Peace Begins with a Smile

Even on the worst of days the universe smiles at you.

In the days leading up to this photo I’d been thinking about things from my past, like my childhood room and one of my childhood cats, and I was sad because these things that I had loved had suddenly and without much warning vanished from my life and their loss and the loss of innocence their absence represented passed without recognition or mourning.

My favorite childhood cat was a black and white named Payaso that we got when I was in first grade.  He was an outdoor cat with funny expressions and a sweet disposition.  Payaso became a stray while I was away at college and I cannot complete his story because I do not know how it ends.  My inability to imagine a happy ending for an old homeless cat leaves a memory of heart-breaking sorrow.

So this is the state of mind I was in sitting at a stop light on Jamboree Road when, for no particular reason, I glanced at the empty lane next to me.  I was slow to process the smiley face and had to check myself to make sure that yes, I was in fact looking at a smiley face on the asphalt.  I continued to stare at it with the comforting realization that this smile was meant for me.

But the story doesn’t end with just a smiley face.  The story ends with the cat who is the avatar for a member in the online Artist’s Way community to which I belong.   Shortly after seeing the smiley face I inquired about the cat’s name.  At the time I didn’t know why; discussing cats is certainly not the focus of the group.

“My cat’s name is a bit of a story,” the woman wrote.  “I call her MC now, but she used to be NMC, short for Not My Cat.  She’s a stray that I did not want to take in, but I wasn’t able to find a home for her.”

MC happens to be a black and white cat.  A homeless black and white cat who had, against all odds, found a home with a kind and compassionate person.

I’m discovering messages like these everywhere.  It’s really quite profound and even a little unsettling because it means I have to believe there is some greater force at work in my life.  You may say it’s a bunch of phooey, but really, what’s the harm?  All you need to do is believe in the possibility, pay attention, be open-minded, and have a willingness to hear the message.

The universe is clear in its message to me.  Happy endings are possible.  Peace begins with a smile.

In memory of Payaso