Brianna Kahane is not only an 8 year old violin prodigy, she is a humanitarian.
“I want to bring music back to Haiti and have
Mr. Joseph’s school rebuilt because I think all people
in Haiti were smiling and need to smile now too.”
Inspired by Haitian music teacher Romel Joseph, who was buried for 18 hours under the ruble of his music school during the Haitian earthquake, she has raised millions of dollars to help him rebuild his school and his smile. Thank you Brianna!
“Use your talents to make someone smile.
That’s what they are there for.”
~ Tara Stiles~
If you haven’t ever done yoga, Tara Stiles is a wonderful person from whom to begin learning about it. If you have done yoga, and don’t know her, check out her blog. Either way, she’ll make you smile while you’re on your way to a healthier body and life.
On one of her recent blog posts on Huffington Post, I found this quote about being yourself that is a great reminder of the value of doing what it takes to keep a smile on your face. It’s not always easy, but it is always worth it.
People we collectively admire, whether they are saints, teachers, leaders, actors, famous or not, all have one big thing in common. They all have followed their own path, walked in their own shoes, and tuned out the noise and distractions of anything that pulled them in any direction other than their own. We all can do this. It’s not easy but it is possible. There is not a single person on this planet that is exactly the same (until this whole clone thing gets kicked off). We each have something special to contribute to this world. It takes desire, strength, courage and a lot of tough choices to stay on your path, but you are worth it. We all are worth it. When you walk into a room and you are completely, totally you, that is worlds more powerful than a version of you that you have altered to try to be like someone or something else. >>
One of the ways to follow your own path and be completely totally you is to follow your smile. It will always lead you to someplace wonderful.
And please let me know where it leads you. Your smile makes me and the rest of the world smile too.
Teacher Danyl Johnson’s passion for music and teaching made it to X Factor! And what a gift that is for all of us. Watching him reach into people’s hearts singing “With A Little Help From My Friends,” had me out of my chair at home smiling and cheering along with the live audience.
Thank you to all the teachers around the world who make learning a joy and school a happy, healthy, safe place to be.
Michael Jackson burst into my life when I was a junior in high school and I first heard him sing, “I Want You Back” on the radio.
I remember driving around that summer with friends in my mom’s burgundy ‘68 mustang convertible with the white top down, going to Kopp’s Drive-In in Milwaukee and blasting the radio volume, singing along with this 10 year old boy whose voice secretly captivated even the most jaded and prejudiced of our still unofficially segregated city.
My friend Kathy, now a brilliant attorney representing Native Americans, danced and sang with abandon to his music and entertained us all at 16 years old, leading to smiles that erupted into peals of laughter and a group sing-a-long. In a recent phone call remembering that special time, she said to me, “I think his music opened doors for all of us to really appreciate African-American music and other cultures in a way we couldn’t have otherwise.”
Fast forward 40 years, in San Diego, just 90 miles away from Neverland and Staples Center where the Memorial was going on today, I watched on CNN as Michael Jackson was being remembered by his close friend Brook Shields. I was surprised to learn that even with all the masterpiece songs he wrote and performed, his favorite song was also one of my favorites: “Smile.”
While writing this post I was also surprised to discover during a google search for the “Smile” lyrics that they were written by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons in 1954 for Nat King Cole and to the melody written by Charlie Chaplin in 1936 to accompany his last silent film “Modern Times.” Perhaps a trite detail unless you consider a deeper meaning: a genuine smile transcends all human barriers including race, culture, language, age, gender, personality, and often, even attitude.
Some with “atittude” say that “Smile though your heart is aching” is being inauthentic. Sometimes, depending on the circumstances. No question, there are times when it feels like it’s impossible to smile, and given Michael Jackson’s life and death, he had many of those times, like we all do if we’re honest with each other. And yet, he kept trying to smile and share his creative genius in whatever way he could.
My own experience and new scientific research is showing that consciously choosing to smile makes you feel better and relieves pain and sadness in the moment. And yes, the song’s lyrics do say, “Hide every trace of sadness…what’s the use of crying,” which is a great drive-time platitude, but as in the case of Michael Jackson and anyone else with significant pain of any type, smiling as your primary strategy to hide sadness instead of addressing the pain head-on with professional help doesn’t eliminate personal challenges and weaknesses, and often makes things worse.
But smiling is an empowering short-term coping strategy, especially combined with singing and dancing and connecting with people you love. Your smile has the power to lift you or someone you love out of a funk. Your smile is the inspiration to get everyone focused on what’s right with our world so we have the strength to heal what’s wrong in our world. Here’s the catch though, we have to take a stand to help each other choose to smile and sing and dance AND lovingly witness each other’s pain when we most want to ignore it - again and again and again - to keep the energy moving in a healthy direction.
It’s easy enough to focus on our own shortcomings, even more so others, especially when they’re alive, and so much easier to focus on their gifts and strengths after they’ve died. I don’t pretend to understand Michael Jackson’s lifestyle choices, so I choose to focus on his gifts and learn from his shadow behavior, believing that ultimately this choice is what transforms human frailities into divine legacies.
My prayer and vision for our world is that the legacy of Michael Jackson will guide us as a global community to choose to carry on the absolutely life-saving power of holding each other in our strengths, celebrating each other’s gifts, and bringing light to our shadows while we’re alive so that the only choice each one of us can heartfully and logically make when we struggle is to heal the shadow, seek the light in our smile and keep choosing to fully and creatively live the life we’ve been gifted.
SMILE
Smile though your heart is aching;
Smile even though it’s breaking.
When there are clouds in the sky, you’ll get by.
If you smile through your fear and sorrow,
Smile and maybe tomorrow,
You’ll see the sun come shining through for you.
Light up your face with gladness,
Hide every trace of sadness.
Although a tear may be ever so near,
That’s the time you must keep on trying,
Smile, what’s the use of crying?
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile,
If you just smile.
That’s the time you must keep on trying,
Smile, what’s the use of crying?
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile.
We mourn the loss of Michael Jackson and may not be able to bring him back, but we can thank him by choosing to pay forward the legacy of his creative spirit and loving heart. Watch him singing, “Smile,” on this touching video tribute.
If you’re unable to view the video, here is the YouTube link: http://bit.ly/v6Xom
This is such a fun song by Dan Zanes guaranteed to make you smile. Take a 2 minute break, turn up your speakers and keep smiling while you’re listening. When you consciously smile while you’re listening to and watching something you enjoy, you crank up your internal endorphin machine that helps relieve more stress from your body and increases your happiness level.
SMILE (lyrics) by Dan Zanes
every time I think of you,
smile for a while
that’s the one thing you always do
smile smile smile
acting out stories and hugging your friends
smile for a while
i know what i’ll do when i see you again
i’m gonna smile smile smile
chorus:
like ripples in a pond
or runners who pass the baton
good feelings will go on for mile after mile
and your big heart circles the world
every time that you smile
doing those voices and telling your jokes
smile for a while
your crazy hairdos and your thrift shop coats
smile smile smile
every time you break into a broadway song
smile for a while
the whole world starts singing along
smile smile smile
well you know i love you and i’m glad you’re my friend
smile for a while
you know what i’ll do when i see you again
smile smile smile
What you do is so important. And when you forget it, watch this short video clip, “Validation.â€
Validating yourself or someone else with a smile and a compliment is one of the fastest ways to make your life better and someone else’s. My friend and gifted art therapist Donna Otter just sent me a YouTube video “Validation.†It is SO GOOD that it even resurrected this blog after a year of silence! “Validation” is one of the best short films I’ve ever seen. I smiled, I laughed, I cried - all within 15 minutes. I realized again how much we all need each other’s smiles and encouraging words every day wherever we find ourselves - waiting lines are a great place to start, and especially the DMV office.
You just never know when your smile will change someone’s life. Kudos to the creators of this film. If everyone followed the heart and humor of Hugh Newman (the lead character in this film), there would be peace everywhere on our precious planet, or at the very least a lot more happy people floating around. Peace starts with a smile. Watch the video (as of this writing there have been 969,066 views!), and then go give someone a genuine 16 second smile and tell them how great they are. I’m sending you a 16-second smile right now. YOU are great!
He says he parks there every morning. Never misses.
I’ve never noticed him before. Hmmm….wonder if it has anything to do with the mindset I start out walking with - worries, frustration, “if-only”s, “yeah, but”s, all the thoughts I’m hoping to release and transform into inspired action on my walk.
Lost in thought, I get out of my car at Torrey Pines Beach at my regular spot near Lifeguard Station #3. The air is crisp, the morning fog still covering the sky, ocean waves quieter than normal. What else do I hear? Something strangely familiar that I can’t name.
Music pours into my left ear as I prepare to hike from my car down the rocks to the beach. As I look for the source of the melody, I am baffled. I can’t see where the sound is coming from. And then, a glint of gold catches the morning light inside the car parked a few spaces down from mine. I walk up to the window and as my eyes adjust to the darkness, I feel like the amazed “Pa in his cap” in the “The Night Before Christmas,” when he says, “When what to my wondering eyes should appear…”
What is that!? Oh my gosh! It’s a man playing a trumpet sitting in the middle of the back seat of his SUV. I laugh out loud, smile at him and continue on my walk…for about five steps. I am literally being pulled back to talk with him. I must find out more about anyone and anything that brings a genuine smile and even more so, laughter to my heart when it has just a second before felt so heavy.
I wave again and smile. This big Asian grin smiles back and continues to blow on his trumpet, finishing a song I can’t quite make out.
“That’s AMAZING!” I say. “My name’s Mary. What’s yours?”
“Wrong Wrong.”
“Wrong? Wrong?” My mind is very busy right now. Good Lord! What did he say?! Did I hear right! Did he say something else I didn’t hear? Did he really say “Wrong Wrong”? How could someone look so happy with a name like that in our American culture?!” I stop the monkeymind and ask, “How do you spell that?”
“R-o-n-g-R-o-n-g.”
I smile for the double entendre. “Great to meet you! This is fantastic! Please keep playing. It’s beautiful!
We chat for a minute. How can I not ask? I do. “May I take your picture and put it on my website? And if you give me your email address I’ll send you a copy.”
He nods yes to the photo, and says not necessary to the email. “I practice here every day.” He grins even bigger and goes back to playing his music.
I continue on my walk, a smile on my face and joy in my heart.
That’s the Smile Diet in Action, enthusiasm in action. And the beauty is, this kind of wonder is available to anyone, any time, any place by following these simple steps:
Will to be open. If you’re feeling low, pause and intend to feel better.
Notice or look for something that makes you feel go(o)d and stop to appreciate it.
Smile. Chances are you already are, but notice it and hold it. Yes. The 16-Second Smile. Do it while you’re appreciating and you’ll feel even better.
Engage with the person or situation in whatever way you can. Greet. Compliment. Introduce yourself. Ask to join in. Don’t just stand there. Actually, yes, do stand there if that’s all you can do, and if you can do more, do something else.
Tell someone else about your experience. Be enthusiastic in the sharing and don’t let them rain on your parade (and don’t rain on your own parade either). Whoever has the stronger energy shifts the energy.
Is there a Rong Rong in your life that you’re overlooking because you’re so focused on what’s not working in your life? Think Rong Rong is Right Right, the next time you’re feeling low or cynical or just burned out, and go out and look for someone to thank for making you smile. Or fart around with a musical instrument. Yes, fart around. It’s a lot more fun. And let go of that crazy-busy routine for a little while and smile.
I’ll save you a seat for the next “Rong Rong and the Ocean Orchestra” concert.
May You Be Blessed. This is such a great site! Every day you get a new quote and founder Kate Nowak’s perspective on the quote, in both visual and audio formats that can be listened to in less than a minute. Really helps reduce stress and increase smiles.
Today’s insight from Kate that speaks to the power of The Smile Diet’s exercise of conscious smiling is the idea that there is only one letter’s difference between the words “react” and “create” - the letter “e,” which she chooses to see as standing for effort. I like the creativity and action in that idea.
Instead of reacting to all the negativity in the world, forgetting to smile, and hoping for beauty and joy to put a smile on your face, by using a little extra effort, you can choose to consciously smile for 16 seconds and create beauty and joy wherever you are. You bless your body, mind, spirit and the world when you do that. And that is so powerful!
There’s also a great video-short, the “May You Be Blessed Movie” to watch too. The movie was part of the “One Million Blessings in One Hundred Days Experiment,” which was accomplished this past May. Watching the movie is a great way to give yourself an enthusiastic smile break for a few minutes.
And if you want more wisdom, Kate’s site Live Abundantly offers more ways to keep a smile on your face.
“When you rise in the morning, form a resolution to make the day happy for one fellow creature.”
~ Sydney Smith Â
What a simple and beautiful way to heal the world’s pain and create more joy, one fellow creature at a time. And a great reminder to do your 16-second smile in the morning and commit to sharing it with one other person every day, maybe even the person who most pushes your buttons.Imagine if every time we connected with another person, our only intention was to make the moment happier for that person, whether it’s the button-pusher or the person in the mirror.Â
When was the last time you gave yourself or someone else a 16-Second Smile?
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PS. If you haven’t seen Mr. Positive’s new movie, “The Rules of Life,” treat yourself and take a 3 minute break now. You’ll smile the whole way through it.
After meeting with a client for whom I’ll be presenting my Lead, Live, and Love with Enthusiasm seminar in January, I was driving through the art-filled city of Escondido, CA and drove past a sign that said “The Grape Day Park.”
At first, the humor in the name “Grape Day Park” was lost on me. I remembered they have several wineries on the outskirts of town. But then, as I slowed down, my eyes landed on something that made me smile and then laugh out loud. It is a great/grape day indeed! I drove around the block just to see it again and then parked the car to get an up close look. Made me want to go down the slide. Next time I visit, I will! Enjoy…
If you haven’t ever done yoga, Tara Stiles is a wonderful person from whom to begin learning about it. If you have done yoga, and don’t know her, check out 
