Do you smile?

[Ken]

I smile very, very rarely. For me a smile wells up naturally from inside, and just happens, though not very often, without any sort of thought or effort.

Sometimes I wish I could smile on demand like most people seem to be able to, or have natural smiles come more easily. Both because it would make social stuff easier and because smiling is supposed to improve mood.

I don't really like to show my teeth, partly because I have bad teeth and partly because it just feels weird and forced, but occasionally I try to smile on purpose because of social expectations or because I want to put someone at ease.

This never works. People ask me what I'm smirking about. I've been told I look creepy. I get the feeling it's very offputting and insincere looking.

Maybe I just don't have the knack for it.

Does anyone else have weirdness around smiling?

Yes. I never smiled until my wife taught me how. (Long story how I ever ended up with a wife.) Indeed smiling for me is fake, like acting, so it can be learned. With lots of instruction and coaching, I finally have it to be sufficiently convincing.

 

[AprilR]

I smile a lot since i am always masking

 

[Kalinychta]

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

I do. But not as much as I used to. My daughter just told me that about a week or so ago. I didn't realize it. She asked "Why don't you ever smile anymore?"

I do get happy. It's very easy for me to be optimistic. I find so many joyful moments, in even the worst days.

But a lot of truly awful things have happened since the trees started leafing out. Life was good when they were still in blossom, though.

So now I am consciously trying to smile. I'm just waiting for the storm to settle down. Everything will be as it was.

 

[Ame568]

I seem to rarely smile and if I try to force a smile for a picture it looks really weird (I call it a "football smile" because that's what it looks like to me) so I stopped forcing a smile.

 

[Kalinychta]

I smile and laugh all the time when I’m around people I’m comfortable with. In fact I’ve always laughed at least three times more than the people around me, when I was a kid and still as an adult.

But when you’re a grown-up it seems socially unacceptable to laugh and smile “too much.” So I tend to keep it under control when I’m around “normal people.”

 

[CrazyInTrains]

I smile almost constantly, but it's also mostly a fake smile because I'm supposed to smile to keep others happy. Or at least that way they won't ask what's wrong.

 

[BewilderedPerson]

More than I used to.

 

[Lunt]

I often let myself smile politely, but sometimes people around me say that I rarely smile, I don't quite understand, because I feel like I smile a lot, sometimes I feel like my face is stiff because of laughing too much.

 

[Jumpinbare]

I am always being told to smile. Most of the time I just have relaxed facial muscles. Apparently my resting face looks mad to a lot of people.

 

[GrownupGirl]

Yes, I do smile. Usually when I'm remembering something that I actually don't hate, like a funny show or a cartoon.

 

[BryceMcBryde]

Only when I laugh. Other than that, never