How to Administer Facelifts

I gave five face lifts this morning

I thought it was a good time to dispense facelifts. In rare cases, surgical face lifts improve people’s appearances, but in many more, we have to squint our eyes to remember the faces we once loved.

It’s not easy to do surgical face lifts for strangers walking by on the street; plus we don’t want to erase their character, well-earned creases, and proof-of-living-lines. My method requires no surgery.   I gave five face lifts this morning and I’m determined to reach my daily quota of fifteen.

Here’s how: Just smile at people as they walk by. That’s IT.
(Stay with me here.)

Most humans will smile back without analysis, suspicion, or other causes of hesitancy, and you will notice how their appearance instantly improves 160% (sometimes 180%).

Note: You have to be in the right neighborhood. Some people are smile-resistant: They are immune to the smiles of others, determined to be repellent to the goodwill because they rule it as bothersome, or are seemingly smug.  This happens frequently in Whole Foods, Bloomingdale’s, and The Kentucky Derby. Unhappy rich people, distrustful souls, and people overcome by something that truly gives them a legitimate reason not to smile may not smile back. But, even in those circumstances, there are exceptions.

It may not feel like there’s anything to smile about right now, my smiles are not as frequent as in pre-election times, excessive cursing is more the rule. There are things to smile about even now. For instance: cats, dogs, and sheet cake. Oh, yeah, art, poetry, and music. Oh, and being alive.

Joy sustains us, in the darkness we must turn to small flickers of light.

“Joy is not a function of a life free of friction and frustration but a function of focus and inner elevation by the lever of choice.”. -Maria Popova, Marginalian

Joy is not turning away from legitimate reasons for sorrow, but integrating them and choosing that, despite the despair and the negation of hope we have encountered in our personal, political and cultural lives, there is a choice to be made of where to pay attention. We have an inner life we can design to at the very least, rest from the tumult and at the most, elevate our spirits so we can be a light for others.. 

The capacity for joy is what makes all that other stuff bearable.

Walden University says, “Smiling increases mood-enhancing hormones while decreasing stress-enhancing hormones, including cortisol, and adrenaline. It also reduces overall blood pressure. And because you typically smile when you're happy, the muscles used trigger your brain to produce more endorphins—the chemical that relieves pain and stress.” I need more endorphins, less hangovers.

 I won’t tell you to smile, it’s annoying, doesn’t work, and I hate it when people tell me to do that.  But just imagine I’m passing you on the street and smiling at you… what would YOU do?

In furious creativity,

Jill