SMILE

Me by Carolina Marquez-Sterling

 I'm irked when someone says Smile. I also don't like to have
my picture taken. There is something about seeing yourself that is uncomfortable. Picture taking or not, it annoys me. I'm not a smiler on demand; I do it for engagement and connection or a feeling of joy. Interestingly though, I am a chronic smiler. Sadly, I haven't been doing it much. Maybe it is the news, perhaps it is the constant vitriol I see on the internet or more than likely it's the weather at this time of the year. Then a couple of weeks ago, I heard,"Smile though your heart is breaking."

Sung by Nat King Cole based on Charlie Chaplin's instrumental theme in his 1936 film Modern Times. The composition was inspired by Puccini's Tosca. ( My Dad will like that piece of trivia.) Later, Geoffrey Parsons and John Turner added the title and lyrics. While I have listened to it thousands of times, it caught my attention this time. I quickly googled the words only to realize how dead-on it was. Among humans, smiling is an expression denoting pleasure, engagement, connection, happiness, joy, or amusement. The "Duchenne smile," the person smiles with their mouth as well as their eyes. (yeah, I know there is a name for a particular kind of Smile and ironically, after a French physician! Now that, makes me smile.) In popular urban culture, this action is sometimes referred to as "smizing." Smiling is one of the most instinctive and straightforward expressions humans can have. Smiling can fool the body into lifting your state of mind. The physical act of smiling actually activates nervous system messaging in your brain. And that simple Smile triggers the release of boosting chemicals like dopamine and serotonin. Who couldn't use a little more of those without visiting a doctor or popping a pill? So what do I suggest...Smile a bit more during your day.

There is a mountain of advice today to "Don't worry, be happy." Advisers suggest positivity is the key to a good life. Just think positive! It is so pervasive it has become a cliche and, to an extent, particularly maddening to those who have a severe case of the blues. The self-help industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. This leads me to believe there are a lot of unhappy people searching for the elusive happiness we are entitled to, according to the Declaration of Independence. It is an inalienable right, correct? Not so fast, cowboy. It is the pursuit that we are entitled to, not the outcome. But I digress, let me get back to the Smile.

Smile by Carolina Marquez-Sterling

I have been experimenting with this smile theory for a while, and I have discovered, through anecdotal evidence, it's true. Smiling daily and often, even if in my own mirror in the morning, my days have been lighter and brighter. Instead of saying whoa, you look tired, I smile at myself and wink. Furthermore, I've taken it out on the road. My little town is very diverse. Many different types of people with different values and ideas about life. I've been smiling at the drivers, store clerks through the windows, and the fellow passers-by. Eight times out of ten, I get one back, and here is the clincher; it lifts me. And it's a double dose because they get boosted as well. I really like it when someone smiles back. It brings on a feeling of connectedness. It feels like even though they are a complete stranger, we have communicated a sense of brotherhood. It gives the thought "we are in this together" attitude. So either way, you can't lose.

I think smiling a full-blown sincere smile is a superpower. But the really great power is that we all, men women and children, have this capability why not use it. So Smile when alone, Smize at strangers, even break out into a chuckle when you're experiencing one of those heated moments of nervousness. And see how you feel at the end of the day. Just think of it. Imagine if, for one day, everyone smiled at everyone they met all day. What a fantastic day that would be. That day the frequency of the world would lift dramatically. Smiling is infectious, but it is an infection that reaps sublime rewards, costing you nothing but a few wrinkles at the corners of your mouth. Grin it out, my friends, and save the world one smile at a time.


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