“Ultimately, our greatest joy is when we seek to do good for others.”
The Book of Joy by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams.

This is where I read the inspiration for this idea, which I then wrote on a white 3”x5” index card and stuck on my refrigerator with a Wallace and Gromit magnet.

It was the first official week of the Stay at Home order and I’d been looking online for places to volunteer, but all the organizations in town wanted everyone to stay home. They were still figuring out how to work with and around the coronavirus and didn’t want anyone getting sick or spreading it.

I couldn’t safely volunteer anywhere. And every time I went on a walk around the neighborhood everyone was frightened, on edge and avoided eye contact. I could only get one out of 10 people I crossed paths with to look up, wave or smile. Never a good sign or feeling. We are all in this together and over the last weeks we have and will run the entire gamut of emotions.

So I was making my coffee one morning and while I was standing in the kitchen half asleep waiting for it to brew, my brain had one of those connect-the-dot moments.

My brain said, “Well at the very least you can make people smile online.” Since most of us drink coffee and start the day by looking at Facebook, how about giving family, friends and coworkers a smile to start their days and something to look forward to each morning? We can all take a moment to start our day with a little joy and a smile.

– Victor Spieles, Creative Director