A dentist friend recently remarked to me on a someone's bad teeth - teeth, he said, make the smile. But what he said next was more to the point - a gorgeous smile is what makes someone truly beautiful. As he pointed out a bunch of beautiful friends smiling in photos around my house, versus the pouting, unhappy models in the fashion magazines on my coffee table, I realised he's right. As I think back to the few times a boy had told me that my "smile lit up a room" I can remember that sort of statement can be a true evocation of just how beautiful you think someone is - at least it's certainly true when I've thought it of others. In practical terms, I've put it into practice over the last 5 years as I have transitioned from the "Nisha Blue Steel" (which elicited a lot of fun-making by my friends, but a professional photographer told me was a-ok!) in photos to the "Nish Big Smile".
On the flipside, it also made me think about some of the incredible friends I have who make me smile and laugh, laugh, laugh in a stomach aching kind of way no matter what, no matter where. That is definitely what makes life beautiful. So embrace the jaw-breaking smile over the pout, and try your best to make someone else smile.
(Photo credits: my random photogrpahy, and my gorgeous, gorgeous friends.)
