That Instinctive Twinkle.
Life is an ever-lasting arena of bliss and sorrow, of glory and dishonor, of triumph and defeat, of highs and lows. Made up of tiny, yet, significant moments of joy and suffering, it is fresh and fun-filled, suited for each living being in its own way. This adventure ride, I believe, is glued together by those little moments when we catch ourselves smiling reflexively at the simple yet mind-blowing forms it takes. The laugh of a newborn, the cuddle of a kitten, the chirp of the sparrow and so on.
How many times have we felt the sudden surge of that beautiful emotion called happiness? We may not immediately realize it but every time we feel satisfied, a smile makes its way to our face. It’s not only contentment, but also pride, ego, jealousy and even anger that brings about a reflexive smile. When we get the fruits of our efforts, we smile, be it clearing an exam, organizing a fest or pranking someone.
In case you are one of those people disagreeing with me, emphasizing that you do nothing involuntarily, let alone smile, then brace yourself because you can be wrong. How would you explain that expression on your face when your friends surprised you on your birthday? Surely, you did not know about it,that’s why it’s a surprise.And how would you explain that expression when you topped the class or won a match or a competition? Results can only be anticipated not known. Well, unless you are a time traveler or a prophet. Even in that case that expression will creep in without your knowledge since if you have achieved time travel, you are a rare genius to be celebrated or if you are a prophet, well, you will be respected and treated equal to God.
Love is another entity that lets a smile in. In fact a smile can be a perfect expression of love. There is no way of appeasing a pet dog as effective as a smile overflowing with love. Although it’s forced at first, playing around with the dog does the deal. It is love that makes the mother smile, even cry when she sees her baby laugh unexpectedly.
Negative emotions can also lead to a smile. It is smile, involuntary, which is the first customer when we see an enemy fall. After all, we do smile,when we do score more than that topper of the class don’t we? We smile when we win, even if it is at the cost of others’ losses. Hitler smiled as he lead the Jews to death. Pride leads to an involuntary smile. We do beam if appreciated, be it a teacher who does it or a boss. On such occasions, we are satisfied and so there is a smile before we can stop ourselves.
There is one thing that tops them all. People might have caught us smile or laugh to ourselves, probably judging us to be weird or a maniac. It is reminiscences’ way of making people smile. Those wistful memories of childhood, running around the house creating a ruckus because we did not get something we wanted, enacting an act of being sick in order to skip school, running behind the butterflies and squirrels, playing on the swing challenging each other to go higher and higher, standing on top of the slide after climbing it on the sloping side and calling ourselves the reigning supreme of the world , sleeping on mother’s lap while she stroked our hair and sang us to sleep, surely, they make us smile don’t they?
Life today is a fast moving blur in which these little moments are the tiny sparks that make it beautiful, like stars in the sky. Life is, after all, an exhibition filled with such little sparks of joy for those with eyes to perceive. For those who can’t, well, a smile can be involuntary.
Hope you are smiling right now.
- This article was written for Festember: The Renaissance by Divya S
