but I’m going to circle back (office jargon) with more thoughts on this.

PEACE MONK GETS NEW LEG IN MACON

Buddhist monk Bhante Dam Phommasan, injured last fall in a cross-country "Walk for Peace," takes some of his first steps in public this week after being fitted with a prosthetic leg at Mercer University in Macon. (Jason Vorhees/The Macon Melody)

Buddhist monk Bhante Dam Phommasan is an abbot at a Buddhist temple in Snellville. He was part of the viral “Walk for Peace,” where a group of Buddhist monks traveled across the South spreading messages of hope.

Phommasan was struck by a car outside Houston and sustained serious injuries to his left leg. When given the choice between grueling surgeries and amputation, he chose the latter.

Months later, Phommasan is the recipient of a lightweight, modern prosthetic from Mercer University in Macon.

It’s a beautiful story, and shows how moments of connection in our lives can come back around for the better.

• When Phommasan came to the United States in 2016, he strongly considered going to Mercer and called it his dream school.
• After his injury, Phommasan briefly met a 2017 Mercer graduate named Brandon Tran, a chiropractor involved in “Mercer On Mission,” a well-regarded prosthetics program.

🧡 READ MORE: How else the community supported the monk

A MOMENT OF WELCOME IN CLARKSTON

The "Clarkston is Home" mural by Trudi Tran was unveiled in Clarkston, Georgia in 2025.

It’s not the best picture, but this is what a mural in Clarkston, painted by Trudi Tran, looked like when feminist author and Pakistan native Aisha Sarwari first saw it.

What caught her wasn’t the bright color work, but the message she instantly recognized in her mother tongue.

“The woman in the artwork looked like me. In the corner, the mural read “welcome” in every language — I could make out a ‘Khushamdeed’ in Urdu. It felt like someone shook my hand and offered me warm cardamom tea.”

Lovely. That’s the epitome of what Southern hospitality should be.

🎨 READ MORE: Why Sarwari fell in love with Clarkston

ALL ABOUT OSSABAW

Eleanor "Sandy" Torrey West made sure Ossabaw Island's natural beauty would stand the test of time.

Well, I definitely need to take a trip to Ossabaw Island now.

• The 26,000-acre, undeveloped Georgia barrier island near Savannah was a major artist colony in the 20th century.
• The island’s reputation for sparking creativity was cultivated by Eleanor “Sandy” Torrey West, an heiress-turned conservationist.
• West’s wealthy family purchased Ossabaw Island in 1924 as a winter home (as you do). She sold the land to Georgia in 1978 so it could be preserved.
• Savannah’s Telfair Museums has an exhibit that looks at artistic works made on or inspired by the island, and shows the connection between nature and creativity.

Amy Paige Condon writes for the AJC: “(This) is what Sandy West understood all along: Nature itself is the ultimate work of art, and that is why she worked so hard to save the island.”

🌾 READ MORE: What’s on display

SIPS FROM AROUND THE SOUTH

🌳 Knoxville, TN: New Prospect Presbyterian Church is closing soon and will donate its 15.7 acres to the Ijams Nature Center. The nonprofit educational center will preserve more than 11 acres of diverse woodlands and establish an early learning facility. The nature center’s director called the gift “transformational.” More from WATE

🌈 Huntersville, NC: Country superstar and Huntersville native Luke Combs says he hopes his 2024 song “Whoever You Turn Out To Be” is a comfort to queer children and their parents. “You don’t get to choose who you want to be with, and I can’t imagine feeling the pressure a child would experience coming to terms with those things on their own,” the singer told GQ. More from GQ Hype

👩🏻‍🏭 Richmond, VA: The Virginia General Assembly passed a bill that would give workers statewide access to five days of paid sick leave a year. Virginia is now the first Southern state with such paid leave protections. More from WRIC

🍲 New Orleans, LA: It’s gumbo z’herbes season along the Gulf Coast. This traditional Lenten dish is a vegetarian (-ish) version of gumbo, popularized by Louisiana’s Leah Chase, the “Queen of Creole Cuisine.” It’s also called green gumbo, on account of all of the greens — turnip, collard, mustard, you name it. You can find the OG version at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in NOLA. More from Cooks Without Borders

SOME THOUGHTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

I have big thoughts about social media, and now I’m subjecting you to them.

As a media professional, you’re expected to have some sort of social media presence. It’s for promotion, personal branding, networking, story ideas and more.

It’s, well, exhausting.

Other than story ideas, which you can get anywhere, how much of that actually contributes to the public service of my job?

I went all but cold turkey on social media about a year ago, and it has improved my personal and professional life immeasurably. Journalists experience news burnout like everyone else, and it’s easy to get distracted by little discourses, controversies and arguments that don’t actually have any effect on real life.

Once you log off, their power simply disappears.