Things that make me smile? phht Too numerous to mention, although #1 on that list would be babies or very small children. To see a wee child, too young to have learned anything bad or unlearned their pure spirit... Yeah, I smile because they're precious whole souls, new to this world, and I hope my smile welcomes them. They have chosen to incarnate (again? :) and I wish them well.

How about... Things that transport me? A light cool breeze on my face and through my hair, bright silver moonlight, a close encounter with a friendly and/or beautiful creature (deer, rabbit, lizard, turtle...), rain in sunshine, the soft whisper of wind through trees... Okay, nevermind, that's actually a long list too.

Things that grab my heart and fill me with such joy that it wells up in my eyes... There are surely others but one particular type of thing has been doing that lately. I am most affected when I catch someone doing something good or selfless for another person, even in fiction. Whether it's a random act of kindness, like letting a person go ahead in the grocery line, or something more contrived but done with no expectation of reward, such a thing really touches me. Even better if it's anonymous and desperately needed by the recipient. Fiction counts because at least someone is thinking that way and others are witnessing it.

Always I hope that the recipient understands how to 'pay it forward' and that in fact their benefactor is paying forward for some act of kindness they have received. Just "from the goodness of their heart" works too, of course.

Why does this touch me so much? Because I so achingly want the world to work that way. Catching an instance here and there tells me... it can.... it is... not everywhere all the time, but sometimes, here and there. It's hope.