Weekly Smile – Rules

21 Replies
Weekly Smile #WeeklySmile

Weekly Smile #WeeklySmile

A few weeks ago a friend asked on Face Book for people to be a little more civil, to stop being jerks. She said that she had had enough of negativity and hate. This friend is a photographer with the rare ability to see beauty in almost anything and share the beauty. Yes, her photos of jumping spiders are beautiful! I was moved to write as a comment:

“There are days I go in search of the kind, compassionate, loving and beautiful. Despite what we sometimes see on FB and elsewhere, there is much more beauty in the world than ugliness, much more kindness than hate or cruelty. Perhaps we should all make it a goal to make at least one person smile every day.”

Thus started my “A Smile a Day” campaign. That had to come to an end, but I decided to replace it with something better, “The Weekly Smile”, a shared blogging event that anyone can join.

You can join!

What made you smile in the last week? A photo? A kind word from a friend or stranger? A random act of kindness witnessed in life or on the news? A joke? A song? Taking a walk? Going skiing? There had to be something. It could be small or Earth shattering. It might be a private word or a very public action. Say in a few words what made you smile. Or post a photo or a video or a link.

The whole idea, the one and only reason reason for this weekly event, is to counterbalance, even if to some small degree, all of the hate and negativity in the world today. With that in mind, there are a few rules I’d like you to follow if you want to put your post up on the “lnky”. They’re more guidelines than actual rules, but please keep these in mind.

  1. Don’t make your smile about something mean or hateful. Keep negativity out of it.
  2. Don’t make your smile discriminate against anyone for race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual preference, primary language, disability, illness, etc. You know the routine.
  3. Try to keep violence out of it. If some selfless hero helps some people during a time of violence, sure, use that. If a family member received an honor for a wartime action, OK. Just don’t glorify the actual violence.
  4. Keep politics out of it. Your uncle won an election? That’s something to smile about! You met a high profile politician? Sure, that is too. You want to have a political rant? Please do it elsewhere.
  5. Careful with religion. You might smile about a religious service or something else that had a deep meaning to you, but don’t condemn other people’s religion or try to convert everyone. Keep it your personal experience.
  6. Most people reading are adults. We can handle most of what you want to write. But please, if you wouldn’t want your 12 year old son or daughter reading it, you might not want to post it. Try for PG-13.

As I said, these are guidelines. Unless there is a very bad “violation”, particularly of the first two “rules”, I won’t remove links.

I plan on doing a Weekly Smile post that includes the “linky” on Wednesdays, but you can post at anytime, just remember to go back to the “Linky” to add your post and read others.

Try to use the hashtag #WeeklySmile   I searched Twitter and found that #weeklysmile had been used only a handful of times back in 2012 and 2013.  It hasn’t been used since.  So it’s ours!

You can also use the graphic at the top.  It is the official graphic for the event.  You can also use the alternate below, but be aware some people might not interpret it as a smile.

Weekly Smile #WeeklySmile

Weekly Smile #WeeklySmile

21 thoughts on “Weekly Smile – Rules”

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  10. davidprosser

    My biggest smile in the last week happened at 12.21 pm on New Years Eve with the birth of my beautiful granddaughter Amelie Rose. This little speck is going to be her Pop’s best friend when she grows up. She’s also a wonderful present for my 65th birthday which happens in less than two weeks.
    When I look at her I remember why I have a blog about Peace and Hugs in the world. I want a future for her to grow up in.
    Hugs

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓
    1. trentpmcd Post author

      And what a great smile that is! I’m sure your new granddaughter will continue to give you new smiles for the rest of your life. Congratulations to you and your family! Yes, the little ones are a great reason to blog about Peace and Hugs. And Compassi0n and Smiles :)

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓
    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I think you might be right, it would be a better place! Unfortunately I can’t control the general population much, but I can give guidelines to my blogging event ;) Thanks for the comment.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

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