I tend to observe people and their expressions. I’m a natural people watcher it seems. Anyway I was watching something and it got me thinking about smiles and the different kinds of smiles we have as humans.

This may all seem obvious to you but I honestly only seriously thought about it recently. Now I know there are fake smiles and genuine smiles. Those are the two main groups. From reading and just general living I know of the pained smile, anxious smile, crazy smile and evil smile. Then there’s the beautiful radiant smile someone has when they’re happy. Oh and the flirty smile, I excel at that.

Recently I’ve been thinking about the love smile. I don’t mean the sappy smile people have as they stare with puppy dog eyes at the person they’re crushing on or love. That’s the obvious love smile. I know that one.

As I was watching something recently I suddenly thought, “Wait do people smile differently when in love?” It doesn’t matter what the situation is but they just generally have a different smile and even laugh reserved for one person. It’s not necessarily sappy it’s just different.

It’s like a happy smile but it’s got a different twang to it. Their laugh doesn’t change but there’s something that is different. Also, of course, it’s not just in the smile but the eyes too.

I’m not explaining this well. It’s like in the movie Peter Pan when it’s said Mrs Darling has a kiss in the corner of her mouth and you can see it and Wendy looks at her wondering when she’ll get it. Then when she does she gives it to Peter and it’s a powerful thing. As a kid I’d look at them and be like, “I don’t see the kiss. What are they talking about?” But now I get what they were talking about.

Then it got me thinking, how does my smile change? As far as I can tell my smile stays within the realm of the happy, cheeky, radiant (if I do say so myself) and polite, oh and meme. I have not experienced the smile change of true love and not just puppy love or the honeymoon faze of love. Nah, the love smile I’m talking about is like, “Yo, you’re my person.”

It’s calm and assured.

Anyway when I saw that smile it warmed my heart. It’s so sweet! Even if it’s not directed at me it’s just beautiful to witness.