Project S.M.I.L.E.

Infectious Smile

When was the last time someone smiled at you and that made your whole day good?

Life is not always a walk in the park. There will be times that things may not go your way. A day in a life can be a boss shouting at you for not meeting targets, low exam score even after sleepless nights, heavy traffic and you're running late or a rejection from someone you love. The demands of life can be stressing and there is no escape route to it.

There are plenty of people in the world and everyone is going through something and a smile could mean a lot to someone.

I saw this post by @dobartim (link here) where he asked for pictures of faces wearing the best smiles. He collated all the pictures he received in one post, and browsing through it made me smile, thus the idea of creating this project.

The vision of this project is to put a smile into someone's face. In the aim of being a beacon of hope to all, here's one project that I will be doing to brighten the days of everyone. I am planning on sharing this weekly on a Monday (should my schedule be friendly). As you have known, I am one lonely soul and I don't want my feed to be always about that.

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Project S.M.I.L.E

(Smile More, Ignite Life's Energy)

Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful. - Thich Nhat Hanh

Wouldn't it be nice to begin and end a day seeing someone smile at you? Just one smile can change a bad day to a beautiful one. It is a beauty that is infectious. There are plenty kinds of smile; innocent, friendly, painful, accomplished, but has only one effect- it brightens a day.

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Importance of Smiling (Why should one smile according to experts)

I've done my research just to prove that a smile can ignite life's energy. I saw one helpful article that explains it all. According to research, smiling produces neuropeptides (which allows our neurons to communicate), which may help in fighting stress. When you smile you also release the feel good neurotransmitters dopamine, endorphin, and serotonin. This lower down heart rate and blood pressure, and relaxes our body. The endorphins act as a pain reliever and the serotonin as anti-depressant or mood-lifter.

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It has also been reported that seeing an attractive smiling face activates a region in your brain that process sensory rewards which is called orbitofrontal cortex. This means seeing someone smile makes you feel rewarded.

Smiling may also affect those people around you, it only suggest that a smile can indeed be infectious. Cingulate cortex (an unconscious automatic response area) is the part of your brain that is responsible for your facial expression of smiling when you are happy or replicating someone else's smile. Thanks to the article There’s Magic In Your Smile, How Smiling Affects Your Brain by Ronald E Riggio Ph.D. which helped me understand the importance of smiling.

This mean that smiling is a great, natural substitute to cure stress. Today, I will be sharing some of the different source of smiles I captured and hope that this will also leave a smile on your face.

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Innocence

A simple peek-a-boo, distorting my face, doing baby talk, being silly in front of him, are just a few of his favorites that I did just to capture his wonderful smile.

A smile so refreshing, a smile that doesn't know problems. Seeing a smile from a baby is one of the best way to de-stress self. Life seems to be so beautiful in their eyes and seeing them happy is a load off anyone's head.

Did you know that when we make a baby smile we are helping them in their brain development? So next time you see a baby, feel free to make them smile. Not only will it help you relieve stress, but you will also help them in developing their cognitive skills.

This is my nephew (son of my sister), and I took the shot while we are at the mall. This baby loves to go out of the house, which is evident on his face. His innocent smile can make anyone's day.

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Genuine

He doesn't have to do anything to make her happy. Just seeing him happy brings happiness to her heart.

The smile of a mother seeing her kid happy is the most genuine smile. Everyone of us has a mother and it is a happy scene seeing our mothers happy and smiling.

This is a raw moment captured on camera. This is my friend/colleague at work. We were eating that time in Tiendesitas (somewhere in Philippines) and waiting for our scrumptious meal. She was playing with her son when I decided to take pictures of them. Her playful kid was teasing her and there comes the shot.

The love they have for each other forged a wonderful smile on their faces.

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Accomplished

Time has wrinkled their faces, and thinned their hair, but it never set them apart. Their love has surpassed time and it can still be seen in their eyes. Their smiles showed how accomplished they've been with their lives.

Our grandparents are our living proof of strength. They have gone through a lot but you can still paint a smile on their faces. Seeing them smile portrays accomplishment in life.

This is a picture captured on my grandma's 82nd birthday. We asked our grandpa to stand beside her as we sing "Happy Birthday." They were laughing and were happy because it has been a long time since this thing happened again. Sadly, just recently my grandma already bid her good bye to us. This served as her last birthday party.

I hope you can give time to visit your grandparents no matter how busy your schedule can be. Ugh! I was trying my best to make this post a happy one so please don't feel sad about my grandma. She has accomplished a lot and is now in peace.

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Eccedentesiast

She faked her smiles before and people thought she was happy, but deep inside she is broken. It is a happy scene to see her smiling again, recovering from her pain.

A smile from someone suffering from pain due to illness shows how selfless a person is. That no matter what they're going through they will smile at you to make you feel better, because they understand how sadness feel.

This is me doing a selfie with the best smile I can offer. I took this photo as a requirement at work to introduce ourselves with the agents. As shameless as it can be I am posting this and hope someone finds my smile beautiful (Lol). No, I am sharing this to showcase a smile from someone who is struggling. Only proves that whatever you are going through, you can always give time to smile.

Just be careful with the eccedentesiast. These are the people who fake smiles. They are the ones who need our genuine smiles.

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Selfless

As furry as it is, it can also project a smile. Smiling in the presence of its master either because it is happy to see its master or is waiting for food.

Who says only us humans can smile? Here is one of our dogs projecting its best smile. It is not yet proven that animals can also smile like humans do. It can only be a muscle reflex on their mouth that caused the curve on the end. Nonetheless, this creature here made me smile when I took this photo.

This was one afternoon when I called our dog and asked it to sit. I eventually took my camera out and he was just steady giving me that smile. Who knows maybe our pets can also display emotions and smile when it sees us.

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Smile More, Ignite Life's Energy

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Smile more until all those sad face turns into a smiling face. Smiling will not only make you look good, it will also change the way people see you. They will see you as someone who is trustworthy, reliable, etc.

Smile often not only for yourself, but for the others too. I hope that I have achieved my goal to make you believe in the power of a smile and to make you smile on the photos I shared. I hope that after this you will be smiling more often and infect others.

By the time you wake up and face another day, or you might be awake now entering a new day, or maybe you are in the middle of your day, I hope that you will realize how important a simple smile is, which can bring a natural cure to stress or even to depression.

If someone smiled at you, return them a smile. If someone is not smiling at you, still give them a smile. Let's continue to be a beacon of hope through our smiles.

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