Will you just smile already?
The author reflects on the challenges of smiling and how it differs from laughter. While a smile is often seen as a social signal meant to reassure others, the author struggles to produce a genuine smile. Instead, they find laughter to be a more authentic expression that cannot be faked.
- ▪The author has difficulty producing a genuine smile, which they describe as a lips-together situation.
- ▪They believe that a smile serves as a social signal, a way to reassure others that everything is fine.
- ▪In contrast, laughter is involuntary and genuine, making it easier for the author to express.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Someone took my picture last week. “Smile,” she said. “I am smiling,” I said. Recommended Stories Inside Scoop: Trump 2.0 post-Dobbs, Ben Sasse’s warning to Congress, Colbert signs off Inside Scoop: Trump and Mamdani, Restoring America, why women are moving left Inside Scoop: Left-wing violence epidemic, White House ballroom momentum, tale of two kings “No,” she said, with a slight edge that I recognized immediately — the edge of someone who is trying to be patient with a difficult subject — “I mean, actually smile.” The problem, which I have never been able to solve, is that my smile — the genuine, spontaneous, I-mean-it smile — is a lips-together situation.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Washington Examiner.
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