Why are you smiling?
Think about it. Why is it that when an animal bares its teeth, it always seems threatening, yet when a person does the same action, we call it a smile?
Smile.
A word synonymous with laughter and joy, a word brimming with pictures of children and happiness, a word that we take for granted. Do you ever think about how many muscles it takes to smile? At least 10, 10 muscles to signify that a person is feeling happy.
Now imagine if you had to hold that smile.
How long would it take before your face started to hurt? How long before your mouth starts to cramp up and you feel excruciating pain?
Strangely enough, the smile evolved from what scientists call the ‘fear expression’ – bared teeth, flattened ears and a tight throat, an expression that happens when an animal feels trapped and threatened but physically can’t escape.
You see, smiles are taken for granted. They aren’t all happy rainbows and blue skies. Smiles are still signals of danger.
Would you trust a stranger with a smile?
When you go in the forest remember this. Remember the sign of danger, remember the pain of a smile, for there is one that will be hiding in the bushes, waiting.
Waiting for the moment it can share its smile.
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Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Inspired by the Tago-Ngirit entry in Bikol Beliefs and Folkways: A Showcase of Tradition. Nasayao 2010.
Tago-Ngirit Illustration by Julius Advincula
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