SMILE: Yoko Ono

When I thought of the idea for #smilesfilm in 1960s, I was not thinking of anything in particular, just a "wouldn't it be nice?" kinda-thing.

When John, my husband, passed away, I was feeling down, so down, that it showed on my face when I looked at myself in the mirror.
"This is bad," I thought.
I could make myself ill, or if not, make myself a very irritable person, which would be not nice, especially for Sean, my son.
I have to get out of this.

So I systematically smiled into the mirror every morning.
My smile was forced and looked terrible.
But as I kept smiling for some time, my smile became a natural smile.
It not only became a smile with my mouth and my eyes, but my shoulders, my tummy, and finally, with my whole body!

I thought "Okay, I've won the battle!"
That's when I realised how important it is for all of us to smile - not for anybody else, but for ourselves and our health.
That was all.
Soon I forgot about it as an impossible job.

Now the computer age has come in full swing.
And I know that we can use this situation to make the whole world smile!

Please smile for your health and joy.
If all of us do this, our planet will be a heaven, created by us.

I love you!

Yoko


You can download the iPhone app from iTunes and visit the Smiles Film website by clicking here.
#smilesfilm is being exhibited at the Serpentine Gallery this summer 21 June - 9 September in Yoko's show To The Light.
To join in with #smilesfilm, take or upload a picture on Instagram or Twitter, add the hashtag #smilesfilm in the text, and optionally add your geotag location if you want to appear on the map.