This is my first time and FIRST DAY participating in the famous INKTOBER (or infamous now due to all the noise around lawsuits and plagiarism ? ). In any case, I've chosen to participate for my own sake, not that I need an excuse but it may help keep me consistently drawing on my journal this month. Who knows!
Today's prompt from the Inktober challenge is "crystal". While I was journaling I was also thinking about how much I miss seeing people smiles when out and about. This was triggered by an article in the news about people in Anchorage choosing to wear the "Yellow Star of David" as they protest against wearing masks in public. It made me sad to continue to read about people's never-ending immature behavior when it comes to the current pandemic. I totally get it, wearing those masks is super uncomfortable! I've tried numerous times to wear it for a workout at the gym and the experience is terrible. ...and similarly, when I wear it at other places. But it's the right thing to do for myself and others. While I don't enjoy wearing a mask, I do it because I know that right now it's very important that we all do it as the COVID-19 variants continue to spread rapidly and masking has been proven to help reduce the spread. This shouldn't be about politics or rights. It's about our health and that of our community. So, to work around my discomforts, I've found alternatives for my workouts such as doing them outdoors instead of indoors, for example. I hope most everyone comes to terms with reason and chooses to do the right thing: wear a mask to protect themselves and others.
One last comment about the masks - I think they reduce our ability to connect with others via something small yet wonderful as a smile. Good news: we can still smile when wearing our masks and people will notice! When your smile is genuine, it shows through your eyes and other facial gestures - try it! You'll FEEL the smiles back. Try giving a smile to everyone you encounter and you'll surely will notice lots of smiles back even when they're wearing masks. You can also smile through your actions - do something nice for another person and you'll see! Aside from making you feel good, when you smile you strengthen your immune system and realize other health benefits, including:
- 😃 Reduced blood pressure.
- 😃 Increased endurance.
- 😃 Reduced pain.
- 😃 Reduced stress.
As it turns out, today is World Smile Day! What a better excuse to send someone a smiley face on a text and tell them you're thinking of her/him/them - that'll surely bring about a smile. 😃
 |
| #inktober2021 Day 1 |