Yes, the smile: one of the most widespread and easily recognizable expressions a human can make. As it turns out, there are several factors that go into a smile, such as the muscle movement, the movement of the eyes, and so on. In fact, there are actually a few "types" of smiles, including the Duchenne smile, which I can simply describe as a smile where you smile with your eyes too (in other words, a very genuine smile) and the Botox smile, which is the name given to "fake smiles", usually one people give you out of politeness.
Before I continue in my article, here's a photo of me from March.
Now you may be thinking to yourself, Wow! I don't care!
And that's fine. But I wanted to show you how I smile nowadays before I continue.
Most people can say that they are confident with how their smile looks on their face. And I'll go into how I came to like my own smile.
First, let me show you some photos of myself smiling the way I used to smile in photos.
This is a photo of me, when I was 15 years old.
This is a photo of me at my prom, May 26th, 2016.
And to finish, here's a photo of me and my friends, Sherlinda and Federie, during my last Takeover (the Youth Group Service of Gracepoint, one of my home churches), before I moved in for Freshman year, sometime mid-August of last year (2016).
So, what's one thing all of these photos have in common? If you guessed "You're smiling with your mouth closed", then YOU ARE CORRECT! Have a virtual cookie as a reward! *gives you cookie* *you take the cookie* *you complain that it's a raisin cookie* *I defend myself saying it was the only thing left in the discount aisle*
Yes, all of those photos are photos of me smiling with my mouth closed, or without showing my teeth (grinning, as I'm sure it's called). If I'm being honest, as I look back at these photos, and countless more. I hate the way I look. My closed smile makes me look weird, uncomfortable, maybe even a bit creepy. I hate the fact that I want to go back and retake all of these photos and smile properly, to make the memory even better.
But I can't.
And what makes it worse is my mother's the one who told me to smile like that.
See, when I was younger (I don't remember the exact age), whenever I would be in photos, and I would smile, and my mother saw me, she would tell me (in Spanish obviously), "Don't show your teeth", or, "Close your mouth when you smile."
Why did she tell me these things?
"Don't show your teeth because you'll look bad."
"Don't show your teeth because you'll look ugly."
Now, as some of you may know, I absolutely love my mom, and I know she did not mean these words with ill will. But I remember when she said that to me (on more than one occasion I should add), it ruined my own perception of my smile. My mother unintentionally made me believe my own smile was ugly, that I shouldn't show it in photos, that I shouldn't show it to anyone, and I should keep it to nothing but a closed one.
I believed this for more than a decade of my life.
Overtime I smiled in a photo, a voice spoke in my head: "Don't grin. You'll look ugly. you'll look bad."
"But wait," I hear you wondering, "You grin now. What happened?"
I'll tell you, oh curious reader.
During the third or fourth week of February, there was an event held at my campus where a small printing duo came, and they were making "license plates" for any student who desired. Granted, they weren't actual license plates, but a photo of the student(s) printed onto a nice background.
My roommate, Evan, and I went to get a license made of us. Our friend Arianna tagged along, too. I don't remember how it went down, but I told them I was wondering if I should smile with my teeth showing or not; still self-conscious about my smile. They both encouraged me to smile with my teeth showing, and so I did. Here's how the plate turned out.
Afterwards, they both told me that I looked a lot better with my grin, and that made me feel a lot better. I told myself, "Yeah, I do look better."
And since then, I've smiled with my mouth open/showing my teeth/grinning. I love the way I look when I smile. Here are some examples.
A photo of Evan and I at our school's Birthday Ball, February 25th.
A photo of my friend Desi and I after her dance recital, April 19th.
A photo of my friend Sidney and I on our friend date, June 3rd.
A photo of my family and I at a wedding, July 2nd.
See? Now I smile the way I want to, because I look a whole lot better, and I'm much more comfortable with how I look.
So why am I telling you all this?
See, thanks to Evan and Arianna, and later my other friend Dylan, I've learned that my best smile is my grin. Do I still look weird, uncomfortable and a bit creepy in some photos? Sure. Everyone does if you stare at them long enough.
But I want you, the reader, to understand, that if you are uncomfortable with your smile, and I don't mean a simple closed one; I'm talking a big, cheery grin, then you need to understand that you look your best with a toothy grin on your face. Everyone does. There can be a variety of reasons as to why you don't like your smile, but trust me, you look your best when you give the world your best smile.
If you currently don't like your smile, then give this a try: Go look at yourself in the mirror, and smile a big toothy grin. Not so big you hurt yourself, but a nice one. Maybe take a few selfies. It may not be as easy as it was for me, but trust me, every single photo from then on out will remind you of how great you look.