The Primitive Smile

From “reflexive smile” to “ social smile”.

I was watching a newborn sleeping peacefully, softly breathing — this primitive diaphragmatic breathing we forget later on. A stillness I never see on adults' faces. No single wrinkle. No single question. Probably a quiet mind. Beauty and peace meeting each other in a soft little body. And nothing can ever beat the beauty of softness.

Then a smile arises with his eyes closed. A smile that makes me smile, a loving energy touching my heart. Developmentally, it has been called the “reflexive” smile or the “primitive” smile, considered involuntary as opposed to the “social” voluntary smile that arises a few weeks later.

And I ask myself: which smile is more authentic? The primitive one or the social one? The one that comes without any trigger, or the one that is engaging with the outer environment? Both are beautiful and are actually stages of development of any newborn. But I tend to love the first moments, those that arise without any trigger, those that emanate from within, as proof that we don’t really need any external stimulus to smile. A newborn can do it. And beautifully. By himself, for himself, and for everyone around. Without any selectivity, without any thought. A pure love not asking for a reason to exist, not asking for any smile in return.