Smiling when we have to

I’ve just been obsessively thinking about something Carrie Fisher said in the HBO documentary about her and her mother.
It was a party scene and Carrie and Debbie were singing that song about actors…they sang the line “they smile when they are low”, and Carrie stopped singing and said, “schizophrenics do that! They smile when they’re low!” And the conversation and noise just continued and no one seemed to notice or care about what she had just said.
It touched me though. I was surprised at her knowledge and sensitivity, even though I know she was very knowledgeable. ( I love her writing)
Anyway, that one statement was what I took away from the documentary. I think that has been true and is true of me as I try to blend into society when necessary. I absolutely smile when I’m low. Anyone else?

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Yes. I can’t help but smile when I feel threatened, it’s impossible for me to argue because I break into hysterical laughter.

I smile when I’m low.

That sounds like it would have been a good documentary.

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My naivety is the only thing that keeps me from total despair.

Certain thoughts I share with others like Fyodor, too.

“I don’t believe in this ugly world.”

It’s a bit melancholic (reflective).

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It was a really good documentary. She was such an interesting and courageous person.
But she didn’t have sz, she had Bipolar… so her compassionate awareness of something I know is true for me just really touched me.
Aww, yeah, I hate confrontation, @anon84763962. I won’t back down anymore like when I was young but it’s really upsetting and makes me shake really bad.
But, just generally, I could be totally harassed and feeling horrible in my mind but if I’m out in public I always smile at people.
I get super offended when people don’t smile or say hello back to me.

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Me too, and I notice that young people don’t smile back or even make eye contact more than any other group of people. I’m only 35 so I’m still young, but people younger than me just don’t do it. It’s rude.

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It’s a shame. Society is getting more and more selfish, I think. And people aren’t held accountable anymore.

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Indigenous peoples never smile in photographs, thats because they don’t know what a fake emotion is.

The invention of mirrors created the fake smile.

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It’s become the dominant personality-type these days.

I can’t even ask my little cousin to download a game on her computer (just to show her/play with her) because it’s “her” computer.

When they get like that, I like to say, “You don’t have anything, God has everything.” and boy they don’t like that!

I hate mirrors, but I’m not sure they are to blame. We are taught through social interaction to give a non-threatening expression to ease the tension of being around other people. And even baboons and other social animals learn the “niceties” of physical expression so as not to get an aggressive response.
Right now I’m only referring to the fact that when it’s chaos inside my head I still smile and put on like everything’s ok. I’m wondering if many people with sz do that like Carrie Fisher proposed.

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I’ve been seeing only my brother’s smile for the past few years. I like my brother

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It bothers me if I greet someone and they don’t return it. But you just have to figure that some people are either scared of you, or having a bad day, or distracted, or shy, etc. You can greet a hundred people and be friendly, appreciate, sincere, polite etc. And you will get back 97 mutual responses. But you will STILL get those three or four people who won’t respond or ignore you, for whatever reason. That’s just the way it is.

That said. A lot of times I will be walking 4 blocks to my car and pass women of all ages and I’ll greet them and maybe my timing is off or something or even if I am perfectly nice and polite and they will giggle and laugh at me. Hey, I just treat it as a learning experience. The more they dis me the more it builds up my tolerance and experience. They call that “exposure” or something. (no jokes please). You know what I mean. It just depends on how you look at it.

A woman’s laughter (says the expert 77nick77) is one of their strongest weapons against men. Woman’s laughter has crumbled better men than me. Woman’s laughter has brought down empires, changed lives, and changed the course of history. But repeated exposure to it takes the sting out of it. And if it’s some hot shot good looking college girl who does it to me who thinks she’s all that and she thinks that the world won’t function until she gets up out of bed in the morning and comes outside to grace the world with her presence and she acts like my life is over if I don’t get hello from her, it just gives me a laugh to myself.

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I’m glad you handle stuff like that so we’ll. It bothers me so much that sometimes I just think the whole human race is rotten and I swear I’m not smiling or saying hello to anyone ever again. And the next minute I’m being all nice again…
I don’t think people have the right to be mean, dismissive or insulting. No one’s better than anyone else.

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