Thursday, December 12, 2013

Happy Face

I was watching an old episode of I Found the Gown; a mother and daughter team came in. The daughter wasn't probably that old, but her face was carved with deep grooves. She was obviously resentful of her happy-go-lucky mother, who smiled cheerfully while her angry daughter, mother herself to nearly grown children, barked "We're bonding!" in a way that felt a tad violent. 

When one reaches a certain age, the refusal to smile has visisbly left its mark. There aren't just wrinkles, there are crevasses. Bitterness doesn't just percolate below the surface; its festering juices gnaws away at the epidermis. 
http://punjapit.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/angry-old-woman.jpg?w=314
No lipstick can save you now.
In my hope for happy skin, I must be happy myself; potions alone won't do the trick, as Jane E. Brody informed me in "A Youthful Glow, Radiating From Within." 

Since I have gentically anxious tendencies, I have become aware of the concept of cortisol, that harrowing hormone that bubbles away in times of stress, reeking inflammatory havoc on the body. I have therefore attempted to de-stress my life as much as possible, of course factoring in unavoidable nerve-wracking situations, but my produce-based diet hopefully churns out enough antioxdants to neutralize the worst of the damage. 

Remember to smile, dammit!    

6 comments:

FrumGeek said...

Drinking helps.

miaou said...

Actually yes ! I noticed that if I don't drink at least a full bottle of water everyday I get very emotive

Sweet Profusion said...

Very appropriate to the parsha (last week's anyway)! I heard a very powerful dvar torah about the meaning of Paroh's observation that Yaakov's face show the hardship of his life, that he looked so old. Maybe you will inspire me to share more of this vort.

Princess Lea said...

FG: Hungarians don't drink. We eat.

miaou: I've recently tried to keep on top of my water intake; I never used to bother. It does make a big difference, all round.

SP: That and a nightly face cream! Now, if Yaakov had retinol . . .

Mighty Garnel Ironheart said...

They say it takes more muscles to frown but it sure doesn't feel that way.

Princess Lea said...

Really? Maybe because my facial muscles are frozen contrary to gravity ;)