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As someone who writes a blog, I'm always looking for inspiration for entry ideas. Occasionally, I find something that so perfectly expresses what I feel that I'm delighted to share it with you. I was reading Pondering the Myriad Things a few days ago and found this entry. Thank you Theresa!
It's amazing how the simple act of smiling can change everything in an instant. Smiling and mouthing "sorry!" when you accidentally cut someone off in traffic can diffuse an potentially ugly road-rage situation. Smiling and waving at your neighbor increases 'community' sentiment, even if you don't say a word. When we were talking about this, I thought about the phrase "guerrilla gardening" - the practice where people go ahead and plant flowers and edible plants on vacant lots, boulevards, or wherever a bit of dirt is available... It occurred to me that we could all be practicing "guerrilla smiling" as well!
Lately I've been waving and smiling at oncoming drivers on the country roads I take on my way into work every morning. When we first moved here, almost everyone waved at everyone else this way, but it has sort of dropped off over the past couple of years, as more people moved into the new acreages that were being built. I've decided to start doing it again, because it's nice and I like it.
So, this morning I just raised my two fingers in a peace-sign looking greeting and the lady in the car coming towards me broke into a big grin! I have no idea who she is, but I know that both she and I felt better in that moment than we did the moment before!
As Theresa concluded, "Smiling for peace - that's something we all can do!"'
Picture courtesy this flickr site.