Spontaneous Smile Experiences…SSE’s!

If I remember correctly, it was 8 times. Well, 7, if you don’t count the indigo bunting, but that was what started it all.

Let me explain.

After my very special dog-of-the-heart Lucy Blue took her last breath, Rory and I stood out on my deck and toasted her life and all the joy and stories she gave us. While we were there, an indigo bunting flew by.  And that made me smile. And in the days and weeks afterwards, I saw a lot of them. So, I smiled a lot.

Now, whenever I see an indigo bunting, I instinctively smile.

The other morning, I was out on the trail with Isla, my crazy red heeler, and I saw an indigo bunting. Naturally, I smiled. That smile kept me feeling light and happy throughout our romp.  After Isla was done exploring (and romping), I headed inro to Erin to get some gas.

Behind the gas station, there were two cars parked. A man was lifting a bag of toys and a backpack from one vehicle and putting them into the other, with the help of an older woman. A little girl, maybe 6 years old, was standing next to one of the cars, staring into the driver’s side mirror. I could see that she was laughing and dancing and making funny faces at herself in the mirror.

And I smiled again, you know, one of those big grins you get when you see little kids having fun.

And that got me thinking.

How often do we, especially in these times of post-Covid, political upheaval, taxes and tariffs and all this uncertainty, genuinely smile? I mean really one of those eye crinkling grins?

The literature tells us there are approximately 19 different types of smiles, with only 6 appearing when we are expressing real happiness. The other 13 could be fear smiles,  embarrassed smiles or even smiles of contempt.

I decided that I would do a test – subjective and with little statistical accuracy…but still an assessment of my personal smile quotient. I would be mindful the entire day, and see how often I went from a resting, quiet face to a smile that lifted my heart.

I called them spontaneous smile experiences…SSE’s!

(And I don’t mean those polite smiles that we all make when we think we should smile…. I mean the truly big ones that are involuntary and unplanned, and light up your face).

So far, I had logged in 3 SSE’s for the day.

The next smile came from Isla on our afternoon walk – she found a puddle and she was overjoyed!

And if you know Isla, she loves to dive into puddles, splash around like some feral creature trying to escape capture and then wiggle her way over to rub herself on my legs. I smiled and laughed out loud! .

SSE #4 in the books!

When I got back home, I called my business associate (and wonderful friend) Bart. And as soon as I heard his voice…well, in truth, as soon as I heard the phone ring, I started to smile. We were then laughing in moments, and I know we talked about work eventually, but when you work with your friend, there is always so much to share.

That makes 5 SSE’s. Pretty cool, even for someone who does smile a lot.

I then decided that perhaps an hour or two of chasing elusive brook trout might be a good way to end my day. So, I hauled up my waders, drove over to the river, and crawled (quite literally) through, over and under fallen cedar branches to get to the new little spot where I have found Salvelinus fontinalis – the most colourful of trout, with a dark green back, red spots encircled by a blue halo, and black tipped fins with striking white edges. Even the scrappy small ones are like a natural masterpiece that Mother Nature hand painted. And each time I was lucky enough to persuade a brookie to take my dry fly, I grinned and laughed and felt so lucky to be part of this spectacle of beauty.

7 SEE’s and I hadn’t finished my day yet!

I smiled all the way home, which, to be noted, I am not counting as an SSE.

That is just my RHF – Resting Happy Face. But I did get a text from my son, and as soon as I heard his unique text sound, I grinned and again felt so lucky.

I was pretty certain that any spontaneous smiling was done for the day. I was going to do my yoga, play a bit of fiddle, eat some dinner and then relax. But in the middle of my yoga, during a downward dog, I looked through my arms and legs to the hummingbird feeder in my kitchen window….and there were 2 hummers there! Smile explosion ensues, because I have seen so few hummingbirds this spring!

SO, counting the indigo bunting, I accumulated 8 SSE’s over the period of one day. They came from a few birds, a happy little girl, a friend, a dog, a son, and a few fish!

Each of these unforced smiles originated from an experience that was special and touched my heart in some way. And knowing me, I probably had even more SSEs throughout the day, but I was so busy appreciating the experience that I neglected to add them to my count.

I can hear you all thinking - counting SSEs may seem somewhat inconsequential and possibly foolish in the bigger scheme of things. But reading the newspaper at the start of that day left me a bit wounded and saddened about the state of the world. Being on the lookout for these unprompted moments of joy set my sprit on a better course. Experiencing them and then sharing them with you makes my world a better place.

Could you try it? Why not? I recommend that you take a few moments out of your day and see if you can experience your own SSEs. I am sure it will bring a smile to your face!!