The Smiling Games remembering joy in connecting to another human
The pure healing joy of two people opening their hearts to one and other in simple gesture has a magnificence beyond compare
About The Smiling Games
The Story
It started in 2019 when me and some friends got interested in the question of happiness. We had all been reading about it, the science behind it and that the number 2 killer in the world is the lack of it. Depression. Which we thought interesting because everyone knows how to be happy, family and friends. The classic answer. Seems simple so why can’t we just get on with it and mine out all that abundant free happiness? We weren’t really sure so we thought we’d ask.
We Talked to over 600 people in Brooklyn in 2018. There was only one person that didn’t say that friends and family are what make them happy.
As for what people wanted most in life that will satisfy them and make them happy there were a few out of that 600 that didn’t talk about the next big step in the house, the car, the what ever it was. So apparently the real knowing and feeling of that deep healing journey into happiness has been hijacked by a relentless justification of the giant effort we make in trying to satisfy ourselves.
So we devised a plan to remind people of what they forgot and called it the Smiling Games.
The Smilng Game
The Game
Simple 2 people that have never met before stand 2 feet from each other. The instructions are simple. One person smiles for 30 seconds while the other tries not to. Then they swap.
After they go for a quick video interview. Where they are asked
How did that make you feel?
How did you feel about the other person?
Is this
How easy is it not to smile?
The results are always the same a pure uplift on the day.
That insignificant magnificence is just waiting to be seen to be remembered.