Smiling Eyes
Yesterday as I was swinging my son in our backyard hammock, I watched him smile. This boy’s smile can light up a room. When he smiles, he smiles with his entire being. His eyes. His body. He radiates vibrant energy I wish I could capture, bottle it up, and save it for when I need a surge of hope and love. As I watched him giggle and smile over and over, I paid the closest attention to his eyes. I have been noticing people’s eyes more than ever before. With all our smiles hidden behind masks currently, our eyes are what we use to communicate with others. What are our eyes saying? I used to love watching America’s next top model with Tyra Banks as the host. She would always coach the models to learn to “smize”, meaning smile with their eyes.
Our eyes are so expressive and often referred to as the window to our soul. We used to be able to hide behind our smiles, to pretend everything was happy and fine by giving a smile, even if it was not genuine. Now, with our smiles hidden behind masks, all we can see is the eyes. The eyes I am seeing are tired. They are weary. They are sad. Now that I am back working in the pharmacy, I am feeling burdened by what I can see in the eyes of the people coming to me. I am struggling with wanting to help, to get close to them, to give them a Midwest hug when I know they are hurting… but instead I am wearing a mask covering my warm smile I so desperately want them to see. I am forced to stand behind plexiglass to protect them from my possible germs. To protect me from the people I want to help. I want to give them more than their prescription for medicine. I want to give them hope. I want to give them encouragement. I want to give them love. So, I am doing all I can to dispense more than medicine from my place in the pharmacy. I am withsmizing with intention. Ihope I have deep wrinkles after this pandemic around my eyes from using them so hard to share a smile with others. I want my eyes to tell the story my heart is saying. I want people to be able to see how much I care. How happy I am to see them. How I am present and available to listen and share not only my love but God’s love with them if needed.
This pandemic is lasting so much longer than most of us imagined. We will continue to be asked to hide our smiles behind masks. We are going to remain distanced from others in a way that limits our ability to comfort and express love. We do not have to let it limit us from connecting with others though. We can still say hello as we pass a stranger while grocery shopping. Even if your smile is hidden, your eyes can still speak and show you care. Do not shut down and stop trying to share your love just because there are barriers. Smile anyway. Have smiling eyes.