Why I love kids is because of their natural smile. Can there be bland or shy or dreary kids, it's just a little percentage. And in front of a camera, even a growing infant can crack that Duchenne smile. An article in Psychology today mentions that a Duchenne smile involves both voluntary and involuntary contraction from two muscles: the zygomatic major (raising the corners of the mouth) and the orbicularis oculi (raising the cheeks and producing crow's feet around the eyes). And oftentimes we are curious as to whether one's smile is genuine or fake.
The distinction between the two has been of interest to researchers for quite sometime now. In fact, the genuine smile has a name. It's called the "Duchenne smile," named after the French physician Guillaume Duchenne, who studied the physiology of facial expressions in the nineteenth century.
In the photo above is my nephew, Ahlden, whom I've watched growing up as a smiley kid. On or off-cam, he can show off that kind of smile with no effort. Maybe kids, generally, have all the nature to be gleeful, jolly and radiant.
Read next
From @kenden