One of my deepest-held beliefs is that feelings and emotions are contagious. To publicly express an emotion is to spread an emotion. I recall a formative online comment that I read in high school which made an immediate impact on me: if you smile when you first see a person, sooner or later that person will smile when they see you. With my friends and family, and even with strangers, I try to live by that sentiment.

Likewise, to be a person who frequently laughs is to spread laughter; to be frequently sad, ultimately, is to spread sadness; to be frequently angry or frustrated is to spread anger or frustration, etc. I hope to always take special care to lighten others' days and never to compound anyone's suffering. I assert my control over my sense and sensibility. Despite however my day is going or whatever happens to me, I take responsibility for how I act. As Maya Angelou famously noted, people above all remember how you make them feel.

The collective weight of current events presses upon us. I cannot help but think that happiness is losing the battle of the contagions. Conflicts and crises abound across the world; modern technology seems to aid the overall sense of confusion and chaos rather than alleviate it. I wonder, therefore, whether the direction of human progress is not, after all, an emotional one.

Change starts with me and my ability to maintain my composure, even in these trying moments. If fostering community is now counter-cultural, then a talent for communication and coordination is our éclaircissement. If this be a time of wildfire, then may the next one be sparked by nothing more than a giggle and a grin.