Crow’s Feet: A Wrinkle is Worth a Thousand Smiles
Welcoming a face — and life — worn out by abundant joy
“Here comes her fake smile,” my parents would tease when it was time for picture-taking. They were talking about me.
As a little girl then, I didn’t understand what they meant. As far as I knew, I was smiling the way all the adults did: with my mouth stretched wide, lips parted, and my teeth — at least the ones I had — flashing. That is how you do it, right?
But as I grew up, I began to see it. Sure, my mouth was in a grin, but you couldn’t see my supposed joy across my face. My childhood pictures, cute as I was back then, looked as if I had been forced to be in that moment, forced to smile for the photo.
I’m sure that wasn’t the case! I just didn’t know then that smiling with your lips is only half of it. I had not yet learned that what makes a genuine smile is one’s eyes.
Recently, I noticed in my selfies that there’s a short, fine line extending from the outer corner of my eyes. The crease is subtle in some photos, and deeper in others. At first, I thought, cool, I look like I have winged eyeliners! So, whilst stuck in traffic like every other car-owning Filipino in Metro Manila, I thought I’d share my amusement on Instagram. (Well, with my Close Friends, at least.)
