Sowing Smiles: Why This Title?

The day I left home to begin this series of travels was September 4th, the day Mother Teresa of Calcutta was canonized. Each year I've grown older, it seems I have also grown in appreciation for this tiny saint. Her faith was almost tangible in her daily actions, and her love--no matter her feelings--was unshakable. This was a woman who was living her life on earth in the presence of God, and so I am hoping that some of her wisdom will inspire my blog this autumn.

Of particular interest to me are St. Teresa's words on the power of a smile:

"We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do."
"Peace begins with a smile."
"Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love."
"Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."

Over the past four days, especially, I have found myself humiliated at having to explain to strangers that I am willfully unemployed. I've asked myself time and time again why I can't just "settle down" and go back to school to have a career or get a job immediately, then get married and have kids, and finally live the dream. It's a complex issue for me, but it boils down to the fact that I'm not sure if that is my dream. I'd prefer to struggle figuring it out now rather than have a midlife or even end-of-life crisis wondering if I had really lived. Nonetheless, I've had a difficult time answering what are supposed to be simple questions like "What do you do?" "Are you here for business or pleasure?" "So this is your holiday, then?" I'm telling you, I almost didn't make it through Irish customs because when the officer asked me what my job was back home, I said, "Uhhhhhhh." Not kidding.

But then on a tour today, the guide thanked the group for laughing at his jokes. I'm pretty sure I laughed the loudest and most often, so I took that personally. Then I thought to myself, "I may not be doing much, but look there: I just affirmed that guy for the past three hours with my laughter. He made my day with his jokes, and I bet I made his day with my smiles."

That's when I thought of St. Teresa and how important she knew a smile to be. I may not be doing much as a means of making money for the next three months, but I will be smiling. Whether I'm farming in Co. Cork or living in the Holy Land--which I'm praying I'll have an opportunity to do for a couple months--I will be doing at least one thing: sowing smiles.