We need to see more happy faces everywhere.
Have you ever been frightened to find a stranger’s face in your photograph? Or have you ever screamed when seeing a face in the window through the curtains in your room? In those situations, I’m sure that it was night and you were staying alone in the room, that is, you would have felt scared of something at that time. Moreover, we often perceive animals in the clouds or rocks, and especially Japanese people find rabbits in the moon. It is intriguing that the phenomenon called “Pareidolia” is caused by our brains. I don’t like to find a stranger’s face in my room at night; however, if it is a smiling face, I will feel happy when I see it, even if it is a socket on the wall.
I believe that through my experiences smiling faces have an unknown power that provides us happiness and encourages us. For example, I wouldn’t like to go to work on a rainy Monday; however, I can unexpectedly get energy from a smiling staff when I drop by a coffee shop. Furthermore, if I’m in a bad mood, I feel happy as I talk to others with my smiling face because they answer by smiling. Actually, research shows that smiles bring about another’s smile. It is said that when a person smiles in a crowd, many people around the person smile. This is because humans have neurons that leads us to imitate others’ behaviors like a mirror. There are some hypotheses that we had developed these neurons; to prevent us from dangers by learning from others experiences and to learn languages or to establish good communication in a group. Considering that babies read their mother’s emotions from facial expressions and learn languages, these hypotheses can convince us that we had developed these neurons.
Under this difficult situation due to the coronavirus pandemic, we are forced to wear a mask outside and can only see our friends and colleagues online; therefore, it is difficult to read facial expressions. It is said that Japanese people are not good at showing our emotions, even if we don’t wear masks. Therefore, we need to learn how to show our smiling faces with masks or online to make others happy, encouraged and comfortable. We will realize that it is efficient for us to smile at each other for the rest of our lives even after this difficult situation is over.
I think that happiness is the most interesting facial expression. My reasons are…
1. Happy facial expressions make everyone happy and provide everyone with courage and hope.
2. Your happy face is the most beautiful face in your life.
3. A philosopher; William James, said that “We don’t laugh because we’re happy – we’re happy because we laugh”. I like this phrase.