The power of a (stranger’s) smile
Have you ever had a stranger smile genuinely at you when walking by? I don’t mean the polite smile we all know in and out. I mean the open grinning laughing, fun, relaxed, genuine smile.
Have you noticed how that makes you feel? I’ve been amazed many times how it can change my mood 180 degrees. It gives me energy and a good mood at 0 cost.
It started sometime when I read a trivia that people rate things as funnier when they had a pen in between their teeth (forced smiling). [1] This made me smile a lot more because I was convinced it boosts feel-good chemicals and I also believe placebo to be a powerful effect. Especially when it comes to the mind, placebo effects seem to be completely valid.
So I was walking around smiling a lot more than usual and I noticed that maybe 1/10 people smile back if you smile at them. This was the real kick. Goddamn a good smile will make your day better. This might sound shallow but that doesn’t make the effect any less real.
Anything that has the power to turn a negative spiral day to a positive one is important to pay attention to, I think.
Does this mean we should all walk around grinning at each other? Maybe.
[1] https://replicationindex.com/category/pen-in-mouth-paradigm/
