Ponder this Sunday: the half smile

In his book The Miracle of Mindfulness, Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, writes about the half smile. When you smile a half smile, you are sending good vibrations to yourself and to others who see you. The Mona Lisa smiles a half smile. When a mother sees her baby smile, dopamine flushes through her body and makes her feel good. I am sure I have read that smiling changes the body chemistry, lightens ones mood.

I have experimented with this and smiled a half smile when walking among people. So often, I receive smiles back. This doesn't have to be a big, teeth baring grin. Just a gentle smile, like Bibbity's smile above.

And, surprise, if I am in a bad mood and smile the half smile just for myself, my mood seems to lighten. This isn't meant to be a grin and bear it kinda thing. There are times when crying, or being miserable seem the right thing to do to express my feelings. But, what is the harm in giving a half smile a whirl? Try this: experiment with the half smile and see what happens. Share your findings here if you wish.

above sketch of Bibbity is one I drew during last years "Big Draw."

The Big Draw and Tuesday's drawing

This is a doll someone gave me. I take her everywhere. She is so off-kilter. I think she represents my wild-woman self, my gypsy self, my brave self.

For my readers who may wonder why I'm suddenly posting drawings I wanted to tell you about The Big Draw. This is a month-long event in England to encourage people of all ages to draw. 1000 venues across the nation host drawing events which are mostly free. How magnificent!!!

I know about the big draw from Elizabeth's blog. She lives in Devonshire and she challenged her blog readers to join her in posting a drawing a day. I was hesitant to join in as I didn't think I could keep up being still a semi-basket case from my recent life transition. But did a couple of drawings and so far have continued each day, missing a few at the beginning. Haven't done much drawing recently but am finding this fun. So portable too. All you need is a pencil or other drawing instrument and a sheet of paper.