- Iconic children’s show is helping a lot of adults with Election Day anxiety
- 11 second video received over 1.3m views within two hours of being posted
- Thousands of people are sharing the Sesame Street video with positive messages during an intense, emotional day at the polls in America
On a day guaranteed to be filled with drama, stress and anxiety, very few of us, if any, would have likely predicted that the muppets grabbing headlines would have been from Sesame Street.
Thankfully, among the hate and the bile, there is always something that can restore your faith in humanity. And the peace and quiet on Sesame Street is helping out thousands of people struggling with the chaos of what is perhaps the closest and most controversial US Presidential election in modern history.
With Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump neck-and-neck in the polls, social media and seemingly every major news network has descended into a cesspit of loud, ill-educated voices, uninformed opinions that nobody asked for and an overwhelming amount of hatred.
In the midst of this came a post on Sesame Street’s official X and Instagram channels.
Captioned, “Stop scrolling, take a deep breath, and use the next few minutes to escape to a place where the air is sweet”, the video is only 11 seconds long, but is nothing more than the serenity of a peaceful Sesame Street, punctuated only by light birdsong and a contemplative Elmo sitting on a stoop.
The short video has also racked up over 1.3m views across the two social media platforms in its opening couple of hours, clearly resonating with a lot of people today who need to remove themselves from the crippling anxieties that come with doom scrolling the news on a day like today, especially among so much misinformation and ugly vitriol.
One user on X replied, “Sesame Street knows we’re all not okay right now” while another commented, “Sesame Street is a respite in a day of chaos.”
Further down in the replies, another X user said, “All right, who’s cutting onions! This respite is so needed – especially today” with another adding, “Thanks, @sesamestreet. Bookmarking this so I can come back throughout the day to re-center my brain.”
So, if you’ll excuse me, I’m just going to watch this video on a loop for the next 48 hours. At least. I suggest you all do the same.
