She smiled at everyone today. She felt like it. The street cleaner, send him a smile. The student drowning in his work at the café. Send him a smile. The kid holding his mom’s hand, send him a smile.

She was not feeling particularly happy. But she could not help smiling for some reason. But whoever she smiled at smiled back at her. It was contagious. Now, maybe those people would be smiling for no reason too. Except that they returned the smile of a random person.

Weird how the brain works. How feelings arise and how they spread. This was today’s observation point. She was enjoying this.

Would it be the same if she was crying too? If she walked in the street, crying? Would people cry with her then? Or at least share her unhappiness? Maybe she would try that at some point. But then, was it worth it making people unhappy, assuming that it worked that way? Nah, forget about it. Smiling is better.

Thinking of these, she smiled at the group of teenagers in the street. They looked at each other, not knowing what to do first. They were not used to this, apparently. But then, they returned her smile. That is what mattered.

‘I put a smile on the faces of many people today’, she thought and felt proud.