Why, this is fabulous!! So much great information & I loved the account of your performance gig. I too apparently do not have resting bitch face, as people often comment in the fact that I am smiling as I walk down the street. & I don't think I am! The schmuck who told you to smile is a blight...I never understand why people do this. Thanks for another great piece!
Glad you enjoyed this! And I'm not surprised that you smile when you walk down the street. 😊 That's very much your nature. Also, I think it's hard to know what we look like neutrally. Our tendency is to smile for cameras, so looking at photos or videos is not an accurate gage; unless we are caught candidly and off-guard. I couldn't believe how timely and specific that comment was from the director when I was doing the face mapping. Serendipitous, really.
A subscriber shared that she notices how smiling is also contagious. She mentioned seeing someone smile as they walked by her table at a restaurant, and how she found herself smiling too, despite not communicating with the person or knowing what prompted the smile. This got her to thinking about the reverberation effect: her smile prompted her dinner partner to smile. Now, their server might smile, neighboring diners might smile, and . . . on it goes.
I did a little research and sure enough, it's scientific. We have mirror neurons that fire when we observe an action in someone else, and smiling can indeed be neurologically contagious. So if you're practicing a smiling exercise while you're out and about, just think about the positive reverberation you're also creating! One more good reason to do it. 😊 💕
Two more takeaways from this interesting fact about neurological mirroring:
1) I would surmise that people who are empathetic likely experience this mirroring effect in a more powerful way than others do. I didn't research that, but it seems probable?
Why, this is fabulous!! So much great information & I loved the account of your performance gig. I too apparently do not have resting bitch face, as people often comment in the fact that I am smiling as I walk down the street. & I don't think I am! The schmuck who told you to smile is a blight...I never understand why people do this. Thanks for another great piece!
Glad you enjoyed this! And I'm not surprised that you smile when you walk down the street. 😊 That's very much your nature. Also, I think it's hard to know what we look like neutrally. Our tendency is to smile for cameras, so looking at photos or videos is not an accurate gage; unless we are caught candidly and off-guard. I couldn't believe how timely and specific that comment was from the director when I was doing the face mapping. Serendipitous, really.
Very serendipitous indeed! I love this. It was surely not what you were anticipating, but what a terrific comment from the director.
I loved this. I am definitely going to run the smile experiment. Hugs to you, old friend!
Yay! Let me know how it goes. 😊
A subscriber shared that she notices how smiling is also contagious. She mentioned seeing someone smile as they walked by her table at a restaurant, and how she found herself smiling too, despite not communicating with the person or knowing what prompted the smile. This got her to thinking about the reverberation effect: her smile prompted her dinner partner to smile. Now, their server might smile, neighboring diners might smile, and . . . on it goes.
I did a little research and sure enough, it's scientific. We have mirror neurons that fire when we observe an action in someone else, and smiling can indeed be neurologically contagious. So if you're practicing a smiling exercise while you're out and about, just think about the positive reverberation you're also creating! One more good reason to do it. 😊 💕
Two more takeaways from this interesting fact about neurological mirroring:
1) I would surmise that people who are empathetic likely experience this mirroring effect in a more powerful way than others do. I didn't research that, but it seems probable?
2) This prompts reflection on another post I wrote regarding our neurological patterns: "Getting out of a chronic negative thinking pattern." https://johannamccloy.substack.com/p/getting-out-of-a-chronic-negative
Some of the meditation teachers recommend a gentle smile during meditation- it all adds up now.