Wednesday’s Creative Tip: Smile

Did you ever notice that if you smile at someone, the majority of the time they will smile back? You have to smile, catch their eye and let them know that the smile you are projecting is directed at them. It is disarming really. I mean if you are in a really bad mood and someone smiles at you, don’t you feel, wow, that human I don’t even know, gave enough thought and caring to actually smile at me, my mood lifts just a little. I love smiling at people. It is a habit I got from my dad. He always smiled at random people and often said hi, and he meant it. That is the key, you have to mean your smile, send waves of hey your ok to another human. How cool is that? Of course, I grew up in the midwest, we are born with smiles.

I went on a short flight today to visit family. I decided to really think about smiling. First, I smiled at the ticket agent, who actually smiled back and giggled! I said, seems like you are in a good mood today, and she said yes, and wasn’t sure why. Then there was the extra long line at Philly airport security. I smiled at the person behind me and we started talking. Turns out, she and her husband live in Mendocino, Ca. where I and my husband love to visit. We ended up trading business cards and said we would email each other. Ok, fast forward to the airport doo dads clerk. I smiled at him and asked him about his day. Turns out he is a freshman at Temple U, misses his hometown of D.C., but loves his campus. Smiled my way to my airplane and onto waiting for the bus, where I smiled and said hello to the young man standing next to me. I think he was genuinely surprised, we then started to chat about the bus, weather, and bid each other a good day. Then I saw my family and really gave a huge smile. Not sure where the creative tip is in here except that smiling opens up relationships with people. It makes each other feel good and who knows what you can learn from each other. My dad said all people have a story to tell and are trying their best to get by.

It seems to me that a smile makes it that much easier for all involved to get by. It’s contagious you know.
The bad thing about blogging is that you can’t see me smiling and I can’t see you smiling back.

Read more at: Things to do on a Rainy Day.