Various Smiles
The kittens aren't quite smiling yet. But I do think Donner's collar should come off tomorrow. I'll be working from home, a rare luxury this teaching term, so can keep an eye on him, and replace said preventative plastic if he looks like he's going to lick his stitches to the point of irritation. He seems ok today but not the energetic young cat he was before the accident. He mostly wants to flop down on my lap. He is still eating a lot, one suspects for comfort. Yesterday K- gave him a good grooming with a pet brush he'd bought especially, and Donner almost purred with pleasure, rolling from side to side to indicate where he would next like to be brushed. Poor boy, he'll be delighted to have his basic cat skill set back in operation.
So an almost smile. And I'm reluctant to wish the week away but can't help a bit of an inner smile at the thought of a break from teaching. Today's last MA poetry class was perfectly fine, with a quick drink in the bar afterwards. But it is the case sometimes that one is smiling with other motives and reflexes than pleasure, especially in the working world (and that does include the classroom on occasion). So I've enjoyed browsing through one of my more eccentric purchases/ reads recently, 'Happiness For Dummies'. (But how could you not buy a title like that? )'Behind every smile,' says author W Doyle Gentry, 'there's a reason, a motive, some type of nonverbal message...the person who's smiling is the messenger - your job is to figure out what the message is'.
What messages would these be? Well, D-G lists the following:
The lying smile - beloved of salesmen and politicians.
The angry smile - often accompanied by hostility and sarcasm.
The masking smile - everything's fine, really (sniffs)
The contemptuous smile - used to put a person down, and it's 'the type of smile that goes a long way toward destroying marriages'. Marrieds, beware.
The charismatic smile - the ability to inspire others, though can be 'acted'
And finally...
The 'Duchenne smile' - the real deal. Goes up to the eyes, makes the muscles around the eyes contract as well.
Hmmm. Well. There's something about fear too in some smiles, isn't there? In the animal world a grin can signify fear as well as welcome. I'm sure that's what I do in certain situations. And what sort of smile does the Mona Lisa have? A slight smile, signifying - intimacy, a shared secret, a sort of quiet, pleased, self-possession? Whatever it is, it's clearly pretty compelling. Almost a purr perhaps.
So an almost smile. And I'm reluctant to wish the week away but can't help a bit of an inner smile at the thought of a break from teaching. Today's last MA poetry class was perfectly fine, with a quick drink in the bar afterwards. But it is the case sometimes that one is smiling with other motives and reflexes than pleasure, especially in the working world (and that does include the classroom on occasion). So I've enjoyed browsing through one of my more eccentric purchases/ reads recently, 'Happiness For Dummies'. (But how could you not buy a title like that? )'Behind every smile,' says author W Doyle Gentry, 'there's a reason, a motive, some type of nonverbal message...the person who's smiling is the messenger - your job is to figure out what the message is'.
What messages would these be? Well, D-G lists the following:
The lying smile - beloved of salesmen and politicians.
The angry smile - often accompanied by hostility and sarcasm.
The masking smile - everything's fine, really (sniffs)
The contemptuous smile - used to put a person down, and it's 'the type of smile that goes a long way toward destroying marriages'. Marrieds, beware.
The charismatic smile - the ability to inspire others, though can be 'acted'
And finally...
The 'Duchenne smile' - the real deal. Goes up to the eyes, makes the muscles around the eyes contract as well.
Hmmm. Well. There's something about fear too in some smiles, isn't there? In the animal world a grin can signify fear as well as welcome. I'm sure that's what I do in certain situations. And what sort of smile does the Mona Lisa have? A slight smile, signifying - intimacy, a shared secret, a sort of quiet, pleased, self-possession? Whatever it is, it's clearly pretty compelling. Almost a purr perhaps.
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