Happiness is where you find it

I just learned about www.SpontaneousSmiley.com. It is a conceptual art piece that lives on the internet and captures smiley faces that exist in our everyday world: a parking meter, a manhole cover, a dresser drawer, a piece of cheese. The point is, if one looks long and hard enough, one can find a smiley face and snap its photograph--smiling all the while. Indeed, it is infectious and fun for kids of all ages. The Chief Smiley Captain is a woman named Ruth Kaiser, who happens to be an artist with a UCB degree in fine arts. As president and founder of TotDrops, Ruth also works with preschool-aged children who no doubt inspire her daily with oodles of happyness and imaginative vision that can spot joy in the mundane. The Spontaneous Smiley project started almost 2 years ago on Facebook and now has over 2,500 members submitting their smileys from around the world. When folks started posting photos on behalf of their kids, Ruth launched her website so kids could participate. Several high school teachers are using the project in their photography classes across America. Ruth hopes to get a huge corporate sponsor to get cameras and printers into classrooms and into the hands of children on a larger scale. Anyone out there interested? It's a great way to teach kids photography and help them hone their skills as they attempt to capture that ever elusive emotion--happiness--in a smiley face! To all you parents out there, I dare you to grab the camera and take the kids on a smiley face hunt. You'll be amazed at what they find and how much smiling YOU can do in one day. Best of all, it doesn't cost a thing. Enjoy! Kathryn
www.SpontaneousSmiley.com