To put it simply, I believe in smiles. The movement of 17 facial muscles to convey emotion. The crease of a dimple on ones cheek. The smirk between two meddling friends. A simple smile is the universal language of love leading to feeling completely serene. 

Now, I know what you’re thinking. How in the world could a fifteen year old girl know anything about serenity? Well, I’m telling you, life throws curve balls no matter how old you are, or what you’ve done. I was 13 years old. 8th grade was going great. I had a happy family, friends, and great grades. Nothing could go wrong. Then, as if I jinxed myself, all of it did.

My best friends hated each other. Every day, they would argue. They began to hate themselves. Nothing I could do would stop it. I stopped believing in friendship entirely. And, the curveball didn’t stop there. On December 17, 2013, my dad decided to leave my mom. Family was a concept I felt screamed forever. Family was my fail safe. But there was no pretext, no warning whatsoever. Out of nowhere, he realized he was unhappy, and they split. There went family. The icing on the cake was when my hardship showed in my schoolwork. I just wasn’t myself and my world crumbled to nothing.

I rarely smiled, I was depressed. My face was stony with frowns and tears. Tears that left salt embedded into my skin for weeks after washing my face. My saving grace was a freshman year project. For Health we had to go into the world and test the strength of something we felt held power. After so long of frowning at my life, I chose smiles.

I exercised those 17 muscles every day. I smiled at everybody, from in the hallways at school to sitting in standstill traffic next to other cars. I saw others days getting better. By smiling at them, they couldn’t help smiling back. It was a chain. The kind you find on swings. Each link mollified its surroundings. A simple smile soared from face to face. Against all I could’ve dreamed of, I was happy, and I barely even realized it.

My life had gone kaput. Smiling made it better. I found happier friends, I was a good student again. My life felt right. And to cap the bottle, my project got a 100%. Now, I know that humans are blessed. We were given so many harmonious appendages that help us to be who we are. The smile is just one of those.

Looking up from my keyboard, I see a couple cuddling on the ground. Their unbreakable eye contact alluding to love. Their gentle grins, warm and beautiful. I see two little kids racing through the school lobby. They giggle and stumble; all the while building an invisible bridge. A smile is complete goodness. It is a force meant to drive us insane, to help us figure out who we are.

Know that as I write this paper, I am smiling at its reader. I am building a new bridge. From me to you. A bridge that suspends into the air to provide simple bliss. A bridge that leads the way to a new soul. To me, smiles are bridges. They are pure joy. They are connections that make us feel. They pulled me out of a metaphorical bubble, into a life I never thought I could find again. Don’t break the chain, my friend. In the throes of battling life, our greatest weapon is the one we take for granted. That of the smile.