Harvey Ball

Smiley Says: Happy World Smile Day

October 02, 2015

Photo courtesy Gerd Altmann
In 1963, commercial artist Harvey Ball created the image of a smiley face for a “friendship campaign” for employees of an insurance company. The image was to be used on buttons, desk cards and posters. He was paid $240 for the drawing, which he said took about 10 minutes. To everyone’s surprise, this image became wildly popular in the 60s and 70s, so much so that Ball became concerned that the over-commercialization of the image had hidden its original purpose as a symbol of friendship and good cheer. In 1999, he declared that the first Friday in October should be World Smile Day, a day devoted to smiles and kind acts. His hometown of Worcester, MA, celebrated, and eventually events commemorating World Smile Day spread throughout the world.

Following Ball’s death, the Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation was established in 2001 to honor him and continue sponsoring World Smile Day as well as supporting other grassroots charitable activities.

It’s simple to be part of World Smile Day: “Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile.”

Share your experiences on Facebook or Twitter, or just with those you love. And happy World Smile Day!

30-Day Gratitude Photo Challenge: 2014 Edition

10 Ways to Spread Kindness

November 10, 2014

It’s easy to see unkindness in the world: in wars, the rhetoric of politicians, and more personally in the nasty comments we so often see online, on Twitter, and other places where people can anonymously let loose their hatefulness. Kindness is much quieter. It doesn’t demand attention, it doesn’t get in your face, and even though it’s sometimes anonymous, the feeling it leaves behind is happiness, not misery (or at least the desire to take a very hot shower).

Kindness is today’s 30-Day Gratitude Photo Challenge prompt, and this Thursday, Nov. 13, is World Kindness Day so kindness is on my mind. Even though I really value kindness and aspire to be kind, I’m not always aware of what I can do to spread kindness. After a little thought and some quick internet research, I found quite a few simple, inexpensive suggestions I can follow to create some ripples and make the world a kinder place. Here are 10 of my favorites: 

1. Smile and look into the eyes of the grocery store cashier.

2. Pick up trash.

3. If you regularly visit a blog and enjoy it, leave a comment. A simple, “enjoyed your post,” is all you need. (Bloggers appreciate kindness the way resurrection ferns appreciate rain.)

4. Give others the benefit of the doubt. Remember the words of the Egyptian philosopher Philo, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

5. Allow someone to go in front of you, in traffic or in line.

6. Share a store coupon. Some stores offer coupons for X amount of dollars off a minimum purchase. If you’re not going to use yours, find someone in line who looks like he or she has enough merchandise to meet the minimum amount necessary. (This suggestion came from my kind mother-in-law.)

7. Write a note (or send a post card), by hand, add a stamp and mail it. It will make someone’s day to receive “real” mail rather than junk or bills.

8. Donate old towels to an animal shelter or rescue.

9. Pay a toll or buy a cup of coffee for the person behind you.

10. Think before you speak. Even so-called “jokes” can hurt someone who is sensitive.

And don’t forget to be kind to yourself. It’s a lot easier to be kind to others when you practice on yourself!

I’m encouraged to see that there are more and more organizations devoted to promoting kindness, including The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, One Million Acts of Kindness and Choose to Be Nice. Perhaps one day the kind people will outnumber the trolls and meanies.

What acts of kindness have you experienced? How have you shown kindness to others?

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Anger

Create Some Ripples--Spread Kindness

October 07, 2013

Photo courtesy SP Veres

 “You can accomplish by kindness what you cannot by force.”
—Publilius Syrus

I don’t write about current events and the issues of the day because, frankly, they’re too complicated, give me anxiety attacks and make me feel helpless. I’d much rather concentrate on the smaller, day-to-day issues and experiences we all face, that we all can do something about. The current political and financial condition of the US, in particular, is scary beyond belief (and my Rays are down to the Red Sox 0-2!). I can do nothing to affect either of those situations. What can I do? I can be kind.

And before you laugh at what seems to be a completely inadequate response, hear me out. Like happiness, kindness can be contagious. Apparently, according to research by a California professor, one act of kindness can spawn others as people “pay it forward.” Just think what a different world we could live in if millions of people would simply do one kind thing every day. (For a preview of a documentary on the subject, click here.)

What is kindness? My definition includes consideration, gentleness and generosity. Being kind isn’t necessarily the same thing as being “nice.” Kindness has power. Choosing to be kind means we’ve thought through our actions and decided to act for the good of another. We can be kind with words, but more often kindness requires action. We don’t have to like someone to be kind. We don’t have to agree with them to be kind. We don’t even have to know them. We can, always, speak with respect, and treat others the way we would like to be treated. (I’m betting you don’t want to be shouted or honked at, or told you’re wrong or stupid, for example—all too frequent occurrences in this unkind world.)

Instead of taking our frustrations and anger out on others, let’s be kind. Instead of ranting about the state of the world, let’s help a neighbor take her trash to the curb, donate to a food bank or take our old towels to the animal shelter. Maybe we can’t make our country’s budget woes go away (or help the Rays win a game), but we can reach out to a friend, acquaintance or stranger and lighten his or her load just for a moment.  

“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.”
—Scott Adams

$500 Tip

Aaron's Last Wish

August 22, 2012

It started with a young man’s wish, left behind in his will: he wanted his family to leave an “awesome” tip for a server—not 25%, but something like $500 for a pizza. Aaron Collins died in July, just after his 30th birthday, and his family honored his last wish by collecting the funds for that “awesome tip,” eventually giving a $500 tip to a waitress who served them lunch. You can see the video here:



This act of generosity touched thousands of people who continue to send donations to the Collins family, who have pledged to keep leaving these tips until the money runs out. (As I write this, the donations stand at $58,787, or enough to give a $500 tip to 117 waiters or waitresses.) Others have taken it on themselves to leave their own substantial tips. (You can read more about this and see more videos by visiting aaroncollins.org.)

I love this story and wanted to share it with you. I’m touched by the love and generosity of the Collins family, and by the outflowing of love from people who have heard about what they are doing. You never know what a kind act will mean to someone, or how many people ultimately benefit.

Happiness

RX for Troubled Times

March 21, 2011

There’s no question that world events right now are as troubling as they’ve ever been in my adult life, barring perhaps the events of 9/11. I've been feeling frivolous to be writing a blog about “catching happiness” when it seems that all around me what people are really catching is misery. Then I remember the words I wrote in my “About Me” introduction: “I want this blog to be an exploration of simple pleasures, a place to go to hear about ordinary dreams and everyday adventures, and about all things positive that will inspire, encourage or even make us laugh. Heaven knows we need an antidote to all the bad news out there.”

I don’t believe my path and purpose in life is to “save the world.” What I can do is try to make life a little nicer for myself and those around me. Really, that’s all anyone can do, isn’t it? So here’s my very simple prescription for catching happiness, even in troubled times.

Be good to yourself. Be gentle and kind in your thoughts and expectations of yourself. When you’re hurting—afraid, worried, anxious, overwhelmed—ask yourself, “What would make me feel better right now? Ask this question several times until you arrive at one thing you can do right now that will really help. Sometimes it will be doing something active—once, unbelievably for me, it was cleaning my office. Sometimes it will be pampering, like taking a hot bath or a nap. Maybe it will be a brisk walk or some yoga poses. Maybe it will be a delicious meal with some good wine, or simply sitting outside and listening to the birds singing. Once you know what that one thing is, do it.

Coffee and beignets make me feel better
You can also be good to yourself by paying special attention to the details of your day-to-day life. Choose the pretty pocket notebook rather than the plain one. Eat lunch on real dishes rather than paper plates. Wear perfume every day, not just on special occasions. Buy the fresh flowers, replace the tatty underwear, make sure you have scissors in every room that needs them… If at all possible, deal with the things that constantly irritate you, and make the items you work with and around every day things that make you happy.

Which notebook should I choose?
Be good to others. While your heart aches for the people of Japan, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain (and the list could go on), chances are all you can do for them is to send up a prayer and maybe make a monetary donation. You can, however, be good to someone closer to home. You can volunteer your time in any number of ways locally, of course, but you can also make your family’s favorite meal, compliment the cashier at the supermarket, hug your child, or send a friend a card or gift for no reason. A nation, or even better, a world, filled with people trying to be good to one another—wouldn’t that be awesome?

Be kind in your thoughts about others, too. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Yes, there are some truly horrible people in the world, but most of us are muddling along, making mistakes, but doing the best we can.

Times like these make us grateful for what most of us have (a comfortable place to live and enough to eat) and what we don’t have (a nuclear reactor melting down or a government shooting at us). Our irritations and problems still exist, but seem less troublesome in comparison. Instead of feeling sad and overwhelmed, be good to yourself. Be good to others. And we’ll get through this, too.

When in doubt, curl up in a blanket
What small daily details can you tweak to lift your spirits? How can you do the same for others?