Undisciplined Smiling 

We are a wild bunch of believers, those of us who break the rules for a good cause.  We practice undisciplined smiling when others preach doom and gloom… there is more than a method to our madness of love.  We are not disrespectful of somber predictions for our shared future, but unwilling to let resignation be our best shot.  We are joyfully insistent on the alternative of hope.  We are unapologetically committed to trusting in something bigger than ourselves. 

 Steven Charleston, Ladder to the Light (p. 82)

______________________________________

So I came across this quote the other day on my Facebook page.   This line stuck out in my mind 

We practice undisciplined smiling when others preach doom and gloom…

I love the idea of undisciplined smiling.  I hope folks remember me smiling. It has been something  I try to do.    

Betsy and I went to a great concert, The Chicks.  We had great seats.  There were no seats in front of us but a railing where we could prop up our feet.  

We had a lot of people on the walkway going up to their seats.  They didn’t block our view. 

We were enjoy the people watching.  

They were answering the question, “what do you wear to a Chicks concert in New Jersey.”. 

Apparently the answer is cowboy boots, or boots, just whatever boots you have.   There were varied applications of that rule, snow boots, fancy heeled boots, boots with bling, boots  from the farm, and some that looked like work boots.  then there was the one had on a kilt and everything that goes with it the origin of that was a mystery. 

What I did notice was —— how few folk were smiling.

  So naturally we started smiling at them as they went by.  I mean “Hey you’ve got ‘Tickets to a  Chicks concert’  you will have fun!”  Well you could have fun.  We decided we would practice —

Undisciplined Smiling.

  We would look the folks in the eye and smile.  Many responded with a smile, alas many did not,

Still,  it was satisfying to us.  

I think the world needs more Undisciplined Smiling!,

  What if we kept a smile on our faces, looked people in the eye and smiled like at the grocery store, or drive through, or even at a traffic light.  

In fact I would like everyone to follow the urging of this writing PRACTICE UNDISCIPLINED SMILING —you can do that’

.

Try it. 

May the curiosity in the world set you on a level path to new peace. 

God Abides

Bobbie Giltz McGAREY

Easton PA

@feb24,2024