A Certain Smile

What makes up a smile?

If truth is to be told, I sometimes find it hard to draw an arc and bend my lips especially when I'm alone. When I meet people across the halls or while walking in a street or a curve, I usually don't put a cheerful face to anyone that I particularly do not know. I nod if I know the person by mere acquaintance. I smile if I am his or her friend. I smile, greet and even chat if the person has been a part of my daily routine, my work and my life.

In high school, I was taught and told to smile, 'cause it take several muscles more to frown. Frowning adds lines in the forehead while smiling put your face in a good mood, it makes you beautiful. It eases the human body free from stress, from bad aura and negative thoughts.

Maybe I should smile more?

In work, I am bedazzled. It takes away my full awake-time. Sometimes, it even steal a fraction of the time I'm supposed to be asleep, recuperating from the day's stress and workloads. There were several nights, I found it hard to sleep thinking about the pressure, about the deadline, about getting it work, about finishing work. I definitely wish for it to end. For it to succeed and give back some to my own.

Looking at this picture of Chichi, taken during my friends' wedding last weekend, has put me several times thinking that a smile truly enlightens the human soul. It eases the imaginative pain, the phantom suffering, it clears any clouded thoughts.

Then I thought, I should learn to smile more.