Sm(eye)les make my life! — PIPPA FRANCIS

A few days ago, I was standing making awkward conversation with the cashier in the supermarket down the road from my apartment. It is a particularly poorly-designed shop with little space at the tills, which are also located adjacent to all the fresh produce, the most popular items in most supermarkets. There is always a bottleneck in this area of the store; a small crowd-like group either waiting in line to pay or trying to squeeze through to reach the cheese fridge or the tomato shelf. The supermarket is also a few hundred metres from my house, so I am grateful.

To cut a long, rather boring story short, on this specific day, I had done a large shop. I had three bags of groceries to carry, plus my handbag and my backpack filled with take-home work. There was a long queue behind me and only one cashier on duty. As she handed me my receipt, I instinctively went to put it between my lips while I gathered my belongings. Although not the most hygienic of moves, the mouth can make a great extra hand when there is too much to carry. The receipt in my hand was confronted with…my mask! Of course.

I am so used to wearing masks, I forget they are there sometimes. Instead, I glanced at the line of impatient shoppers behind me, giggled embarrassedly and shoved the receipt into one of the bags before hurrying along. But as I squished myself and bags out through the heavy, very closed swing door, I started to think about all the other simple pleasures masks have taken away from many of us!

Like adult, acne-free skin. Or feeling the breeze against one’s cheeks. A respite from the sweaty upper lip on the train or in a blast of air conditioner at a convenience store. Being able to read people’s lips when they speak. Projecting one’s voice with relative ease. Wearing glasses without them misting up. Photographs with full faces of expression.

Recognising your colleagues, or your friends. Free-face exercise indoors. Facial recognition on Facebook. Just kidding, I don’t miss that because Facebook always thinks I am my mum. She’s beautiful and amazing and all, but come on now! But what I think what I miss the absolute most of all, is the smiles.

Ah, I love a smile! Brilliant white-toothed smiles and toothless grins. A smile and nod from a stranger on the street. A conversation with a waiter, shop assistant or student which starts or ends in a smile. People-watching in a coffee shop and noticing someone’s smile. Giving someone an unexpected compliment and watching their reaction. A smile can turn a bad day on its head. Smiles can change people’s minds and moments, and memories of those moments.

As I was walking home from said supermarket, I also thought about how wonderfully resilient people are. In times of great crisis and angst, human beings are able to find hope and joy. In times of unrest and division, human beings still find a way to unite and work together. In moments of grief and great sadness, human beings are capable of great kindness and compassion. Human beings find reasons to smile even in the darkest of days.

In many places around the world, people have been wearing masks for 18 months or more. For some, this will continue for the foreseeable future. And I know I’m just an old softie. But why not celebrate the fact that many of us can still nod and “sm(eye)le” at a stranger in the street? Or share a look of understanding with a classmate or colleague? Or the fact that we only need to put make-up or sunscreen on our foreheads?

So, I reached out to just a few friends and family in different parts of the world and asked them to send me photos of their “sm(eye)les”. The response was magical, the eyes twinkling, and the locations diverse. Strawberry picking, at Disneyland, pottery class, at the beach, in gardens and in taxis, at the hairdresser, on trains to visit newborn babies, in rock-climbing centres, and in front of the curtains in living rooms. I hope these photos make you smile and sm(eye)le as much as they do me.