The vibes are bad in the world right now. Everyone is angry at something, all the time.

A lot of people’s anger is justified and rational. I even believe that, in moderation, anger is a healthy emotion to have. What isn’t healthy, though, is letting your anger consume you and control everything about your life.

A couple years ago, I made the following commitment to myself:

Once per day:

  • Do something, no matter how small, that makes someone else smile
  • Take note of something someone else did that made me smile

When I started this, I treated it as a really structured thing. The longer I kept up with it, the more it became part of my subconscious - instead of needing to actively reflect on “what made me happy today?” the joyous parts of life would find me on their own, and I would recognize and enjoy them in the moment.

I strongly encourage anyone to try this. If you try it, and want to share, please feel welcome to send me an email about your experience. My email is lola@egherman.com.

Here are some of the things in my life that make me smile:

Nature, and especially my garden

Every morning I go out and look at my pepper plants. I love my pepper plants. I talk to them. They listen.

Looking at my plants makes me smile.

Listening to passionate people talk

When someone cares a lot about something, it shows. Even if I don’t understand what they’re talking about, or share the same interest, just hearing them talk and share their thoughts is innately joyful.

Passionate and enthusiastic people make me smile.

Love

I’m really lucky to have so many people in my life who love me. I love them back.

Being loved makes me smile.

This one specific time I was boarding a flight

One time I was boarding a flight, and the gate agent was welcoming everyone onboard by first name. I am transgender, and have yet to change my legal name. The gate agent saw my legal name pop up on screen, paused for a moment, and then welcomed me without using my name.

It would have been so easy for them to stay on autopilot, or not take the time to think about “yeah that person really does not look like a [name]” but instead they chose kindness and respect.

This made me smile.

Teachers and Librarians

I love teachers! I love libraries! I love librarians! They are all so wonderful! Please go utilize the educational resources available to you to their fullest extent.

Teachers and Librarians make me smile.

Well written, detailed patch notes

While I was writing this, I got a notification for a software update for my pebble watch. The change log was more than just “bug fixes and stability improvements” - it had detailed stuff about what was actually fixed, for example:

Compass calibration now completes in weak magnetic field regions, e.g. South America

Technical writing from people who care make me smile.

Rabbits hanging out and bounding around in my yard

There are 2 or 3 rabbits I see in the yard each morning.

The rabbits in my yard make me smile.

Open Source Software

I love free and open source software for a whole host of reasons, that deserve their own blog post to fully cover.

Open source software (and the people who make it) make me smile.

Corn mazes

I love corn mazes! This fall I am going to try and do as many corn mazes as I can I think. Look out for the “Best and worst corn mazes in Minnesota” post in a few months.

Corn mazes (and other fall orchard-y activities) make me smile.

Cars with fun bumper stickers

Every time I see a car with fun bumper stickers on it I take a picture send it to my high school creative writing teacher. (Who has a lot of bumper stickers on their car)

Bumper stickers with personality, and the ritual I have with my teacher, make me smile.

Public transit

I love taking public transit (especially trains!) I wish the infrastructure was better in the US so I could more often.

Taking public transit, and it’s mere existence, makes me smile.

The existence of breakaway light poles

If you don’t know, light poles (and other things you might hit while driving) are designed intentionally weak so they yield instead of killing you. There are people who their entire job is to minimize the chance of someone dying from making a mistake.

Society caring about others in subtle ways makes me smile.

Thinking about the things that make me smile

Writing this post has made me really happy. I hope you take a moment to slow down, and identify the happy things in life.

There’s a lot of positivity in the world if you open your eyes to look.

Thinking about what makes me smile, makes me smile.