Happy Hearts. Happy Faces.

"Happy Faces!"

While taking a break from my duties as the official photographer at an annual luncheon,  I sat down to talk with a man and his wife I've come to know. 

Since I've never seen him when he wasn't smiling, even when I wasn't pointing my camera in his direction, I said to her, "Does he smile all the time?" 

"Yes, he does! It's a joy to be married to him."

In addition to his beautiful smile, his eyes sparkle like those of a young child opening the best gift ever. Thus, it's a pleasure to be in his presence. 

I wish I'd asked him his secret, but I'm assuming that the answer is found in the Bible: "A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance" (Proverbs 15:13, NKJV).

And there is definitely a direct link between the heart and the face, just as there is between the heart and the words we say and the actions we take. 

As a photographer, I notice details in faces, but not just physical features such as the shape, the skin, the eyes, etc. I also notice the expression on each face, for the expression is an indicator of what's going on in that person's mind and heart. Is he or she troubled? Tense? Angry? Defiant? Bored? Kind? Inquisitive? Confident?

Most of us can manage to smile when a camera is aimed at us, but what kind of expressions do we have when we're not being photographed? Those expressions speak volumes about the kind of person we are. 

Happy Heart. Happy Face

Since childhood, I’ve known the song that says, “If you’re happy and you know it then your face will surely show it.”

I was reminded of that recently when I photographed children attending an event in our community. A few were “glum chums.” Others wore bland expressions. But some had such a radiance on their sweet faces that I was immediately drawn to them. They made my job easy, for I didn’t even have to try to coax a smile out of them. All I had to do was take the picture!

Regretfully, I failed to ask permission to post their pictures here. But if I could post them, you’d immediately see the HUGE difference a genuine smile makes. The eyes light up. The face is relaxed. There’s a warmth and a gentleness on it, which is so appealing.

So, I’ll post two photos: one of my Daddy, taken many years ago; and one I took of myself recently while seated near a window in our dining room. Like Daddy, I have a perpetual smile. Like him, I have a glad heart, even when life isn’t one big happy, happy. And, as the song says, the inner happiness (and joy, gladness, cheerfulness) shows up on the face.

A glad heart makes a cheerful face….

~Proverbs 15:13, ESV