A few years ago, I was surrounded by artists at a group dinner in Southern Tennessee.
The dinner was part of a retreat led by my mentor, Lori Putnam. We'd spent the day painting en plein air at a beautiful old barn that was being restored.
The gentleman restoring the barn, who I'd had a wonderful chat with earlier in the day, showed up at dinner with a sign he'd made on reclaimed wood. The sign read:
A smile is the prettiest thing you can wear.
Years later, the saying from that sign has stuck with me.
It confirmed what I have always known: A single smile can be a game changer; a day maker.
In one smile, we can communicate so much:
Hello!
I see you.
You are appreciated.
You are not alone.
You are loved.
It's a lot of pressure to put on one form of body language, and yet a smile has proven time and again that it's up to the task.
For the last year, though, smiles everywhere have been covered by masks. And will be for the foreseeable future.
A necessity, to be certain. And. Concealed smiles have led to even more disruption to another necessity in our lives: Connection.
This disruption, though, simply presents a challenge for us: To become more aware of how we spread the energy of a smile; to get clever in how we connect not just with our loved ones, but with strangers we pass on the street or at the grocery store.
And the good news is, this challenge is one that's easy to conquer, because...
We can carry the energy of our smiles through our eyes.
Masked or not, when we smile, our eyes can't help but communicate the silent energy that our lips activate.
Ironically, at a time when odds are against us in forging connections, I've been finding deeper connection by paying attention to people's eyes in a way I didn't have to before.
I've been calling it The Smiling Eyes Project in my own mind.
And it's time I brought that Project to life. But I need your help.
I've posted the above photo of my smiling eyes on my Facebook page. I'm hoping you'll do the same.
Visit me there, and comment on the thread with a photo of your masked face + smiling eyes. Add your picture by April 1, when I'll do a drawing for a free painting.
One year ago, we were at the very beginning of a major shift in our lives. Fear and uncertainty reigned.
And while we still have to be vigilant in how we interact, today we are gifted with the awareness that there are so many more ways to connect with people than we previously thought.
Just this morning, I pulled The Angel of Love from my oracle cards. It read: The Angel of Love is smiling on you and forging connections in the energetic world.
We may not be able to shake hands. Or hug. Or have someone see how our lips are curling up into a smile.
But that's not to say we can't forge genuine connections in this energetic world.
Keep smiling. Your eyes won't be able to hide it.
It's needed more than ever. And the people receiving your energy won't be able to deny it.