May #TBCSmiles #MHAW

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week and in case you weren't aware, I collect and share smiles because it helps my mental health. My monthly posts started off as a way to update everyone on how we were coping after the sudden loss of one of our teenage children. I began to realise that every smile was a win. It showed we could do it, life could have good bits, it could have joy. I shared the first few smiles I took and eventually The Brick Castle Smiles, or #TBCSmiles was born.

Since then you guys have shared with the community your most precious smiles. Birthdays, weddings, Christenings, anniversaries. You've shown Grandparents meeting brand new relations and baby's first smile. You've shown sports wins and educational achievements, graduations and first days at school. The ones that always make me smile the most are the ordinary moments (that's a different link up). Kids playing in fields with sticks, a toddler discovering the world, the love of a parent looking at their child, however old. A grown up who has forgotten all about the outside world and has let themselves live in the moment.

I'm grateful to everyone who joins in, you fill my month with smiles. I know that some people have reasons for joining in and sometimes smiles are hard-fought, and I know how much that makes them worth. Each and every one is a precious treasure.

I hope you take the time to check the hashtag too, it's worth it - it'll make you smile, I promise. Anyone can join in, and we have a lot of new people this month, so thank you for coming along. All you need to do is tag any photo on Instagram with a smile in it - the bigger the grin, the better.

Here are 9 of the brightest of this month's smiles, which was a fantastic crop. I think we have all enjoyed this glorious weather...

This month's 9 were provided by the following photographers and/or comedians:

memeandharri / mrsamyfoxblog / beeckz

claireyharpo / life_with_the_monster / oghmagamandvoodoobar

chocolateandwineandillbefine / genuineplacebo84 / mrs_hs_fav_things

We had our own smiles as well. We've been enjoying the sun too - as much as my pasty lot can manage anyway - and we had a lot to smile about, but I really didn't take many photos. I'm storing most of them in my head.

Until next month...


If you find yourself part of TBCSmiles by accident and wish to be removed then please let me know. It's not happened yet, but stranger things have happened...