Sometimes I just wonder... why do we smile? Who invented smiling? How did Adam learn to smile? Did God smile at Adam and Adam learnt the skill and passed it down?
Hey you..! Why do you smile? Do you smile because you want to? Or because you have to? Or because you think you look better when you smile? How often is your smile one of courtesy, and how often is it one borne of genuine, sincere happiness? Can you tell the difference? Can the person you're smiling at tell the difference?
I know it's almost 5am in the morning and this crazy girl is talking about smiling. I guess at least it's comforting to know that weird thoughts only come at unearthly hours. But since we're on the subject, let's talk about it anyway. =)
AHA! I just did it! I smiled. So why did I? What did I mean by doing that? Do you think that smile was genuine? I'm asking my seemingly overworked but actually very underworked brain these questions as I type. And my answer is... honestly... I don't know. I smiled on reflex, and if I search my motives, the only reason I can find for it is that even though you're not interested in reading about my thoughts on smiling, I can still talk about it because this is my blog. =) There... I just did it again!
You know how sometimes we see people we recognise as some ex-primary school classmate on the street and we smile at them, they smile back and we quickly divert our eyes away and hope we won't meet head on with them because that would mean an awkward, meaningless conversation? I wonder... was that smile genuine? Did it say "hey, I'm happy we met on the street"? Or was it just to acknowledge the person's presence so that you wouldn't be considered rude?
How about on msn and smses? I don't know about you, but I punctuate many of my sentences with =). Now I think back and ponder on the sincerity of those smiles. Just how many of those smiles actually came from the heart? And I think... sometimes we have not just degraded the significance of a smile, we have also misused it- to escape the consequences of our words and actions. Consider this example:
A. Love you.
B. Love you. =P
If I were to receive a message with A, I would be really touched. But if I were to receive a message saying B, it wouldn't have the same effect on me, because I wouldn't be sure at all whether the sender meant it that way, and chances are, he (normally a member of the same sex wouldn't mind not adding the smiley) purposely added the smiley so that he could use those words and yet claim not to have meant it that way. In essence, it would mean just kidding. Is that what the significance of a smile has deteriorated to??? I think I'm digressing.
Do you think people can tell between a fake smile and real smile? I think so... When people smile because they're happy, you can see the sparkle in their eyes, and you feel like smiling too, even if you're only looking at their photo. But when people smile because they have to, even if the aesthetic value remains, I think there's less sparkle, and their smile is less infectious. But that's just me.
After much rambling, we FINALLY come down to the crux of the matter. Does it matter whether your smile is genuine? Well... it depends on the frequency of your smiling I think. If you smile very often, what a sad, sad, sad soul you would be that you spend much of your precious time doing something you don't care about! Since smiling is a habit to many of us now, especially when there's a camera pointed at us, perhaps we should try putting some heart into our smile. After all, it takes time to have a conversation and share the happiness, but it only takes a few seconds to smile from the heart, and effectively spread the joy. Even if you don't give two hoots about sharing happiness, think of it this way- it's so efficient! AND if you say you don't have any reason to smile, look below:
Okay, I don't really know how to make people smile.But I think the orang utan(if he is one) looks really cute with his nose all scrunched up!
This is what I mean by smiling from the heart.
Don't you feel like smiling too?? =)
Don't smile as though you mean it,
Smile and mean it.
Will you smile from the heart with me? =D
P.S. There's so much more I want to say here (not on this subject), but it's almost 6am!! Definitely time for bed... and I am in a DEEP DEEP abyss of trouble in terms of studies. *pages for more help from above*
7 comments:
6 AM IN THE MORNING!!! =( (now that's a frown)
I smile because it elicits smiles from others and makes the atmosphere much less stressful. God made it this way I guess.
but this post certainly brought some smiles and a few giggles, esp your 4th paragraph lol =) (now that's a GENUINE smile) and some grain of truth you have there, esp the msn/sms smileys and smile-at-old-friend thing
All the best in your exam preparations! Don't burn out!
P.S. cute baby and really adorable cat!
dear rachel, don't u ever sleep??!!! i think sufficient/excessive sleep is the way to grow taller. look at me!
n funny enough, i've thought about smiles too and how fake/genuine they are and i THINK i can safely say that i can differentiate the sincere from the fake. and the good from the mischievous ones too :D
oh and i think people with perfect teeth don't have the best smiles most of the time.
u made me smile all the way just reading thru the post... :) -this is a genuine smile.
Rachel! :) (and that is a genuine smile from me to you, i think.)
I agree with this:
1.When people smile because they're happy, you can see the sparkle in their eyes, and you feel like smiling too, even if you're only looking at their photo. But when people smile because they have to, even if the aesthetic value remains, I think there's less sparkle, and their smile is less infectious.
2.Don't smile as though you mean it, Smile and mean it.
3. =) all the best for your exams!
M-y
4. You know how sometimes we see people we recognise as some ex-primary school classmate on the street and we smile at them, they smile back and we quickly divert our eyes away and hope we won't meet head on with them because that would mean an awkward, meaningless conversation? I wonder... was that smile genuine? Did it say "hey, I'm happy we met on the street"? Or was it just to acknowledge the person's presence so that you wouldn't be considered rude?
Yea..that happens often. =|
a post to put a smile on my face to remind me to smile not because of habit, but because of the joy deep within =)
urh. joshua here. this is the 1st spam of me spamming ur blog.
ok. lets see; topic's smiles eh...
whether to show some respect, or in situations i dunno wat to say to sum1 babbling in some foreign language or when some good memory flashes, or someone tried hard to make a joke...
I'll worry abt my smiles.
how others show me their smiles, how genuine they are, etc.. I'll just take whatever good from them that i can.
end.
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