Happiness is Contagious
Last week, I received my twice yearly Santa Clara Magazine from my undergraduate alma mater. I don’t always read it cover to cover. This cover, however, was a full page photo of a miracle—the 160 year old wisteria vine that continues to bloom and spread across the beautiful Mission Gardens located next to the Mission church (1777). The entire campus is an architectural extension of the Missions’s minimal, Spanish style, including the gardens. This wisteria is as much a part of SCU campus life as the food hall.
I haven’t thought about that wisteria in decades. I remember my first walk beneath the long, trellised walkway under the ceiling of lavender petals spilling over the beams like clusters of grapes. A spring breeze puffed petals through the air like lavender snow, stopped me breathless. This same wisteria bloomed before my grandfather (and grandmother) walked beneath it. Long before my father (and mother) did, too. I was the third generation to graduate from Santa Clara with the stunning wisteria blooming as a backdrop. I hadn’t thought about that in a while either. My brother followed. And his daughter became the 4th generation. She walked there too, under the lavender snow, along with her now husband. My mind’s eye visualized this instagram worthy site and the generations of my family tree that passed beneath it. I allowed the memory to wash over me. I felt happy.
So, I opened the magazine. Now to a two-page photo of a rainbow stretching over a photograph of the Mission. With so much going on in the world, what’s with all the wisteria and rainbows? I was jarred by the purposeful positivity and I let it wash over me. Sucked it in like a parched desert traveler. Grateful.
Mission Santa Clara de Asis.
A short paragraph printed in white lettering over the blue sky just above the rainbow began like this:
“In challenging, divisive times, it can feel like achieving happiness is an illusive goal. The 2024 and 2025 World Happiness Reports showed precipitous drops in the United States’ ranking, with rising reports of anxiety, stress and dissatisfaction…we often seek joy in external solutions…But what if the key to happiness is a lot simpler than all of that? Recent research suggests that happiness is contagious and we can “catch” a smile as easily as we catch a cold…”
I didn’t know there was an annual Gallop World Poll on happiness, first released in 2012. I didn’t know that someone, somewhere finally decided happiness (and all its manifestations) mattered to world wellness and started to rank countries according to how people rate their life satisfaction and wellbeing.
I did know a little about the human phenomena of “catching” happiness. Mostly from my life experience. I smile and chat with people all the time, on purpose, because these brief and uplifting exchanges almost always spread joy. (You can read more in my post, Be Kind, Live Longer.) Now I’ve read more about the ‘happiness as contagion’ study—mostly to bathe in the scientific positivity of it all.
Researchers at Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego conducted a 20 year study of 5,000 people to find out if happiness was contagious. Bingo! It is. Even better, not only can you catch it from a smile, others you meet after that can catch it from you, too. In his article in Psychology Today, Dr. Robert Puff gives this example: “So, imagine, I am walking in New York City, and I smile at someone, and I get a smile back. We connect and share happiness. Then that person will affect someone else, and that second person will affect a third. And not only that, but these effects can last for up to a year.” I’m glad I opened the magazine.
But you don’t have to imagine. You can smile right now. At a child. Your teen. Your classroom. A stranger. An elder in grocery store. A co-worker. The bus driver. Your coffee barista. Your partner. Yourself. It takes one second to smile and it costs nothing. No line item in the budget needed. All it takes is a smile to spark a happiness pandemic. Aren’t we overdue for one those?
If you need more incentive to smile than just a happiness pandemic, here you go:
Smiling helps you look younger. The act of smiling engages a group of facial muscles that lift the corners of your mouth, making you appear more youthful. If you keep smiling, you strengthen those muscles and can prevent or delay wrinkles. Smiling also increases blood flow to your face which improves skin tone and elasticity. (Instagram worthy again.)
Smiling, spreading happiness is a powerful action you can take to defend and preserve our freedom and Democracy. It’s your right to pursue happiness. It was written into the U.S. Constitution 238 years ago:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all (people) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." That pursuit can begin, take hold and spread with a smile.
The over-the-rainbow paragraph in my magazine concludes in part with this: “Small acts of kindness can transform entire environments and create a positive atmosphere even in challenging circumstances.” That means right now. Your smile can spread a happiness pandemic. I’m happy to catch it. And I’m going to plant some wisteria.
With a smile, Elizabeth
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This Week in Breathe Move Journal
JOURNAL
WHEN Right now! For 2 minutes, make a list of all the things, people, places, and activities that make you smile. Allow yourself to smile as you write. Do this with kids and teens, too.
NEXT STEP Have a contest! With yourself, as a classroom, with friends, or as a family. The goal is to smile at as many people as you can and catch a smile back. Record how many times this happens during the day. See who has the most! (Everybody wins this one!)
SHOUT OUTS
Thank you to the Berkshire Nonprofit Center for all it does to support the essential work of hundreds of non-profits in Berkshire County Massachusetts. I’m grateful to have been nominated for my dedication to boosting mental wellbeing as a board member for the Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention.
Stay tuned for my new You Tube channel coming soon! Watch how-to videos, classroom ideas, using mindfulness tools at home and so much more. We’re making Breathe Move Journal more accessible than ever!
Thanks to the Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention for making a supply of Breathe Move Journal books available to kids and teens in Berkshire County for free. Anyone who knows a child or teen who would benefit from receiving a book can contact the BCSP here.
With continued gratitude for every educator, at every level in the U.S., who is trying to manage a world of students facing unprecedented challenges while also managing the very real challenges facing our public and private educational systems. We stand with you. You are essential to the wellbeing and strength of our Nation. We support you. Keep on!