Those ladies have done it again!! Jodi and Robyn from WOW are stopping by with yet another amazing author. So put on your smiley face, sit back, and have some fun with today’s guest, Ms. Ruth Kaiser!!
ABOUT RUTH KAISER
Here is the message
That we want to share:
There’s a happier life,
You can pull from thin air.
From A child’s book of Optimism, A SMILEY BOOK OF COLORS
www.tinyurl.com/3c2qyd6
You Needn’t Wait for Happiness to Sneak Up on You.
I’m the Smiley Lady, both by virtue of my online art project, SpontaneousSmiley.com and by virtue of my sunny disposition.
I recently went a few verbal rounds with someone who asserted that my sunny outlook, my being decidedly optimistic (as in I decide to be optimistic) meant that the happiness I experience was artificial, synthetic, not to be valued.
His assertion was that true happiness was that great feeling that sneaks up on you when you’re doing something really fun or being with someone really great.
I don’t doubt that that is true. I just assert that it isn’t the only way to experience happiness. You needn’t wait for happiness to sneak up on you. You can search it out, you can sneak up on it.
One reporter’s headline about the Spontaneous Smiley Project was: Finding Mirth in the Mundane. That’s what this project is all about. But, when fun doesn’t seem to be there (ironing, errands, waiting to cross the street), you can make fun.
Here’s an example that comes right from getting ready this morning. Whenever I near the end of a jar of vitamins, I put the last few from the old jar into the new jar. Why? I figure those last guys have managed to survive every time I unscrew the lid. Why not toss them into the new jar. Why not give them a chance to survive a little longer.
And it’s got to be a big thrill for them (here I know I am my father’s daughter, talking about the feelings of objects). After all for the last many weeks their odds of getting consumed rose everyday as the number of vitamins remaining in the jar diminished. Suddenly they are tossed into a full jar. No longer are they one among a few; now they are one among many.
Who knows? They might make it to the end of this jar as well. I’m rooting for them. But I also like, that I’ll never know.
So the point here is that happiness isn’t only derived from things you describe as really, really this or really, really that. The lesson of Spontaneous Smiley is that it’s possible to derive happiness from minutia, from the littlest of things, the most mundane of chores, the least likely of objects.
Bird Poop? Yes! Garbage Can? Yes!
Peeling Paint? Yes! Broken Keyboard? Yes!
But if minutia is going to do it for you, it does require that you decide to notice minutia and define it as good, pleasant, beautiful, etc.
Smile. Be happy!
Ruth
These holes are on the floor where a gate swings to lock an entrance. I imagine the worker who drilled not 1 but 6 holes before getting one in the right place, was none too happy. I wish I’d been there to point out that it was Smiley good luck that his/her errors left a reason for all to smile. And no, we’re not laughing at you, we’re laughing at how great life can be!
ABOUT THE BOOK
The Smiley Book of Colors contains a rhyming verse written to get parents talking to their children about optimism, specifically about choosing happiness. The photo illustrations — arranged by color — are “Smileys” found hidden in fire trucks, flowers, clouds, even mommys latte. Although it is a children’s picture book, A Smiley Book of Colors is really for anyone who needs a burst of happiness in their day.
THANKS TO AUTHOR, RUTH KAISER, I HAVE
ONE (1) COPY OF HER BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.
CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.
by RUTH KAISER
by DAN ROMAIN
