When I started working at Lindamood-Bell about five years ago, I was thrilled to learn about the practice of giving little cards to recognize other staff members. They’re called Star Service Fanatic cards or SSFs. Every week or two there’s a drawing from all the cards from that period and the winner gets something nice while all the other cards are distributed with smiles. This is my kind of fun! I’ve always called the little physical/electronic notes that I share “warm fuzzies” because they make people feel warm and fuzzy inside. I loved the idea of having an established way of sharing warm fuzzies and often! We’ve had competitions with teams to promote the sharing of more SSFs; I especially loved the time I got to be on team Hufflepuff! This is such a beautiful win win practice.
Fast forward a year and I though, wouldn’t this be a wonderful thing to bring to my chorus! So, I started “Skyline Smiles” which at first were identical. Then the pandemic hit and I moved everything to electric notes so we could keep spreading the cheer. It’s true that I do most of the notes for the chorus, but what a wonderful treat to be constantly looking out for good things to notice and recognize. Each week I share them online with an award gif-animation for all recipients and a piece of chocolate for the random winner at the next rehearsal. They bring so many smiles.
So, here’s to Lindamood-Bell for creating such a fun way of spreading joy (that inspired me to spread even more). A few days ago I learned the Sanskrit word “Mudita” which means “the pleasure that comes from delighting in other people's well-being”. (Apparently, in English research, it’s often referred to as “sympathetic joy”.) I think Star Service Fanatic cards have offered mudita to so many.
