A Spark and a Smile

Last week, during my apparent and unintentional journal drought, a l tagged me with two questions. It would be in bad form to leave them unanswered, so here I go. Feel free to imagine the sound of knuckles cracking. I've never understood the need to crack one's knuckles, but it always seems to be the Thing To Do when one is about to attempt a massive undertaking like retrofitting the Bay Bridge, watching back-to-back episodes of Dancing With the Stars or mopping.

So, what is the one spark in the midst of darkness? What is the one thing that made you smile today?

I would say the brightest spark in the darkness would be my company's recent office move. It's exciting to be in a new building. The elevators are new. The doors are new. Even the toilets are new. Everything is brand spanking new with the exception of the computers, chairs, coworkers and other items that happened to survive shipment in cardboard boxes.

I know it isn't "normal" to be ecstatic about relocating to a new cubicle farm, but I'm stoked to be the first occupant of a particular seventy square-foot area. It has gray work surfaces, two task lights, a lateral filing cabinet and its very own peach cloth-covered corkboard. It isn't much, but at least it's not fuchsia.

The day has barely begun, but I've already smiled a few times. One of the things that made me smile was thinking about a quote I had written down a long time ago, lost and then found again yesterday. It's a quote by W.C. Fields about smiling. With any luck, it will make you smile, too.

Start every day with a smile and get it over with.

Ah, words to live by.