World Smile Day was invented by Harvey Ball back in 1999. Whilst he might not be a household name, he does have a pretty cool claim to fame ; Harvey invented the yellow smiley face back in 1963, and by the late 90s, he was concerned that his design had become heavily commercialised. To try and reclaim the original message of good cheer, along came World Smile Day, with the official slogan: "Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile".
Whilst this year's World Smile Day has already happened (it was on Friday 3rd October), a new study has found that Yorkshire residents are Britain's most miserable, smiling less frequently than any other region of the country. As someone who has lived most of my life in Yorkshire, I find this an outrageous slur on the land of Yorkshire puddings, flatcaps and down-to-earth folk. Those in the North West apparently smile 14 times each day, whilst Londoners manage 16. that is surely a needle drop moment in the research ; try smiling at a stranger on the London Underground, and you'll almost certrainly not see it reciprocated, based on my handful of visits to our capital.
Triggers for smiling include receiving pleasant news, enjoying a joke and spotting something amusing Meanwhile, grinning at others and offering praise are the favoured tactics to elicit smiles from others. Things that make us happier also include a welcoming neighbourhood community (perhaps someone could point Robert Jenrick in the direction of one), stunning countryside and landscapes, and local bars and restaurants.
As for things that spark joy, boffins from Plants & Flowers Foundation Holland have found, perhaps unsurprisingly, that receiving a bouquet of your favourite blooms is the number one thing to spark a smile. Also making it into the top ten...
* An unexpected delivery of your top pastry pick - if you're reading this and would like to drop off a Belgian bun, I certainly won't complain. Mind you, I'm quite partial to a Pastel De Nata from Lidl too.
* A surprise drop-off of emergency chocolate - especially if it's an orange Twirl or Bounty. There was a mini crisis at Tameside Radio recently, when a four-finger salted caramel Kit Kat I was looking forward to scoffing mysteriously vanished from the fridge. Whilst I've not got to the bottom of it, I was given two Blue Ribands to cheer me up by Mark Andrews, which went some way to assauge my irrriation.
* A small bag of sweet treats - not sure about the 'small' bit, as I can easily smash a bag of Tangfastics at the cinema before the end of the trailers. This is perhaps not something I should be bragging about. I also once ate a family bag of licorice allsorts whilst running a bath.
* A surprise hot beverage waiting on your desk. Given I start work at 6am, this is fairly unlikely to happen to me, sadly. But I always arrive armed with Tassimo pods, and an early start without coffee is unthinkable.
* A personalised playlist curated just for you. I compile the playlists for Tameside Radio, if that counts. All feedback welcome! Apparently wedding DJs are being replaced by Spotify, in some cases, which is a bit soulless...but I suppose it cuts down on the inane chat between Wham and Whitney, and shout outs for taxis interrupting Mambo No. 5.
* A homemade biscuit, lovingly wrapped in a napkin.Just the one biscuit? And won't it crumble in a napkin? So many questions on this one. Just buy me a box!
* A postcard from an unexpected location. I must mention a regular listener who sends me the occasional postcard from France, having relocated from Stalybridge. It's always a joy to get something handwritten in the post, and all too rare these days.
* A sweet note of kindness hidden in your lunchbox. I once left my wife a note warning her there was no bog roll left, and unfortunately she posted it to social media. I've never quite lived that down.
* A goofy photo sneakily slipped into your notebook. 'Goofy'? Not a word I've heard used for quite some time. I do miss the days of proper photos and getting them back from Boots, only to find an assortment of advice labels on them. A time before social media, when I'm fairly sure we were all a bit happier and less divided by their algorithms.
If anything I've written has made you smile, even just a little bit, then my work for the week is done.
