World Smile Day

By Author: Srishti
Total Articles: 52
Comment this article

If you are down in the dumps, a dazzling smile has the capacity to make your heart sing like a lark. Such is the immense power of a simple smile to make you and the world around you happy.
The most widely known symbol of a smile is the ‘smiley’. Harvey Ball, a commercial artist from Worcester, Massachusetts was the person who in 1963 created the smiley face. But as time passed this symbol of good will and cheer came to be over commercialized. Everywhere in the market the smiley could be seen being used most profusely and became over used and very common. Harvey became concerned that the original purpose and real meaning of the smiley would eventually get lost due to constant over repetition. It was to make sure that the smiley never loses its actual intent,that the idea of a World Smile Day occurred to Harvey Ball and he chose the first Friday of October to be celebrated every year as the World Smile Day all over the world.
The first World Smile Day was celebrated at Worcester, the Smiley hometown, in 1999 and it has continued to be celebrated every year since then. This year the World Smile Day is on the 3rd ...
... of October. The smiley is beyond any national, religious or political boundaries and so is a smile. The idea that the World Smile Day seeks to put forward is that each of us should devote at least one day to smiles and doing kind acts for others. The objective is “Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile”!
As Mother Teresa said “Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.” We must never forget this and the World Smile Day is a beautiful way to remind every human being about how a smile can make the world a warmer, much better place full of feelings of kindness, friendliness, care and concern.
The Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation was created in 2001 after Harvey Ball’s demise to honor his name and memory. The Foundation continues to be the official sponsor of World Smile Day each year. Charles P Ball, the son of Harvey Ball said “My father created World Smile Day to remind people to be positive and optimistic. He believed Smiley connected the world to practice kindness, and share a smile. It is an icon that translates through languages and cultures, and is world renowned.” This is the spirit that this day should ignite in our hearts, to make home there forever in keeping with the slogan of the Smile Foundation “improving this world, one smile at a time.”
The world always looks brighter from behind a smile. The World Smile Day aims to make use of the social media to create awareness about the day so that more and more people can get involved in increasing the number of smiling faces in the world. A smile costs us nothing but can be the most precious treasure for someone who has lost all hope in life. It can dispel the darkness and illuminate the world with the light of optimism.
Spreading smiles and doing acts of kindness makes us happy too along with others. So lets take up the cause and put a smile on the face of planet earth. Lets spread the message of World Smile Day. Activities can be organized in schools, colleges and institutes to make the youth aware of the cheer they can spread with little deeds of kindness and a beautiful smile. Posters to create awareness about the day can be put up by us in our neighbourhood. We can also talk to our friends and family, in fact to all our acquaintances about the day and its significance.
People, schools, businesses and organizations around the world have also celebrated World Smile Day in so many fun filled and creative ways like attempts to break the record for largest human smiley faces, delivering meals and smiley treats to needy, smile events in hospitals, making videos, choral performances, releasing balloons with World Smile Day messages, a hot air balloon with the message, circus performances, pie eating contests and so much more.
We can all think of our own innovative ways to promote the World Smile Day wherever we are. Every action, every effort counts. Every smile will bring many more. Every smile will be a step further in creating a world that knows no boundaries or divisions. Every smile will be a step further in creating a world that speaks the universal language of love shining through smiling eyes and curved lips accompanied by humanistic gestures.
So, beginning this moment, smile and make others smile!
Source - janpratinidhi