The Significance of a Smile

I've been thinking about writing this post for about a week now, but I was contemplating the actual significance of the topic. On the grand scale of things, it seemed pretty inconsequential, but now I think it's the right time to share it.

Smiling is generally infectious. Friends, family, lovers, colleagues - they all share moments of happiness when smiles or laughter occurs. Smiles are the natural human expression of happiness. Babies smile when their parents entertain them, children smile when they've achieved a good grade at school, teenagers rarely smile (no, I'm kidding, we have our moments of joy too!), and adults generally smile at jokes or moments of genuine happiness. It's just natural, but of course you all know this already. So what is so significant about a smile?

As Autumn encroaches upon us, and the depths of winter become more apparent (particularly in the bitter Scottish world!), we tend to rush from A to B as quickly as possible without noticing the beautiful changes of the world around us. We grumble at the rain and complain at the leaves littering the concrete carpets of our streets. Amid all this change, we too become insular as deadlines approach, or work becomes more intense. We rush from place to place disregarding our surroundings, and with this, perhaps we ignore the people we pass. We cannot know their innermost thoughts and feelings - they're strangers too - but we can perhaps make a slight change to their mood with a simple smile...

Some of you may have heard of SAD (or Seasonal Affective Disorder) - it's a kind of depression caused by the change in season. Summer generally bring happiness, sunshine and memories with friends, but winter is the time when the coats come out, and our hands shrink into our pockets, scarves wrapped tightly around our necks. As the sunshine fades, so too does our happy mood and perhaps we become a little more sombre.

Often I'll be conscious of when I'm walking down the beautiful streets of St Andrews and how I may appear to others. I may be staring down at the pavement and I may have a particularly stern expression planted upon my face, though through no intention of my own. It's often more than likely that I will be contemplating something. Studying Theology really gets you thinking!
Last year was the first time I'd experienced this. Walking the mile or so back to DRA (David Russell Apartments, a university hall of St Andrews University), it was approaching winter time and I must have had a rather intense look upon my face, and a local approached me and asked if I was alright. I was perfectly fine, and I told her I was just thinking about something, but she gauged my outward appearance to seem worried or upset. It was a little disconcerting for me. For one, what impression was I giving others by my stern outward appearance? And secondly, what a lovely person to approach me and be brave enough to ask how I was. I bet half the people walking down the street wouldn't have dared stop and ask.

My point in relaying all this to you is the significance of a smile. Up until that point, I had gone about my daily walking with an obviously stern look upon my face, without the thought of the perception others received of me.
A smile really is something rather insignificant in itself - a creasing of the mouth in an upwards shape - a few muscle movements; but the effect it may have upon people can be utterly profound. Just walking down the street I have experienced this. One day last year I tried my own little case study. I decided for that day that my good deed would be to smile at every single person I passed. I felt a little odd doing so - would people think I was an absolute nutter? Perhaps! But honestly, the majority of people returned the smile, and it made me feel utterly uplifted. Not only because my smile had made them happy, or at least maybe cheered them a little, but because their exchange of the smile made me happy. It was one of those insignificant human moments where just being human is enough.

This is the significance of a smile. It is the sharing of an interaction between people that may be just a moment's glance, strangers or not, but it can mean the absolute world, just in that moment. It really can make a difference. So, the next time you're gloomily off to a lecture, or about to slave your life away in the library, just give a little smile to the people you pass. It's a gesture that requires no effort of your part, but can be utterly rewarding, both for you and your recipient. It might twig something in their brain - it may just promote a little happiness in a season which can bring with it so much disheartened feelings, and it may make them think perhaps the world isn't such a bad place to live in after all.