Thursday, March 28, 2013

A Smiley Face : The Power of Suggestion


Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.
                                                                                      ---Dr. Seuss 
K1 rarely smiles...if you look at his pictures - they look more like a grimace than a smile (sorry dude!). Me on the other hand I can be the definition of a smiley face...honestly most days now all I feel like doing is scowling or moping BUT I still chin up and smile.Smiles as Marianne La-France in her book Why Smile - says are Social acts of Consequence.Social psychologists Craig Smith and Heather Scott cleverly put it," the face has the only skeletal muscles of the body that are used, not to move ourselves, but to move others."



Don't you ever wonder why there are few more pervasive symbols than the "Smiley Face"...I always put a smiley face on the notes I write for K2, it's in my signature, I add smiley faces to my emails (sometimes..its not such a bad thing - READ THIS...still don't believe me, too bad don't join the club). It is such a perfect icon : positive, simple, self-evident...some may say vacuous but to me it is suggestive...a reminder to self to seek happiness, be happy and spread that happiness around if possible.

Moreover, in my  humble opinion  - smiles are not merely consequential; they are indispensable to physical health, psychological well-being and social viability.When I smile at you... and you smile back at me - it does make the world seem a bit more of a happier place, the sun shines a little brighter and it  drives the doldrums away...one of the quotes in the book by sociologist Erving Goffman suggested - that the refusal to put on a happy face is not a sign of authenticity but an overactive ego (ahem! K1...highlighting this quote for you :-) )...now quit asking me to smile less and start smiling more...

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