I smile but they can’t see it.
Because we’re on a Zoom call and I’m not visible.
Because I’m wearing a mask.
Because we don’t meet eyes and turn our faces away to prevent contamination.
Maybe I’m not smiling anymore.
Because the future seems uncertain.
Because I’m worried about my kids, not just today but for the future they may or may not have.
Because I’m exhausted from daily decision fatigue and the inability to plan more than a few days in advance before the rules change.
They may not be able to see my smile, but I can say thank you to our librarians for providing stacks of books for eager readers.
I can greet my neighbors at a distance when I take my daily walks through the neighborhood. I wave even if I don’t know their names and wish them a good morning.
Maybe if I wish it for them, it will be so.
I say thank you to the woman whose job is to disinfect carts at my grocery store and to the check out attendant who has probably been working overtime.
Or I could smile anyway, and hope, somehow, it shows.
I have tried for quite some time to say thank you to the people who don’t get noticed. Once I was stopped in traffic and rolled down my window to thank the guy pounding the asphalt into the new road. But all the more, we need to to spew joy. We need to let what’s under our masks be the least joyful part of our expression, that is, we need to be so abundantly joyful, thankful, and kind that it doesn’t matter if someone can’t see our smiles. I pray God help us with this.
FMF #16, Amie
I’m a big fan of smile-chains.
Smile anyway, with all your heart,
smile now, and let it show;
do your best, play your part,
for in truth you cannot know
the road that given smile till tread,
passed from lips to eyes,
replacing bitter scowls instead
with grins born of surprise
that the smile-chain you began
reached a troubled soul,
and like the bluebird sweetly sang
a tune to make life whole
when it seemed all life was through;
and to think, this has been made by YOU.
My post was on similar lines today. I agree, there are other ways we can show love and friendship even if they can’t see our smiles!
I like the suggestions you made. A thank you is so simple- anyone can say thank you with very little effort but everyone loves to get a thank you. I know times care really hard for everyone right now but we can still smile on zoom, behind masks and with our families. And we can all say thank you.
Terri D
#18 FMF
Yes, smile anyway! #5
In a world that is ever changing, we have control of how we respond! We can always smile and be gracious
Yes!!