Look for the sunshine in everything

Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Sun plays hide and seek

See this sullen Sunday morning

The day without the sun is drowning

Draw the curtains, look up high

The sun has fled the sky to hide.

Come on Sun come out to play

Don’t be shy and hide away

Come on Sun we have a treat

Lots of cloud for you to eat.

Puddles here for you to drink

Come on Sun give us a wink

And how about a little smile

To lighten up our hearts awhile.

I know-it’s hide and seek you’re playing

Close our eyes and hear us saying

Hundred, coming, ready or not!

We’re coming Sun, we’re getting hot

And hot and hot and hotter see

You’re shining out there on our street

Oh Sun we love the games you play

And now we’ve won, you’ve made our day.

Copyright 2013 David J. Mason - from "A Sky full of Sunshine"

And from Goodreads quotes:

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air"

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

World Smile Day 3rd October 2014 - join in

One act of kindness to make one person smile

World Smile Day raises money for the Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation, a non-profit charitable trust that supports children's causes

Simple

Harvey Ball created the original smiley in 1963.  The image went on to become the most recognisable symbol of goodwill and cheer on the planet

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The first Friday in every October was chosen by Harvey Ball to be World Smile Day.  A day when everyone should try to be like the Smiley, a symbol that transcends politics, religion and geographical location.

Arts, science, compassion and exercise

Fill your life!

Smiling

Smiling is something you should do

For the people who know you

And for the strangers you don’t.

Smiling is all about being brave.

Suppose they leave you standing

With a mile on yours

But not a glimmer on theirs

Will you risk losing face

In a world that

Puts you in your place

Yes, the serious believe

That those who smile

Are the ones in need

How far from the truth

Can we be?

Everyone should watch this video. Don't hurry it, allow yourself time to listen

Australian comedian and poet Tim Minchin shares many of Mr Smile's ways to happiness

A Trip to Happiness

Travel is one of the ten ways to happiness.  Mr Smile has been doing quite a bit of this over the Summer and that is why he hasn't found time to write his blog (he apologises for this).

Just planning a trip, however small, can lift your spirits even if you don't end up going.

The journey can be as much fun as reaching the destination.  Take time to look out of the window on the way, even if it is dark.

The Journeyman

The crackle on the gravel

The rolling of the stone

Footprints on the shifting sand

Where the journeyman must roam.

Wishes on the water

Mind up in the mountains

The journeyman his only need

To taste the quenching fountain

Tramps across the countryside

To travel the unknown

He trusts the earth beneath his feet

The journeyman is home

To where his heart is

He who knows much more

Whose eyes are always fixed upon

The ever open door.

And from Goodreads:

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”

― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Blue days and bright days

It is perfectly normal to be blue sometimes, for the smile not to come readily to your face, to feel anti-social. But try to smile all the same and it WILL lift you a little at a time - science has even proven it!

I love the way Henry drew my smile

Some children recently heard some of my book and my stories.  They decided to do their own pictures of me and to write their own words.  These made me SMILE, I hope they make you smile too even if it is only a little smile because you are feeling blue.

"But first they went very sad. The people are happy. It was not about money it was about being nice."

The children worked very hard create these pictures and words and were very proud of them.

Everyone liked it when the people were nice

Ryan drew a picture of himself with me

My book is for adults AND children but the adults don't seem to want to draw any pictures!
Goodreads quote:

“Age does not make us childish, as some say; it finds us true children.”

― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Laugh at yourself

Keep things in perspective and learn to laugh at yourself more often

I never exaggerate, me

I remember one time in the garden

When me mate pushed me out of a tree

I swear it was high as a mountain

But I never exaggerate, me.

I remember one day at the seaside

A tsunami came out of the sea

Lucky that I’m good at surfin’

But I never exaggerate, me.

I remember one day at the sweetshop

They were giving out chocolates for free

I ate so much I was sick on the spot

But I never exaggerate, me.

Picture from "The Jenie Jazzles" (C) David J. Mason

I remember one day on the footie pitch

This tackle that took off me knee

They managed to sew it back on again

But I never exaggerate, me.

I remember one day in the playground

I found this strange looking key

Then I broke into school at the weekend

But I never exaggerate, me.

I remember one day in the classroom

I think it was quarter to three

A monster crept in and took me away

But I never exaggerate, me.

I remember one day I was out in the park

When my friend he was stung by a bee

His head swelled up to six times its size

But I never exaggerate, me. 

No I never, ever, ever exaggerate

Not in a billion years, me.

(C) David J. Mason "Smile"

Goodreads quote of the day for me:

“I laugh at myself.
I don't take myself completely seriously.
I think that's another quality that people

 have to hold on to... you have to laugh, 

especially at yourself.” - Madonna

Sit quietly and do very little

Find some time to do very little

Perhaps read a book - try poetry because you can dip in and out more easily

Lost in a Book

I was once completely lost in a book

Honest – the story was really that good

They sent out a search party

But they couldn’t find me

They sent out the army and navy

But they couldn’t see me

They sent out sniffer dogs

But they couldn’t smell me

And they listened very carefully

But they just couldn’t hear me.

I finished the book

And came out of the story

They were so pleased

For now they had found me.

And why not tell us

Where you were going?

But stories are like that

There’s no way of knowing.

(C) 2013 David J. Mason 

Or listen to some music - try classical music (you may recognise the theme in this piece)

And from Goodreads quotes:

“When you arise in the morning think of what

a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ...”

― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations