Mon Feb 28, 2011 at 16:00:00 PM EST
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Alma has an eye problem just now. With her blessing (& her list!) I am taking over posting until she can pick it back up.
Feel Better!!! {{{{ Alma}}}}
Firefly Dreaming is a year old and I thought it might be fun to look back at some of our first year posts that exemplify our firefly dreaming spirit and mission.
On this, the last day of Firefly Memories, I thought we should highlight one of the first essays at firefly and the first essay by this member here. Something so simple & yet often overlooked...
Original post with comments can be found here: Smiles by Alma
There are so many ways to lighten peoples loads. Sometimes people get so bogged down that they don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. I see fireflies, Rias fireflies specifically . Ways we can help to lift people up or at least make things easier.
Some of the things I'd like to discuss here over time is ways to deal with caring for people with alzheimers disease and other dementia, all kinds of arthritis, and mental illness.
I'll also want to discuss ways you may be able to help in your communities, ie. school parent groups, scouts, beautification committee, board of canvass, etc.
But I figured I'd start off with the easiest one: smiles. That old saying that they are free and easy to give is so true. They don't cost a dime and I find that not only can it pep others up but it makes me feel better too.
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| Dreamer :: Firefly Memories 1.0; Smiles |
There are several different methods of this. I try and smile no matter how I am feeling. I prefer to try and make eye contact, look impish, so the smile shows in my eyes, and give a fun smile. Now if its a handicapped person, I might tone down the impish and try and do added warmth so they don't think I'm laughing at them. On the outside the smiles probably look much the same but my feelings inside while I am doing the different smiles are quite different.
I find that about 80%-90% of people will smile back, and sometimes you can see what a difference its made to their day. Where they may have looked sad or harassed they now have a little smile or a little lighter step, and I feel better too.
Now if you live in a bad neighborhood you will only want to do this where you feel safe. I wouldn't recommend doing it in areas where making eye contact could make you a mark.
Please feel free to leave ideas in comments for how you get people to smile, and for other ways to help people that you would like to see discussed at firefly.
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