My Smile and my Jewelry

What are your two favorite things to wear?

By Tracy Schruder

Everyone looks better when they smile. Our smiles are the perfect accessory for any ensemble. I enjoy smiling. Smiling can boost your mood, here’s some information about smiling:

Facial Feedback Hypothesis: 

This theory says that just moving the muscles needed to smile sends a “hey, I’m happy” signal to the brain. Even if you’re not feeling joyful, the brain interprets the facial cue and releases feel‑good neurotransmitters. Studies show that people who hold a pen between their teeth (forcing a smile‑like pose) or mimic a grin feel a bump in happiness. 

Neurochemical Boost

When you smile, your brain dumps dopamine (reward), endorphins (natural painkillers), and serotonin (mood stabilizer). These chemicals not only lift your vibe but also lower cortisol, the stress hormone. 

Physical Benefits

Smiling can drop heart rate and blood pressure, acting like a quick stress‑buffer. In experiments, folks who smiled during pain had lower heart rates and reported better emotional recovery. 

Social Contagion

A smile is contagious—seeing someone grin triggers mirror‑neuron activity, making you smile too. This creates a positive feedback loop that amplifies good feelings for both the smiler and the observer. 

Real‑World Evidence

Large‑scale collaborations (19 countries, ~3,900 participants) found that voluntarily posing a smile—either copying a photo or moving facial muscles—did increase self‑reported happiness. However, the pen‑in‑teeth trick (a “covert” smile) showed mixed or weak results, meaning the effect needs authentic muscle activation. 

Bottom line: The simple act of smiling engages brain chemistry and social cues that genuinely improve how you feel, even when the grin starts out “fake.”

Smiling has been studied extensively. When they tell you that your smile is your best feature, believe them.

Our smile is our best feature. It’s always more comfortable to be greeted with a smile, especially in difficult circumstances. I’ve been told that my smile lights up a room and touches hearts. Maybe I was simply born with a beautiful, friendly smile—I just never realized it. I never put much effort into it; I smiled naturally or for pictures.

I didn’t catch the link between smiling and laughing until I started paying attention. I studied my smile in the mirror, learning to recognize the fake, annoyed, hurt, sarcastic, smitten, empathetic, humorous, and loving versions. If I couldn’t find a mirror, I snapped a picture. I examined my whole face, noting the difference between fake and genuine.

I played with it, even learning to fake a genuine laugh or smile to lift others up, even when my heart wasn’t in it. I noticed how my nose crinkled, my frown lines deepened, and how the genuine smile gathered wrinkles around my eyes.

Thankfully, I don’t have to fake it much these days—life gives me so many reasons to smile. I’ve found that smiling at myself in the mirror, when no one else is there to share a grin, boosts my happiness and confidence.

My smile is my all time favourite thing to wear! If you ever see me, you’ll see me smiling.

My Jewels

I absolutely adore wearing my jewelry. I am fascinated with precious and semiprecious gemstones. I make my own jewelry from gemstones.

I make bracelets, necklaces and earrings—and I’ll craft keychains or dreamcatchers on request. Every piece is set with gemstones. I absolutely love making things with gemstones.

I especially love having a different set of gemstones jewelry for every outfit I wear. I don’t need a special occasion or a night out to don my jewelry—I wear it every single day.

I also feel that energetic charge from certain stones. Sometimes I pick my jewelry based on what the day holds. Need to be razor‑sharp? I’ll wear lapis lazuli. Ditching a bad habit? Amethyst is my go‑to. Need to spread extra love? Rose quartz does the trick. My jewelry is my second favourite thing to wear.