• The Smile Challenge!


    Winter still keeps chugging away here in the northern hemisphere, with all its grey and white it can be easy to get a bit bummed by all the bad weather. Fortunately we have just the thing to help spread a little cheer!

    Three years ago (already?) the episode 'Friend in Deed' aired and brought tons of smiles to our faces with the extremely awesome and aptly named Smile Song! So, in a collaboration with Sprocket from DHN, we decided to do a tiny event: just make someone smile in the next 24 hours.

    At this point I'll let my friend Sprocket take over as he was the mastermind behind the idea. Check out what he has to say after the break!

    We'll get a post up tomorrow or so for you guys to share your experiences in the comments! Now go out and make someone smile!


    The Smile Challenge

    Three years ago today, A Friend in Deed aired for the first time. While Pinkie Pie's drive to spread laughter and good cheer was always intense, and her motivations always clear, it wasn't until A Friend in Deed aired that these ideas consolidated into a practical philosophy. I'm talking about "Smile," of course - the song that demonstrates that spreading good cheer can actually be a lifestyle.

    To commemorate the anniversary of this fan favorite, let's do something a little different.


    The Smile Challenge:

    Make one person – just one person – smile today. You can do more, of course. Extra points if you do something you wouldn't ordinarily do: strike up a conversation with someone at a bus stop; compliment a stranger on their backpack or their shoes; put yourself out there and help somebody – the sort of thing that crosses your mind sometimes, but you don't ordinarily do because, for whatever reason, you end up holding back.

    It can be anything, really, so long as it involves a little extra effort.

    Now some of us deal with social anxiety, and some of us are just plain more introverted than others. Not everyone is a social butterfly, and no one on earth is as outgoing as Pinkie Pie, but regardless of whether it just involves calling up a friend to tell him a joke you heard, or breaking into a three-and-a-half minute song about the importance of spreading good cheer to your fellow man, (and getting your entire hometown to spontaneously sing it with you), we can all do something extra to make someone smile tomorrow.

    And that's what the Smile Challenge is.

    DHN and EqD have been coordinating on this, and we are hoping to make this a fandom-wide thing. So give a smile. Get a smile. Come back and tell us how it went - how it made you feel.

    I beta tested it just the other day, and I've got to tell you, Pinkie is on to something. It made me feel like a million bits! It made me wish that every day could be the Smile Challenge. And maybe it can!

    Give it a shot!

    Twitter: Calpain