THE first Friday of October every year is celebrated around the globe as World Smile Day.
According to the World Smile Day website, this unofficial holiday encourages people to do acts of kindness and to spread goodwill and cheer.
“First started in 1999 by the creator of the smiley, Harvey Ball, the holiday celebrates the intent behind the now universally recognised icon, to bring a smile onto the faces of people around the world,” the website states.
It adds that this is the perfect day to make others smile while ensuring you also have a smile on your face. There are a lot of events that go on around the globe on World Smile Day, all of which have been designed to make people feel happier and to enable them to share great moments with others.
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In commemoration of the day, associations, organisations, people, and schools get involved with many different activities to make others smile. This includes sending lovely messages to people and giving food to those who need it.
The purpose of the holiday was the move away from the commercialisation of the smiley and to use it as a symbol of kindness and affection.
The smiley made its debut in 1963 as a way to increase the morale of the employees of a life insurance company. Today, it is one of the most popular nonverbal ways to convey joy, happiness and cheer. The smiley face began as a bright yellow circle with two dots to represent eyes and a black line that represents a smiling mouth.
Nowadays, there are many different versions of the smiley, representing many other human emotions such as sadness, surprise, worry and laughter. In modern texting, smileys are used to express emotions in online conversations on a smartphone or a computer. The practice has its origin in Japan, and the smileys and other icons are known as emojis.
Sweet ways to celebrate World Smile Day are as follows:
* Make people around you smile.
* Do a random act of kindness. Buy a stranger a coffee. Compliment someone. Give your seat up to someone on the bus.
* Surprise someone in your family with a visit, cook a meal for them, or do something special for them.
* Volunteer your time and/or money at a local non-profit organisation.
