Not so long ago, we’d smile and the world (or the cashier at least!) would smile with us.
In 2020...chance would be a fine thing, for beneath all the masks, our moods and expressions are really anyone’s guess!
Reading the room - and the people in it - has become somewhat a minefield, where it’s hard to tell if the person hovering behind you at the vegetable aisle is contemplating a trolley-war, or simply immersed quite happily in their own broccoli selection experience! 🥦
In the absence of that pivotal social cue that is the smile...kindness, humour, empathy, compassion and patience can easily be mistaken for anger and annoyance.
However, as we evolve to rely on other no-verbal cues, crows feet have never been more of an asset! Who’d have thought it?!
Those little (or big) creases that form around the eyes when we smile, might just be the next best thing to seeing a real, live toothy grin... and perhaps the next ‘in thing’ in beauty trends?! #hereshoping
Smile lines - in the absence of the real thing - are the reassurance that we need that humanity prevails, beneath the clinical exterior.
This most simple of human transactions, which sets off a chain-reaction of happiness, is more important now than ever, with research showing that smiles (even if forced) go a long way towards lifting our mood, as well as the moods of those around us (Merci, Colette.).
Ultimately, what better incentive is there than this, to embrace the ‘eye smile’ and turn Photoshop’s loss, into everyone else’s gain?