The Smile
September 22, 2010
[Photo taken by Gus Harper.]
After looking at Gus Harper’s photos from a journey that took him through Kenya and Uganda this summer, we kept going back to two photos in particular. It was the little boy in the center of the photo above – great big smile with two front teeth missing – that pulled us in over and over again. It was as if his spirit somehow leapt out of the photo and into our hearts, because I found myself fighting the urge to say, “Again! Again!”, wanting nothing more than to turn the photos over just so I could turn them back over and feel the joy from his smile shine on my face.
I can’t tell you how many times Gus and I pulled those pictures from his huge stack of photos, always eager for the burst of laughter that never failed to come out of us. Who is he? What is he doing right now? And how can we learn from this boy we’ll never know? There is so much wisdom in that smile ~ so much genuine love. Even to look at him here as I write this, I can’t keep a smile from forming on my own face. I couldn’t keep it in if I tried.
I read a story recently about how powerful our faces are ~ how easily our moods can be read just by the way our we hold our jaw, look at the world, and react to everything around us. This story has stayed with me ever since I read it, and I have developed a much greater awareness of what kind of messages my face gives the world. As I’ve tried to put this awareness into a daily practice, I’ve found that nothing is more immediately effective than a deep, mindful exhale. For the few seconds that I allow as much air as possible to release from my lungs, I can focus on the truth that in that moment, all is OK. And once that sinks in, there’s nothing left to do but smile, and take delight in my life with the same enthusiasm as this little boy ~ a little boy an ocean away who I’ll likely never meet, whose smile made a difference in my life.
Years ago, I read a piece of advice – that when you were dealing with a difficult person, even over the phone, that you should try to smile, that it would ease your tensions and make the interaction easier. In my job, I spend a lot of my time on the phone, and while most of the people I’m talking to are truly treasures, there are a few who are trying. Generally, it’s not because they are difficult, but because they are not technical and I am trying to take them through very technical maneuvers and they are as frustrated as I am. Whenever I can remember, I plaster a smile on my face and even though my co-workers laugh at the grimace that usually comes out, it almost never fails. I smile, I remember the things I like about the person on the other end of the phone line, and our whole conversation goes more happily and smoothly.
That smile is contagious…now I see what you were talking about. you can’t help but smile at that big huge grin!
Lovely post…thank you
Um, yeah, where is he? I want to scoop him up and give him a big smooch on the cheek! He is Pure Love. That is what he is. I hope wherever he is he is still shining that brilliant smile and feeling all the happiness his heart will handle!!
xoxo
Wow! That is really powerful. He really does possess a joy, doesn’t he? It’s like he knows a secret to the universe already in his very young life … or perhaps he’s really a wise old soul simply take up residence in a young boy’s body. In any case, I totally smile looking at both of those photos, too!
And I love the reflections you’ve shared here, about how our faces can communicate so much to others, about how a mindful exhale can help keep us present more so than most anything else, and how this boy’s smile made a difference in your life. (WOW. That last one is especially powerful!)
I love the way you think about things and see the world. It’s always a gift to visit you here.
xoxo,
Christianne
I love that smiley face! Now he’s touched my life, too – much like you have! Want to thank you for my “You are sparkly” card – the perfect affirmation for this shy gal.
Hope you’re settling back into your routine nicely since arriving home from Squam! Bet Tilda’s happy to have you back.
he is radiating some kind of i’ve-been-here-for-hundreds-of-lifetimes sort of energy. it was the group shot below the first one that really smacked me. there he is…telling me, the viewer, something. what beauty is it? maybe the kind that needs no words. while everyone’s attention is on the woman with the camera, he is shining his conscious light straight at gus. amazing.