In the past my smile always felt forced or ‘put on’, I felt like my smile said “I am a nice person being nice and that is it” or “don’t think for one moment that I am flirting with you”. When I smiled like this I felt tough, hard and protected. At other times I would use my smile to try and ‘hook’ a man and I would be trying to say “I am flirting with you”, however this would usually only happen once I had a couple of drinks, then the following day I would wonder what on earth I was thinking. In all these instances my smile was not an indicator of how I truly felt.
This realisation shocked me. I felt how cold, hard and shut down I have lived this life. I felt the sadness of knowing that in truth I have been rejecting men since I can remember.
It probably won’t surprise you to know that I have been single most of my adult life (a good 15+ years). In fact after I really felt how I have been operating it is a wonder any men have been within 10 yards of me!
I began to ponder the things that have stopped me from smiling at men in the past; I became aware that I often let my mind take over before my body can do what comes naturally. My mind jumps in with thoughts like:
- “Do not smile at that man he will think you are interested in him, you will look like a loser and he will get an ego boost at your expense”.
- “Do not smile at that man – he will think you are interested in him and take that as a green light to treat you with disrespect”.
- “Do not smile at that man, he does not want you to”.
- “Do not smile at that man his partner will be angry with you”.
I am the first to admit that these suggestions from my mind are pretty outrageous (I am only talking about a smile after all). As I let myself feel more deeply I realised my mind jumps to even more outlandish and nonsensical conclusions such as:
- ‘’Do not smile at that man, he might become interested in you, you will have to reject him and he will hate you for it and take revenge”.
- “If you let a man feel your loveliness he will try to destroy it”.
On this day my mind was unable to interfere. My heart was able to send a message to my body without being intercepted by my mind. And so… I smiled at a man because I felt joy in my heart and a love for humanity. I smiled at a man because I trusted my body and my body wanted to smile. I shared my lovely smile with a man, letting my heart do the talking and silencing my mind.
The man smiled back, he melted and he felt the sweetness of my smile with no agenda or game. In turn this man smiled the very same smile back at me. His smile was not flirty or hooking, it was a smile from the heart, a smile that exposed the game I have played and the hurt I have caused by shutting down my heart as a result of past hurts. A smile that radiated the power of love back to me.
By Leonne Sharkey
Women in Livingness Blog 
A smile from the heart is genderless in exactly the same way as it is ageless. A smile from the heart doesn’t recognise the colour of a person or their nationality. A smile from the heart is universal.
Leonne what was interesting for me to remember when I read that your smile used to say ‘“don’t think for one moment that I am flirting with you”, was that one of the things that my smile used to say about me was ‘don’t doubt that I am flirting with you because I am’. I had a particular smile that said that and the same sexual energy that was being conveyed by my mouth was also being conveyed by my eyes.
When a person smiles it’s like looking through a window into their heart which in turns touches our heart, such a simple thing and yet so profoundly beautiful. We don’t smile nearly enough.
We are such self-centred beings aren’t we?! We overthink everything to keep ourselves safe from hurt, but in the process of trying not to get hurt we hurt ourselves more – go figure! I love the simplicity you brought to your smile once you clocked the pattern 🙂
A beautiful photo smiling from the heart.
A smile from the heart of a woman has the power to change someone’s day, so why would we hold back from expressing to another the joy we are truly feeling? How amazing to know that women have the power to change the world, smile by glorious smile
Wow, a huge smile from the heart has the power to melt the hardness facade because it connects with a spark that is deep within us too.
Yes the eyes really are the windows of the soul
Always a blessing to receive a smile from the heart.
It is Sam and we can receive these smiles from the heart with people on the streets, or someone we’ve just met and these magical moments are gold. Also, a full-hearted smile has the ability to deeply connect us with others without words, as the sparkle that shines through our eyes speaks loud and clear.
The world would benefit from having many more lovely smiles from our heart, ‘I shared my lovely smile with a man, letting my heart do the talking and silencing my mind.’
I love seeing you smile in this stunning picture, wow a smile like that has power to move mountains!
Humanity is crying out for us to drop the mask and smile like you from the depths of their heart.
A smile from our heart is always a welcome smile.
Being open….yes….no holding back, sharing who we are equally with everyone, we not talking about sex here, we are talking about connection, I used to hold back because of many reasons you mentioned above concerning men, now I smile. I do not hide and I do not reject men.
I love smiling from my heart, it just feels so lovely.
‘A smile that radiated the power of love back to me.’ When we get out of our minds and let our bodies do the talking or smiling everyone benefits.
A genuine smile can light up your day.
Those smiles where our eyes light up sharing the fullness of who we truly are are a blessing indeed.
These smiles have the ability to make us drop our protection and melt from head to toe. Often these smiles are always beaming from young children because they simply do not hold back in expressing love, the sparkle that shines bright from within.
When we smile with our hearts, as you have so beautifully shared Leonne through you words and stunning picture, we are confirming the realness of who we are, and that we are really all of this same quality of love.
So often we go through life with our head down not really connecting with others. It takes an openess in ourselves to be open to others.
Love your smile Leonne! Full hearted and inspirational.
So beautiful to meet another with a smile that is directly from the heart and expressing love and joy, it lifts us and inspires us and reminds us that in essence we are all the same and that same is gorgeous.
We come up with all the reasons in the world to NOT smile and give all of our energy over to self doubt, but when we feel this creep in, what if we focused on appreciating all of the reasons why we SHOULD smile; that there is an opportunity to connect, that we have nothing ‘to lose’ and everything to gain in reminding this person that there IS love in this world?
Great exposé Leonne – I’m sure there are many women who can relate. It really is amazing what we hold back when all that love is there bursting to come out.
Loved reading this Leanne, I for a long time have had no tension with men and have lots of lovely relationships with colllegues and friends it is beautiful to share ourselves without fear of the things you describe.
When our whole body smiles it shows on our face.
Wow . . what a gorgeous smile! No wonder this smile is melting hearts Leonne.
It is an indictment on humanity when someone feels they have to hold back shining their light simply because of how another thinks. If society did raise that person in honour of who they naturally are this would be far less likely to be the common experience of the many.
The heart expresses so naturally when it is not impeded by the mind. The pictures we hold of what is considered acceptable or not prevent us from feeling and expressing this natural flow.
A smile from the heart is a joyous confirmation of the love that we are.
When a woman smiles from the joy she feels inside, it immediately reflects how we can be in life, regardless of what is playing out on the surface.
A beautiful moment some time back was of a young girl appreciating the interaction with another and how that appreciative smile was coming from her whole body and I witnessed this and received the same feeling from her. It was a beautiful moment where the true joy of love and life was expressed in that divine moment.
I love the line about letting your heart do the talking. There is so much communicated in a genuine smile and it often ignites that same open, genuine, loving quality in another.
A smile from the heart speaks a universal language understood by everyone everywhere regardless of age, creed or colour.
I had a similar experience to this yesterday, I was feeling very solid in myself and very confirmed in some choices I had made, I walked into the shopping centre like this and I walked past a guy at the self service terminal and he just lit up. It made me realise when I walk in this joy, its different, it is inspiring for them.
It’s such a delight when you connect with someone in passing with a smile from the heart, it’s like as soon as you see each other, your bodies align and the smile is just a confirmation of what you have felt in your body.
Meeting someone who is beaming about life is genuinely inspiring; it’s a beautiful reminder that life isn’t so serious and we can enjoy how it unfolds, as opposed to focus on our errors (which many of us do all the time!)
Being open and meeting a man and woman with equal openess is very beautiful. There is no agenda but an equalness of the beauty that lies within that permeates throughout.
I love this Leonne, the absolute power and simplicity of a smile from the heart.
This is such a beautiful blog with a humility and joy that is infectious.
A smile from the heart has the potential to melt anyone – if received.
I love what you have shared Leonne. What a travesty it is when in a bid to keep ourselves protected from the possible hurts, we imagine we have to reduce the expression of our natural love and joy. In that moment we magnify the hurt in ourselves, as well as in others who can feel us hold back from them. We end up neither expressing nor being open to feel the love joy through another, and everyone feels lonely even in the middle of a crowd.
How gorgeous it is to start an epidemy of truly smiling from the heart.
When you give a true smile to someone, it doesn’t come loaded with anything other than the love of who we are, so others are beautifully confirmed by the smile and get to feel more of themselves at the same time.
Every expression of love is wonderful and with a smile that is particularly clear, giving the other a choice to respond in kind. A beautiful blog.
Gorgeous Leonne. In the same way that an amazing conversation with someone can change the tide of our day, so too can a great smile!
A true smile from the heart totally fires you up and confirms you as just as amazing in that moment.
Smiles are tricky things. We are so well trained to smile! Our smile though does not necessarily reveals much of us and how do we feel. What I discovered is that the key is what the eyes reveal. If the smile confirms that, this is it. If it does not, hmmmm.
Yes, the good old smile isn’t always what it seems. I couldn’t agree with your more Eduardo.
We are so well trained to smile, and stuff emotions down behind that smile, but we all know how amazing it feels to smile with our whole bodies and hearts, and the coldness and disconnection of a fake smile. We don’t even need to smile for connection to be felt- it is in the way we move, our eyes and our openness. A true smile confirms and expands on the joy that we’re already feeling within, and that is beautiful to feel within ourselves and others.
Beautifully said Briony
Smiling with our whole body – love it. Our eyes show whether it’s a true smile – or a false ‘put-on one,’
We use a smile to say so many different things, it can say ‘don’t even think about it, I’m onto you’, ‘you loser’, ‘Im laughing at you not with you’, ‘I’m laughing with you not at you’,’I’m embarrassed’, the list is really quite endless once you start to truly consider what we’re able to communicate with a smile.
Something I am noticing is that when I am being myself, my movements and expressions even catch me by surprise. They are so very natural but when there has been a restriction or holding back that has become normalized, and this gets freed up I then get to experience what being natural really is like.
Pretty much no one over the age of about 12 years old is natural, we are all contorting ourselves into ways of being in order to present an image to either a person, a group of people or the world. It’s dreadful and we do it even when we’re by ourselves and this is because the energy that impulses us to be who we are not doesn’t leave us alone when we’re alone, it’s pouring through us night and day and being who we are not ensures that more of the same energy comes through us and so it continues until before too long we have all totally lost sight of who we all are and that is the world as we currently know it.
The is a great expose of the mind, Leonne and how the thoughts fed to us can interfere with us being us and shining for all the world to see . A smile from who we are is a beautiful thing as it can light up a room and allow others to connect and smile back from that very same place.
When we smile from our hearts it has the ability to move mountains, when we connect deeply with another with no agenda other then to celebrate who we are it has the power to disperse evil.
When our heart smiles, it shines out our eyes, and the world lights up.
Yes, it is impossible to hide the light that shines through the eyes, it very intimately connects to that within us.
And this is one of the most beautiful things to see… And whether we choose to admit it or not, we can all see that light in someone’s eyes, and know that it is true beauty
In the past I have bought into the perfunctory smile and one that was socially acceptable. Nowadays I find it quite liberating to not smile. It can be far more genuine than a forced polite smile. Sometimes you get a smile and sometimes not, but what you do get is the real me.
I have observed how when I see two people exchange smiles it brings a joy to my own heart, even though I was not the one being smiled at, I appreciated the joy they felt in their exchange.
So gorgeous Leonne. When we smile from who we are, those on the other end cannot but help smile back from the very same place. Babies are masters of this full-bodied smile that comes from our heart and ripples out.
Leonne, thank you that is so honest and beautiful.. I recognize this, and one specifically I could feel: “If you let a man feel your loveliness he will try to destroy it”.
I were reading it twice and feeling more into weither this was actually true or a sort of set up.. Seemingly, men have reflected me, in the weak points (points I had not strongly chosen to develop), that I had not stood for myself. So everytime I go past a man and do not stay me, I actually allow myself to be less.. hence this whole situation was more about me not allowing myself to be than it having truly to do with a man or that he will destroy it or me, which is not in truth even possible when I am full of myself, because it is me, it can not be destroyed. And so by calling it like it can be destroyed is simply a way to disempower yourself and not stand in your fullness and authority of self-love and truth.
One of my favourite songs titles is “Smile from who you are” and this came to mind after reading your beautiful blog. I was considering all my smiles over the years and how I have developed and grown to the point that there is no thoughts to when I smile, just simply feeling each person and moment and allowing my body to respond, sometimes guys get the wrong idea because I am so open but I causally mention my 5 children and husband and then I am in the clear, I can imagine that it would be tricker if you were single! haha but all apart of the fun and why wouldn’t guys want a chance to date you, you can hardly blame them, your stunning, they can’t all expect that you will like them back, let them down gently.
A smile free from any agenda and coming from the joy and celebration of ourselves, others and life can be so infectious. A smile coming from the heart heals everything in that moment and what is felt is not forgotten. Thanks Leonne.
It is such a melting feeling when we connect with another from our hearts, and share a smile from the love we are. And it is such a joy to feel how even with supposed ‘strangers’ there is an instant sense of familiarly. It is so healing, confirming and inspiring to be met with a Soulful smile, such as yours in this gorgeous picture, as it invites us to connect to the same equal love that is within all.
I can so relate to this of giving people nothing and being awkward in my body as a way to protect myself and not open up. In truth, this actually just causes more issues and is not a protection at all.
So great to reread this blog a few years down the track. I used to feel quite afraid to read what I had written here. It felt so raw and vulnerable to publicly share the thoughts in my head without censoring them. Today I am appreciating how far I have come and how wonderful it is to share in this way.
I love this celebration of smiling from you without allowing the mind to come in and present scenarios where it does not feel safe to radiate your beautiful smile to whoever you are passing. Such a glorious example of not holding back the awesomeness of you.
Wow! So much in here that i can relate to. In saying that, I too have come to understand just how much I hold back. I’ve practiced smiling without the head talk and whilst sometimes I feel myself backing down….the times I do, I’m so glad, because who wouldn’t want to be smiled at for no reason other than they deserve it?
If someone truly smiles at you – man or woman – you literally can’t help but melt. It’s the absolutely infectious, beautiful, contagious joy of just being who you are, that is actually irresistible.
Meg I wish that were true but in my experience it’s not. Unfortunately many of us are so scarred and hardened that we can’t melt, as in we’re literally unable to melt due to the intense hardness and constant reaction that we’re living in.
A full smile from our body is one great big hug from our hearts, who could resist that. Thank you Leonne, simply beautiful.
Your blog Leonne makes me aware of all the games we play, when to smile or not in a calculating and manipulating way. A smile to hide, to play safe, to deny our true beauty, to not show the real woman. Nowadays it feel horrible in my body when I smile and it is a fake smile but to be honest sometimes I do and with acknowledging this behaviour that is not me, I learn.
So lovely Leonne, feeling the power of a heartful smile to another simply because the joy is there, and your right, it just has to be shared.
Leonne, reading this today touched me deeply as I can feel the games I too have played here. All those calculated smiles and underneath them all it was all about protecting me, not truly about how I felt or what came naturally. On those moments where I’ve just been myself and smiled at another or accepted their smile, there’s been a magic, a meeting of two people without an agenda and a blessing for both of us. You remind me that at any time I can choose to just feel what is in my heart and let it be seen, and that I can choose to be that light in the world. Thank you for the gorgeous reminder today.
Leonne what I really got from your blog is – what if we treated everyone the same openness and love and stopped discriminating? Would that invite other people to do the same?
A smile resonates what the heart feels. It represents the light that you are and all people are equal in this. I love what a smile offers – it is grand. A simple gesture that can light another up. No matter a child, teenager or adult, and especially if I do not know them, for what it returns back to me is a confirmation of the joy in connection to all that I am within.
Wauw Leonne what a blessing to read all of that , so amazing to feel your true heart smiling and that this inspires people to do the same – and for one time not feel played or imposed upon. Wow , go on and let’s continue to smile from our hearts.. I agree let’s silent the mind and let the heart take over 🙂
What becomes so apparent when reading your words Leonne, is how very much we isolate ourselves when we allow this incessant thought volume run through our head. It is like we allow whole movies of possibilities run through us that have nothing to do with the situation at hand. No wonder we end up protecting ourselves. But then protecting us from what? As you say they are “outlandish and nonsensical conclusions” and have nothing to do with our reality. So it is worth putting energy into staying present and focusing on the moment one is in without any interference of potential possibilities that will most likely never occur. Then we can start to breathe, breathe our own breath, and our beauty and zest of life and love of people quite naturally unfolds and lets us smile from the heart.
The mind can come up with a seemingly unlimited amount of excuses for us to not do something but ultimately those thoughts come from the body that has shut down from how it feels to follow the pictures and ‘what could happen’s’. The more I smile to strangers the more those excuses get exposed as being less than paper thin. Because what happens is completely out of the box that the ‘this will happen’ mental picture paints. Be that good, bad, disturbing or unexpected they all don’t fit those excuses and more and more I find myself comfortable and learning to handle smiling to people and being at ease with their response or reaction. It’s not always a smile I get back and sometimes it’s like they don’t even see me or there is an intense focus or glare of mistrust. Not pleasant to experience in that moment but it’s all part of life at the moment and the more this becomes my normal the more I have accepted smiling at people, it’s no different for them and the responsibility on my part to keep being open.
It is interesting how much a thought can prevent us from expressing what we feel to express, holding back more with every thought that comes. Thank you for unraveling how silly and ‘unreal’ all these thoughts in fact are and how very worth it is to stop these thoughts and let ourselves simply express.
No wonder that man melted Leonne, for the sweetness and joy that pours from your photo is ever so delicious. He would have felt the unconditional love that came from you, all of you not just your smile, and so as he smiled back he reflected all of you back to you in that very precious and confirming moment in time.
Thank you for letting go of your ideals and beliefs around smiling and sharing your gorgeous smile with all of us.
Thank you for unpicking the games our minds play with us and how this means that we hold back sharing ourselves with others to the detriment of all. I feel I have hidden behind smiling as a way of not letting people get close to me because by pasting a smile on my face they are less likely to ask me how I really am. The more I allow the connection to my heart the more I smile from the truth of who I am and this comes back to me in abundance.
A smile from the heart lights up the world.
It is interesting how a smile can be the expression of the way you are feeling inside, and not for any outer response. I like this and I realise now that when I smile to the customers at work, I am letting them see how lovely I feel.
Wow, Leonne there really is more to a smile than meets the eye, but when a smile is expressed from a place of true connection with yourself and it beams from the inside out without need for recognition or defence it is the most beautiful way to share your yourself with another.
‘My heart was able to send a message to my body without being intercepted by my mind.’ When we allow ourselves to surrender to our heart, which always knows what and how to be, it will be life changing and it will take us out of the misery we are currently in, being with our body is the biggest support to make a true move.
Thank you for this blog Leonne. A great reminder that highlights that when we are closed down from our hearts when left alone to understand life the mind can’t understand life. Often the thoughts of what could happen never do or are the opposite when I allow myself to feel the situation rather than believing that because it looks similar to a previous experience then it will be the exact same when this is not true.
I have always been complimented on my smile and have found that it has been an absolutely wonderful way to connect with people, build rapport and relationships. Smiling at people as you have so beautifully shared Leonne is easy to do, reflects our openness and transparency we have with others, which is so important in letting people in and allowing the love to shine from inside out.
When I first saw you Leonne, a few years ago, I was spellbound by your playfullness and grace. I loved looking at you and I am celebrating the fact that you are sharing all of your beauty with both women and men.
I love, love, love your blog Leonne, I can relate to holding back my gorgeous smile and love from a false protection. I have such beauty to share and I love sharing it.
Leonne, I understand completely what you have shared around the power of a women’s smile. It can be used in many different ways, in a loving and warm way to invite people in, let them in, but also a tool to be ‘nice’ and ‘flirty’. The latter coming from a place that is usually not connected with ones heart. Yet when a smile is, exactly like your example, it can light a room and melt a heart.
Love this Leonne “I trusted my body and my body wanted to smile” Now who could resist that. 🙂
Wow how power-full and so honest. Thank You for sharing.
“A smile from the heart” what an amazing gift we have been blessed with and, to know that we can gift this to everyone we meet.
Boy oh boy I am confronted to feel how much I have done the same Leonne, for a long long time I have done that, feeling superior, protected and arrogantly better off. Whilst feeling this back again, I understand that I was just afraid to be hurt, to be played, to be left and abandoned. But what I feel now is that abandon myself if I do not let my heart speak and express what I feel from my heart. So I will let the voice in my head silence and keep re-connecting to my heart. Best practice ever. And to understand that everyone wants love and so holding back is no true option.
Letting go of the engrained ‘mask’ that has accumulated over the decades ( or centuries !) is such a relief to our whole central nervous system!
“Letting go of the engrained ‘mask’ that has accumulated over the decades ( or centuries !) is such a relief to our whole central nervous system!”, Chris I feel that ‘Letting go of the engrained ‘mask’ that has accumulated over the decades ( or centuries !) is such a relief to ‘Life’s’ central nervous system! I feel that Life itself has a central nervous system that is deeply affected by us all.
Leone your smile radiates such sweetness and openheartedness it’s contagious.
Such a simple thing yet so very powerful and that is to smile at someone with our hearts open.
So beautiful Leonne, we do hold a lot of power in our smile as women, as do men, but we do as women hold a magnetism about us. When we are smiling with our eyes, letting people in and being the loveliness of who we are, it is truly a wonderful experience for all.
‘And so… I smiled at a man because I felt joy in my heart and a love for humanity. ‘ I love this and it makes me appreciate the joy I feel too.
When we smile from the whole of our being, it is beautiful way of presenting ourselves to another, and to receive such a smile is an offering of openness that makes us automatically drop our defences in reply.
So true Sally, we think we protect ourselves by holding back our beauty, love and our smile, while the protection is no longer needed when we allow ourselves to shine.
What a joy to re-read this blog again! I recognize this as well. If I’m truly Joyful walking down the streets, I smile naturally to everybody I come accross. And the Beautiful thing is that people receive that smile and often give the same smile back, just as Leonne shares here. I feel it’s because it is so true, so non-imposing. It leaves the other free, yet embraces the other one or ones at the same time. To me this is very special, profound and dear.
I have seen you do that Floris, connecting with people who pass you bye. We must appreciate the impact we have on a ‘stranger’ we naturally share our love with.
I am more and more realising and feeling the impact we have on others. Whether that being in the way I describe above, but also when I’m not with myself. People get affected a lot by people. Whether we like it or not. In the past I thought I was responsible for everyone, where as the opposite is True. I’m first and foremost Responsible for myself and if that leaves me well, I am to naturally support others to do the same.
A smile can be open communication from the heart, totally non imposing, totally joyful, in need of nothing in return, just a statement of love, connection and oneness.
Such joy to feel a smile from the heart and just looking at your gorgeous photo Leonne who would not melt to feel the power of that love eminating for all.
I love what you’ve written Leonne. It’s amazing how we can let the mind complicate some thing that can be super sweet and loving without any connotations of anything- a simple smile.
I was in a supermarket queue and the older man in front of me was facing me about to pack his goods. In the past I would have probably judged him for something or other and I’d have looked away. But today I looked in his eyes, made a commitment to be present, not look away, and he looked at me and we both smiled broadly and continued with what we were doing, him packing and me waiting. It was a lovely moment of connection.
In the UK smiling is a huge part of having good manners and being polite. We are constantly smiling at each other as a formality. I think this is partly because we want to be seen as being happy, and also make the person we encounter feel accepted by us as well as to relieve any tension. I realise I also have this automatic reaction when I see people at work and often reflect on whether these smiles I am giving are genuine or not. Are they coming from love, or just a need to fit it? More often than not it’s the latter reason, however, today I will try and make my smiles come from love, or even just allow myself to be without trying to please others.
Isn’t it funny how one simple thing such as a smile can so many different meanings behind it? All of which depend on the energy or intention they are coming from. There is the the smile that says ‘ha ha, you’re wrong and Im right’, and the ‘I really don’t like you but i have to smile anyway’ smile. Then there are the smiles that are asking for us to liked and accepted, and the ones we put on to try and ease any tension felt between two people. Clearly, as you have pointed out in this beautiful blog Leonne, it is the smile that bubbles up from the heart that hold love and truth and emanates the beauty of the divine to the world.
I can relate to a lot of those thoughts you’ve mentioned Leonne, they all stem from hurts, past choices of what I have given out coming back to me that are not loving. And just because it may LOOK like one of these past situations does not mean that it is energetically or is going to feel the same. Walking past a man and smiling at him and him looking at me – this action can happen in both instances of the love filled interaction and the loveless interaction. I am finding that how I feel in my body determines which outcome is experienced because we all respond to the quality we are presented with. If love is there there is space for another to join us, if love is absent that is also an invitation to others to be dragged into that lovelessness.
It is for each of us to ‘hold steady in love’ regardless of what’s going on around us.
Your blog Leonne has exposed how I have held back my smiles and openness many times as I was growing up, afraid that the messages I portray would get me into situations I couldn’t handle – crazy thoughts systems that kept me separated from the Love I am and the Love to be shared with others – there is a beautiful message for us all in this blog about trusting, being open and not holding back. Thank you.
Leonne, I could not help but smile right back at your beautiful photo. Your smile is open and loving, non-judgemental and engaging without as you say any agenda or hook. It is a smile that connects soul to soul and you should never hold it back ever again for it is a blessing to all who experience it, a blessing that calls us back to our self.
There is so much joy to be felt when we smile from our hearts and not from an ideal or a belief a need or an expectation. The saying ‘A smile says a thousand words’ is so true we can say a lot with a smile.
Each time I come back to this Leonne it makes ‘me’ smile. There is just so much i what you have shared, it is really beautiful, as we all have such power and grace when we are willing to smile, let people in, just when we are walking past them, so don’t know them at all, at work or with our friends and family. It is such a joy and gift to smile.
I recently attended a Universal Medicine workshop and as we worked in pairs I was really struck when talking/working with different partners that when they smiled it was simply gorgeous to receive. It has really made me aware of the difference that people feel when we are open and smile with our whole being.
It seems quite simple. When we reject ourselves, we reject others as well. What else could we do?
Yes Christoph this is very true. Even when I have felt enamoured with another it was never true as I was not enamoured with myself. I have spent my life looking for a way around this truth yet I can feel how simple and empowering it is to simply accept it.
Very beautiful Leonne ‘ My heart was able to send a message to my body without being intercepted by my mind. And so… I smiled at a man because I felt joy in my heart and a love for humanity. I smiled at a man because I trusted my body and my body wanted to smile. I shared my lovely smile with a man, letting my heart do the talking and silencing my mind.’
Stunning – loved this… the power of smiling from the heart is undeniable.
This is truly beautiful, when we trust in our bodies, there won’t be anything to hide and all we do will come with the most beautiful energy there is, Love. It is non imposing and can only be reflected back.
This is beautiful Leonne, as allowing your smile to go out you have connected to that man with unconditional love. I know from my own experience being smiled at me in this manner is so freeing and invites me to open my heart too and naturally from there I smile back, enjoying and celebrating the connection that is there to feel.
I know I have also had those thoughts float around my head, “Don’t smile at them they will think you find them attractive or they will make fun of you” this meant I would close myself off before even walking past a man…I have been having a go at being warm and friendly to anyone I meet with an openness and less protection and often true smiles are shared and returned. It is great as you say, when you heart gets to talk before those thoughts dominate the conversation!
Beautiful to re-read your words Leonne a gentle reminder to smile from within, with our holding back. I could feel how much I too have held back my smile with such crazy thoughts. The more we open up to others, not holding back they do from my experience begin to melt. It is a truly lovely feeling.
Beautiful blog, thank you Leonne Sharkey. It is perfect to read this today as I am going to an AGM where there will be lots of people , and lots that I do not know….and probably lots of smiling all round. I can always feel when I smile an unreal smile and it feels horrible and makes me feel small inside even if it looks big on the outside. This blog is a great reminder of the the joy we are and can share when we are true to ourselves.
Great to come back to your blog and see your radiant smile again Leonne. When we smile from our hearts it is naturally open and free and invites everyone in, it is as if we are smiling with our whole body.
When we smile to be nice or to cover up what is really going on underneath or what we are really thinking it lacks the fullness of who we truly are and feels dis-connected from our body.
It’s a long time since I read this blog but it’s a great one Leonne as so many people, men and women will be able to relate to this. We can shut people out so much and make them feel less as a result just because we’re not trusting what our bodies say. Thank you for this gorgeous and very timely reminder.
Really incredible powers of observations Leone. The thoughts that stop us from connecting with each other and especially with men are usually so sly. You have called them out and shown them for the lies that they are. How beautiful to share your smile with the world and to be meet with a gorgeous smile in return. No hidden agenda just the lovely meeting of two people feeling love and joy.
I agree Natasha, the thoughts that come into our heads truly do stop us from connecting with each other. It is about calling them out in ourselves, because if we don’t, no one can. It certainly is wonderful that Leonne is sharing her beautiful smile with the world!!
Reagan, you have so beautifully shared with me the insight of an angel. The thoughts do stop us connecting, do stop us from feeling able to go deeper with another. I find them crippling and so degrading. To call them out is a fine art to which we need to develop the talent. Otherwise we get crushed by the self – doubt.
Leone- what beautiful sharing of the power of a sweet, loving smile coming from the heart, with no agendas. As I read this, I too smiled with an open heart.
Thank you Leonne for a really lovely blog, and for gracing us with your beautiful smiling face and presence. Meeting you I have felt the warmth of your smile which we have shared.
I love this line Leonne – ‘A smile that radiated the power of love back to me.’ It is so true that here are many versions of a smile that we choose to engage in. But there is no denying when someone truly smiles, from a joy of love that is felt from within and for humanity, that it lights up the world. It is a beautiful moment shared of celebrating the love we essentially are, and are all from.
A Beautiful sharing Leonne. I know that smile – I have given those empty smiles and I have received those empty smiles and the impact is very powerful. There is nothing like the smile that comes from the sweet and tender joy from deep within the body, from the heart. Thank you.
How gorgeous to hear of your joyful smile from the heart Leonne … And yes a genuine smile that comes from all of you radiating out to the world is contagious!
What a beautiful honest blog. I am sure you are not alone in toning down your smile so that men don’t get the wrong idea or their partner doesn’t get jealous. Yet it is a false game, as when we do smile from our hearts there is no way this can be misinterpreted or taken the wrong way.
This is so true. When we express from our hearts there is no room for any other business.
Thank you Leonne for such a beautiful honest blog, you expose the games we can play and the distance they keep between us, and also show how a true smile from the heart brings us together lovingly.
I can really relate to this exposing blog. I can remember a time, for many years actually I would not even make eye contact with men let alone smile. These days I feel safe to smile and when I smile from my heart my smile emanates from my whole body.
When we start to let go of the mask of protection that has been ingrained onto our face for most of our lives, we can start to feel what true joy feels like on our face… and yes .. a beautiful smile follows.
Smiles can be tools to play games, to achieve specific goals or can be divine expressions of a body that is bathing in love.
Your blog has made me consider the extent to which we bring those hurts of ours that are centred around male/female dynamics into something as simple as a smile. It’s ridiculous that we make it so complicated in those momentary thoughts of assessing and contemplating, when the real truth is that connection, when offered from who we truly are and not from those hurts, is offered in love. If that’s rejected, then they’re choosing to reject the love they are.
So beautiful Leonne and so very true. We as women hold such a preciousness and radiance that we can indeed stop people at street lights!! I really loved you very last line “A smile that radiated the power of love back to me.” Because when we are radiating that out to people, it is very hard not to have the reflected back to us.
I love the examples you have shared in this blog Leonie, it shows how quickly we can calculate and concoct things in an instance, constructing a way that we will respond to situations that doesn’t represent how we actually feel.
I love your simple yet powerful sharing Leonne. It is like reading lyrical poetry. I can relate to shutting men out and yet there is no denying the sharing of your sweetness that brings the true joy of being you without any protection or hurts. Thank you.
It sounds strange that so much effort and force can be put into something as simple as holding back a smile. But then the smile of a woman coming from her heart is a sight to behold, if it wasn’t so powerful would there be such a resistance towards it?
Your smile says it all Leonne – thank you for connecting back to your precious smile and sharing it here with us by including your picture!
A smile from the heart, so beautiful. It’s interesting that when we give people the space to truly feel our essence with no hooks attached they melt and respond in a mutual loving way, not as lovers, but as two members of the the one brotherhood.
A beautiful, tender and honest sharing. We live life with a ‘guard’ around our hearts and stop not only loving coming in but love going out to others. I loved your awareness of the ‘binding’ games the mind can play to keep us less and stop us from bringing all of who we truly are to the world. You are so clear when you say – ‘His smile was not flirty or hooking, it was a smile from the heart, a smile that exposed the game I have played and the hurt I have caused by shutting down my heart as a result of past hurts’. When we open and share our smile from the heart we allow others to do the same. Your smile is so beautiful, I love that we are going to be seeing more of it
Leonne, beautiful. Im glad less people are missing out on your smile. It’s so gorgeous.
“Do not smile at that man – he will think you are interested in him and take that as a green light to treat you with disrespect”. Ouch, it’s amazing what our past hurts can lead to in the future and what we make of them.
It really is incredible how much we make up in our own heads about how the world is. As you have clearly shown Leonne the moment we drop into our heart the world and how we see it and experience it changes.
Totally Elizabeth, the picture that we see of our life changes with the more love we share.
Beautiful Leonne, our heart never holds any agenda, so smiling from the hart is sharing all with everyone. Without any idea of need which will be returned, very beautiful.
Your smile represents the sweetness of women, so very beautiful.
I have recognised whilst reading your blog Leonne that I too have been like this in the past and still sometimes do not smile at a man for fear of how he will take it. I used to be a nurse on a very busy surgical ward and I was known as ‘smiley’ as people would say that I always smiled. It was just part of me. I love to smile, when I don’t smile when I feel to, my cheeks ache. However I have not maintained that throughout the years. There are many times that I have held back that smile for fear that the man may think that I am flirting. Interestingly it seems fine at all times to smile at a woman.
Yes Heidi, I was also in fear of attracting attention and would hold back in case anything was misinterpreted – what a massive trick that was!
I’ll join this club too! I was so afraid that men would get the wrong impression and that they would think I was trying to get their attention. This is definitely a trick that stops us sharing a great and memorable moment with another.
Beautiful, Leonne. I can very much relate to a smile being pretty loaded with intricate agendas. I used to be a rather miserable child and people commented on how angry/grumpy/serious/scary I was. As I grew into my teens, my wanting to be liked and accepted grew as well, and I started to become very conscious and believed that I had to be smiling. When I moved to the UK and wasn’t able to communicate in English, or understand what someone is saying to me – I was just grinning. So, a smile for me was a mask that said ‘I am harmless, just accept me’. Reading your sharing, I got to feel how this potentially a most natural facial expression of ours became nothing but simple for me, and even though I have come very far, there’s so much more that could come through and my heart is deeply yearning for that.
This is gorgeous Leonne, your real smile in the photo is absolutely glorious. It makes me aware that I can still do false smiles and that I then receive these back and they feel awful. I love how you have exposed the falseness and that you allowed yourself to smile from your heart.
What a great blog Leonne you really expose the games we play thinking that we are protecting ourselves from getting hurt. When I read all the things that went through your mind I could really relate to them, they would be the sort of thoughts I would have had too, and how ridiculous they seem when all we are doing is offering a simple smile.
What a gorgeous smile you have Leonne so open and free, crazy really why we would want to hold back such a beautiful way of expressing.
AH the games we play. No wonder that for all our successful forays as human beings, we still struggle to make relationships work consistently. And whilst ever we continue to play this game of protection, that will forever more continue to be the case.
I love that smile and keep coming back to it. Very infectious.
A smile in truth is a true superpower. Humanity is walking around starved of true connection and love. . . we are aching for it, as connection to ourselves, connection to our fellow men and connection to god is all we truly seek.
The power of 1 smile given in truth without holding back is beyond measure. In that 1 smile, you both show the other person that you’ve clocked their amazingness (an amazingness that many people don’t feel for themselves) and allow them to see you in full without the shields and barriers that is all many people see when they look around at humanity.
I honestly find it quite hard to imagine what it would feel like in the body to hold back a smile to protect ourselves and shut others out, smiling is such a natural form of expression that to inhibit this feels to me the same it would to stop breathing. It is amazing to read about what women go through and the thoughts that are so normal that change the way you express and truly wonderful to read how you Leonne and so many other women have been able to begin to be open and drop their guards in expressing with other men
Great blog Leonne. It makes me wonder at exactly what point in human evolution did smiling at another person become so laced with innuendo, when did we loose our ability to just be ourselves and connect openly, lovingly and freely with all others, to connect without need or expectation but for the purely the joy of connecting. Well I do not know the answer but I know it happens to us all. Something abut the way we live, the ideals, beliefs and ‘norms’ we align to, turn our open-hearted smiles of our childhoods to needy and manipulative ones as we grow.
I am so grateful to Universal Medicine and Esoteric Women’s Health for helping me re-connect to my inner loveliness and my childhood smile, to be able to share this freely, unconditionally and indiscriminately with others. What a gift 🙂
Such a lovely blog Leonne, I love smiles. This is so powerful: “My heart was able to send a message to my body without being intercepted by my mind.” This is a keepsake for all time and situations. Thank you
A lovely sharing with us all Leonne and one that I an relate too. Having hid myself behind my smiles most of my life, (the permanent grin type of smile) to now feel that I smile from my heart – what a difference. I am smiling with and from all of me. The reflection back from others I meet is so beautiful.
A smile can make such a difference to ones day, just by letting go of protection and being open. I remember when i was young and would walk down the street, playful on my way to school and would being smiling along the way as I enjoyed my walk. I would walk by others, catch their eyes and they would smile back, the feeling was great. Often I would get a response your smile is beautiful, it’s just lifted my day. I had not realised how beautiful and powerful a smile can be and how easily it can change ones mood.
Delightful to read Leonne, and just highlights what we put out comes straight back to us… a powerful reminder to be aware of what we put out into the world…. I will take this into my day.
A true smile is accompanied by sparkles in the eyes, a joy you cannot resist. Your picture is a beautiful example Leonne, I love looking at you and this joy from the inside out.
You have such a beautiful smile Leonne, it is wonderful for us all you have let you and it out of the closet. When you smile like you do in the photo I can feel how much you love and appreciate yourself now, which makes it possible to be that free and open, If we live in all the fears you describe, then we create the mask to cover up the truth — that we have no self confidence to be able to say yes or no, whichever is appropriate. No-one can harm you or take advantage if you know your own beauty and true foundation.
This is glorious, as you and your smile are Leonne. How could anyone resist a smile from you (or anyone) celebrating the love that we are and the joy that we feel? With this I am smiling too : )
This blog highlighted to me just how much effort it is to not show off a natural smile. We have to have all these silly constant thoughts to keep our natural loveliness at bay.
Interesting to watch people around young babies, and how we smile so naturally, could it be that those smiles are in us all innately?.
Hi Leonie- I Iove your blog and can relate to the different smiles you used throughout your life, its great to drop all that and let the true beauty from within out to the world, I love seeing you smile and radiate the love that you are, plus it feels so good to smile from who you are !,
Leonne thank you. Your smile does indeed ” radiate the power of love ” from your photograph.
When I feel the love and joy within and smile at another with no agenda, the reflection is truly, divine.
I love to smile at people in the street its such a great way to interact, it feels very lifely and connects. Its the beauty of communication without words.
I know exactly what you mean Rachel-there are sometimes magical moments with foreign people in the streets, when you just stay open and don´t shy away to look into their eyes. It is truly fun to connect this way.
Lovely expression Rachel; ‘its the beauty of communication without words’.
What a beautiful blog Leonne, there is so much in a smile I agree, and fascinating to read how much was behind yours, and some I can definitely relate to. It is so easy to feel when a smile is not genuine, and absolutely true that you generally get back the smile you put out.
It is interesting how much we can communicate with a smile. When we smile with our mouth but not our eyes others get the message that you are possibly being nice, polite or I hear what you say but I don’t agree with you, keep your distance. When we smile with our mouth and our eyes our whole body smiles and says ‘hello, I have met you with love’.
Gorgeous blog Leonie. I’ve always had a big smile. I used it very skilfully to hide a lot of what I was feeling so much that if I didn’t smile everyone thought there was something wrong with me – which most of the time there wasn’t. I still have a big smile and smile a lot. but there is very little hiding now, just genuine playfulness and warmth and I especially love feeling that in return from another when they share there smile. Moments to savour.
Leonne how absolutely lovely to feel you smile from your heart because you felt to.
So simple so powerful and so very joyful, thank you for all your beautiful smiles.
Leonne, I re-read this today, it is so inspiring to bring joy and love back into our smile that can convey nothing more than sharing that moment of joy that we feel.
So true … When the smile is genuine it comes from heartfelt joy … So divine!
This us such a powerful blog Leonne. Smiling without any protection, without any measuring but from the love that’s in your heart and letting that shine through– the healing for men and women that comes with this is profound.
‘Smiling without any protection, without any measuring but from the love that’s in your heart and letting that shine through’ – beautifully said Katerina and agreed, is truly healing for all.
I know this feeling very well Leonne of not smiling openly to men (and sometimes not to women too). I remember now how I love how it feels to simply smile with my whole body, it opens my chest and it feels like I can breath more easily it is like showing all of me in one moment.
I love smiling at men and women on the street and I do this every day. I look them in the eyes, connect and the smile just comes naturally. There is no doing. There is ni catch behind it, just me sharing my love for people.
Looking people in the eyes and sharing a true smile is exquisite. I can’t imagine not doing this in my day.
…. although to add on reflection, I know there are times/days when I am “off” and I can feel the hurt when I don’t meet myself and others in this way.
I love your honesty in this sharing Leone. It shows how important it is to not let our hurts and minds take over when what we’re offering is an expression of how we’re truly feeling in that moment.
What beautiful honesty and what a beautiful smile, Leonie! The two ways you shared about how we can communicate are extraordinary when placed side by side like this and yet how normal is it for all of us to have some kind of agenda even with a simple smile?
Yes Rachel, it is fascinating to see how much can be behind a smile, and know that this is felt by the recipient and responded to accordingly.
I simply love this blog, as I walked into my bedroom now, I turned and gave myself the biggest smile, from my heart to me, I melted me as I smiled, then I got into bed and read your blog, it felt like a double blessing.
Love this Leonie, thankyou: smiling!
🙂 l’ll second that!
Oh Leonne, this blog is so powerful and exposing. I can relate to so much of what you’ve shared here and can feel how protected and shut off from men I have been too. And women also come to think of it! It is so bizarre to think that we shut down something as simple and joyful as a smile. I so look forward to bringing the fullness of my smile and joy to everyone today! Thank you Leonne.
a beautifully written piece of exspression
oh this is such a good one to re read and be reminded of. It feels so beautiful to smile and share this with others that it needs to be done a lot more than I do. A simple smile from the beauty within is opening so many doors to deeper relationships.
I smiled when I read this, and most of all I felt my heart smile too. It is so true, I remember the times when I used to give a smile that basically said stay away. Humanity would look very different if we all smiled from our heart first.
‘Humanity would look very different if we all smiled from our heart first’ – Very true Sally; it’s interesting how much I notice and take personally when people give me dirty or strange looks when i’m walking past, but actually thinking about it I must have done that thousands of times myself! So they might have just been responding in the same way!
I love the simplicity of this. Your smile is really awesome Leonne..Smiles are a really amazing tool of love and joy, and it’s great when we don’t hold them back!
What a beautiful sharing Leonne thank you. A real smile from ones heart is deeply beautiful a healing and felt by all. Opening ourselves up to the world and letting people in is a real gift and joy for everyone and brings our bodies alive with the magic of connection and simplcity.
We can smile and keep other at a distance, I know I have smiled very politely and keeping everyone out. It is lovely to see and feel your smile and what you have shared Leonne. What a waste when we do not smile from our hearts.
We have so many ideals and beliefs around a simple smile and when we are able to let them go and do what we do naturally – smile at another and let them in, a blessing happens for us both.
I absolutely love this blog. We, men, love to be smiled at. It’s our problem if any man can’t handle the glow of a heart felt expression and it’s their blessing if they’re open (and perhaps they may reciprocate). Let’s all smile at one another more often I say, regardless of the mental question marks that try and cover our teeth. Great blog Leonne.
I love what you wrote about men who would be smiled at Oliver – that is very appreciating . . . smile!
Wow Leonne. Thank you so much for sharing. It was so interesting reading about the thoughts you would get before smiling, it shocked me a bit because it’s huge how much a smile has been warped into something else. As well as the lack of self worth women subject themselves too, how restricting our thoughts can be ! It was great to read about your beautiful smile at the end, I can picture it now blowing everyone away with it’s magnificence. Wonderful.
That smile in your photo is exquisite Leonne and I can so feel the truth in how we measure our interactions with each other when we are not connected with our heart. We let our minds and our hurts interfere with the deep beauty within each of us as reflected in your smile!
Yes, your smile in the picture shows what you say in the blog so accurately, smiling with no agenda, connected to the beauty and shine inside, and just letting it out so naturally.
So beautiful Leonne. It feels so wonderful to let ourselves smile if we feel to, without any concerns of why we ‘shouldn’t’ or what might happen as a result. Such mind games we play to silence the heart!
It’s so true that we seem to be afraid of what might be the consequences of allowing ourselves to smile as we feel to at men we don’t know. I wrestle with this all the time, making my responses to simple things so complicated. If I was truly feeling what is going on in each moment, I wouldn’t have to worry about protecting myself or worry about second guessing what an appropriate response should be. I’m working on it and it is great to discuss and ponder on this.
Gorgeous Leonne. And down come the false walls that we have strived so hard to keep up. I can relate to the thoughts in the past that made men ‘different’ to women in my head – separating me from being my sweet, tender self with a man ‘just in case’ it was taken the ‘wrong way’. I have learned that the awkwardness, tension and protection I was holding really interrupted the true equalness and beauty that is naturally between men and women – unnecessarily.
And isn’t it interesting that our greatest power and therefore safety is in being our natural and tender selves as women- by keeping the walls up we attract all sorts where as the openness allows for true connection and true equalness as you have pointed out here Kylie
Yes this is exactly the right description- ” unnecessarily ” the dis- ease and mis- trust between men and women, particularly in the way women’s behaviour is interpreted. There seems to be an unwritten set of rules about how to engage, none of it based on true expression or true love for the other sex. I know at times I have felt quite restrained in what I have been able to say to others due to not wanting to be taken the ” wrong way.” I really appreciate what Leonne has shown us here, she has proven that it’s all about connection within ourselves first and just allowing the love out, withouth reservation , in whatever way that simply occurs, and to whom we feel to express this too.
That way, others get to feel our truth and this can’t be misinterpreted.
Beautiful.
I can relate to what you have experienced here Leonne. I cringe to admit it, but I have thought some of the things on your list, especially the ones about ‘don’t smile or he will think you like him or are interested in him & then I will have to deal with this’. Where do these thoughts come from? I can see the ridiculousness in this & how I separate from people. But when I have opened up to people and just allowed myself to connect with a smile, which is often expressed with my eyes, its such a lovely moment…a moment that confirms that we are all the same and that we innately just want to be met and loved.
I love it when I smile lovingly at a man with no agenda or need and truly let him in. I notice how the man melts as he feels met for who he truly is. This is a blessing and a healing in this moment for both of us.
I am going through the same proces lately. I can deeply relate to what is being shared with the last paragraph. I have been holding so much back, holding back letting myself feel who I am , letting others feels my sweetness and allow them to truly love me for my essence. I have been shutting down my heart for so long, and especially to men(with more then 1000 excuses of why I could), I have been living in a box which made my true sight of life smaller and smaller. Now I am finding that I am getting my sight of truth back and I am experiencing the rich & grandness of me being me and all others being themselves too. We are so undeniably beauty-full it is for each one of us to once again realise this back again. Then we can live it all in one! With a true and very deep smile from inside out!
Wauw that is so so grand and great. Thank you so much for writing this.
Your honesty here is exquisite Leonne and I understand and relate so much because my body language also shows protection and a shutting down of true expression from my heart. All the thoughts that come because we don’t want to be hurt. What I’m learning though is that all those thoughts come as a form of protection themselves and when we choose to open our heart, like you did, the power of love that streams though is amazing.. It’s just a matter of letting people in and working on why we don’t allow this all the time.
Beautifully expressed Natasha. So true that if we just open our heart and let go of the protection we have done to our hurts (past and present) everything changes.
Thank you lovely Anna. I feel that all our woes come from being scared to let others in due to all our past hurts and harms.. but what I’m slowly learning is that the more I come to know that I have the ability to choose how I am in every single moment, all of the things that have happened in the past do not need to effect me. As I make choices in the moment to be in the moment and enjoy the moment, not being taken away from the loveliness of a moment because it reminds me of a previous situation where I was hurt or harmed. I feel that by making more and more beautiful memories it helps me to let go of all the horrible ones.
Absolutely, everything does change when we’re just going for it. It spreads like wild fire too, which is beautiful, when others are feeling inspired by our openness.
Beautiful and true Oliver.
Well said Natasha, the things we do in the name of protection! I agree its about letting people in and seeing us – no agenda’s. A smile can make such a difference to ones day.
A smile can indeed make such a difference, and I that smile can indeed light up a whole room. I have a friend who’s smile lights up my whole world and each time he smiles I can feel the true deep magic of God smiling through him. It always makes me check in with how I am feeling and gets me to connect back into my beauty. Health felt joy smiles are amazing to see and encourage and be apart of their creation.
Natasha I agree it is a matter of letting people in and to lovingly find out why we don’t allow this all the time . . .
I loved rereading your blog Leonne. And your picture – WOW – now that is a smile that reflects your absolute beauty, without any holding back whatsoever.
Gorgeous Leonne. Your blog made me reflect on smiles and how I feel about smiling and I have to share that I just love smiling and I love my smile. As a young girl, my pop used to say to me, Annie my dear, you are always smiling. I could see how my smile lit him up and why he adored me so much. My smile was then and is today a beacon of light. It carries a depth of love that feels amazing every time I open my mouth and express it. I can claim this with all of me, because it is absolutely one of the most favourite things about myself, the warmth, love, cheekiness and tenderness that comes with my smile – and this can be the same for all of us. Thanks Leonne for your gorgeous smile, and for writing this blog which has enabled me to appreciate more my own.
You do have a most radiant smile Anna, your smile confirms the loveliness of every person that receives it. You have given me an opportunity to deepen my appreciation of a smile expressed in truth with your beautiful comment and beautiful smile. Thank you.
Thank you Leonne. After reading your blog yesterday and going to work today, which is being surrounded and met by hundreds of people every hour, I felt the power of a simple warm and loving smile, one that is genuine in connection and full of joy – a confirmation of our divinity – all found in a smile.
Anna what you have shared is significant because it’s very unusual for a woman to claim something about herself so fully and yet without an ounce of showing off or self-importance. Your words are expressed from the heart and therefore don’t come with the stamp of ‘self’ that most of our expressions about ourselves come with.
Keep smiling Leonne. Your love shines through it.
How lovely to honour and feel the true connection inside, and then to let that radiate out so that it becomes a light for all to see. A true smile has a direct link to the inner heart, and is a beautiful beholding thing to see
Nothing beats a true smile from the heart. You feel like your whole body is smiling 😀 I often smile at people in public, and then upon reflection straight after I can feel that I held back, I didn’t show them all of me in that smile. Well next time I am not holding back, I am smiling with everything Ive got. Don’t hold me back baby 😀
Beautiful Leonne, I read your article a while ago and have become aware since then of how i smile and if it is a false smile and how this feels or if it is a true smile from my heart with no agenda, the difference is huge. it is lovely to see the photo of you and the open smile that is from your heart, it makes me melt and smile back at you in this same way.
Leonne you have shown so beautifully the difference between a false and true smile.
Leonne you have such a beautiful expression. You wrote so simply that you trusted your body and your body wanted to smile. My body often wants to express in a way that is different from my mind. Learning to trust this again and then feel all that unfolds is showing me the power of surrendering.
You do have an absolutely lovely and open smile thank you for sharing it on this page!
As a child I remember people loving my smile but I became too self conscious as I became more aware of what others might think of me and so I started to hide behind shyness. It’s time to take down the barriers and SMILE.
Lovely blog Leonne. I agree – a genuine smile full of joy lights up everyone concerned and just keeps on giving long after it has finished.
Wow Leonne, I felt my heart melt with this blog.
The offering of a heartfelt smile is one of the most deliciously intimate and simple things we can share with the world. When we offer it freely with an open heart we are saying in that moment ‘I offer you all that I am’ and in turn ‘I see and accept all of who you are’. This is deeply felt in my body for the simple and powerful tonic that it is. Thank you Leonie for your beautiful reflection.
What a gorgeous woman you are Leonne and thank you for your beauty-full smile, it is heart warming and opening.
Wow, that smile would melt any ones heart!!!
I was smiling very much (from my heart) as I was reading this beautiful blog – something so simple and beautiful as a smile can hide so much. What I have observed over the years is when we smile from the heart our eyes smile too – when we smile as in covering our hurts/sadness our eyes tell another story. Thank you Leonne.
I just LOVE these words Leonne: ‘I smiled at a man because I felt joy in my heart and a love for humanity.’ When we connect to the love we have, the love we have for people, people who are just like us, tender and sensitive underneath the masks that we all wear, how can we not give them a smile? When we connect to our love, we feel so much joy, and that love and joy is universal — it is for all of us to feel this, and it can most certainly be felt in a smile full of love.
Leonne I too have had these thoughts, I have had these thoughts when it comes to really listening to a man showing interest in what he has to say, or even simply looking at a man. They are such destructive thoughts that just add to a closed, hard cut-off society. It is time to open up and show true care and love that comes with no hidden agendas, so we can break down this lack of connection we have in our current way of life.
What a great reflection this is for me to feel how I have used my smile in the past. And Wow I can feel the joy and openness that comes shining through your photo Leonne, so beautiful.
Oh Leonne, how perfect it is to read this blog today. I just had an experience where I smiled ‘from my heart’ to the man who was serving me at a service station. When I left he gave me this huge smile, I felt him melt and this made me melt even more. In that moment we were both touched by true love and weren’t strangers at all.
Thank you Leonne, and confirmed with your comment Vicky, Well said and that is what it is all about.
Wow, gosh, imagine receiving that smile everyday from someone… A smile like the one in your picture would totally turn the world around. That is pure, that is heart-felt, and that is LOVE
Your smile speaks all the love that you are Leonne, simply beautiful. How powerful it is to reflect this to everyone you smile to.
I so know what you are talking about, with that holding back especially with men, because I am scared, they are interested then in me, when I smile at them. So lovely to read that it can just be- that simple smile – and how lovely it can feel like.
Thank you Steffi – yes I am learning that men are very sensitive, they feel the rejection and the blame when I hold back. It is not fair for me to hold all men to ransom because I have not dealt with my own hurts and insecurities.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I could remember how I act whit my smile in relation to today. sad but true but even wonderful to be gone through this experiences and being this person today who we truly are.
I could feel my heart smiling at your words Leonne, because a smile offers so much when we do it from our hearts.
Thank you Leonne, this is such a simple sharing that speaks volumes. It leaves me with a warmth inside that beams up into a smile as I write my appreciation of you and what you have shared with us all.
Your smile is gorgeous Leonne, very warm and genuine – I agree, there is much power in a woman’s smile.
Beautiful Leonne – “Let my heart do the talking”. I know exactly what you mean about not staying open in case we will be misinterpreted. Such a trick to hold us back, but no longer. Freedom to smile!
Lovely Leonne, such a beautiful smile of yours gracing this page. A moment of connection beyond words and one we can share everyday when we are not afraid to let the love we are shine through.
Loved reading this for a second time, reminding me of the simplicity and beauty in a genuine smile…just beautiful Leonne. Thank you
On pondering this article, there is actually something really important being shown here, as well as the beautiful, adorable smile, it brings up the point of how women and men can and often do relate to each other. The flirting of the eyes and the messages we convey to others about our intentions and how we feel about ourselves. When I read this I felt a known memory of men’s partners being angry with or jealous of me, this is a very real thing, it does happen. But what I also realize is that I was trying to capitalize on knowing that we (women) can draw men’s attention. Trying to validate myself, knowing that there was a pretty good chance he was going to fall for it, and buying into the twisted illusion that ‘I am not a real woman until I am in a relationship’ and getting attention from a man is just as good, for that moment anyway. What this blog brings to my awareness now is that I have also found that when I smile from just me, not needing attention or anything from another, the responses are beautiful, I am beginning to feel that there is so much more to men than I had believed. There is more dignity, integrity, tenderness, love and strength and just being around them, without their attention is a blessing, as am I to them.
I loved reading your comment Lisa and I wholeheartedly agree. I can definitely see that I craved attention from men from my own lack of self worth at times regardless of the fact that they were unavailable/ I was not interested in them. This choice then goes on to poison future interactions with all men. I think I may need to write another blog to explore this further but it is an excellent point you raise..
beautiful Comment Lisa
Great points Lisa…we an either smile with agendas or we can smile from the heart. Each one producing 2 very different outcomes and each one feeling very different in the body.
Awesome Leonne, I love it. And I love your smile, you are gorgeous.
What a great story. A simple smile reflected so much back to you. Beautiful.
Leonne, you say all those thoughts about a smile are outrageous, and whilst I agree with you, I can put my hand up and say..’ahhhh yeah…I’ve had all those exact thoughts’. You are not alone. And as well as that, I have been single most of my life also bar a recently ended 5 year relationship…and I’m just about to hit 34! It is no surprise that my relationship history with men is how it is.
Thank you for your beautiful honesty Elodie. It is wonderful to read your comments because I had convinced myself that my thoughts were very strange and unusual… maybe not. It is a shame we make relationships between mean and women so complicated and awesome to know that it doesn’t have to be that way.
Yes, me too Elodie and this blog provided a perfect moment to take stock of that & also to connect to how gorgeous it is to simply be met as you are for who you are with openness. No more second guessing people for me!
Leonne…I’m sure most women, if not all would put their hand up to having these same thoughts & experiences. This is why this is such a great blog. Thank you for expressing with such honesty which you do so easily…it is very healing to read and then reflect on my own experiences.
How encouraging and inspiring I am smiling with your post and beautiful smiling photo too Leonne! Completely gorgeous.
I can feel the warmth and love when I receive a smile full of openness and love. I also find that when I connect with people and truly smile with love people tend to do the same back. When I see children smile they never hold back. Their eyes sparkle and their beauty shines through and their brightness it is incredible.
Walking into town yesterday i noticed how many people had their heads down battling against the cold and the rain.
Then I reflected on me, I was wearing a very warm coat, a gorgeous silk scarf around my neck, fun fur hat on my head and carrying an encompassing umbrella with special wind resistance technology ….no need to fight the elements.
So I walked along with me…and started to meet people who did look at me and many who chose to smile!.
Absolutely gorgeous blog Leonne, Thank you for sharing so honestly. There can be so much in a smile, the best is when it has the fullness of you!
Leonne your smile is like heaven on earth!!! It is good that you shared it now without any holding back or bad thoughts. With your radiating smile you are infecting the whole world and that is so needed because most of us are unaware of playing such a game and we need smiles like yours to get aware of this.
Leonne, how could anyone not melt with a beautifull smile from your heart.
Imagine how that man felt as he received it. Just simply a beautifull smile.
I cried tears of joy at the beauty of this blog, at the beauty of you Leonne and with the joy of having you smile at me (or anyone) from your heart!
Thank you Helen – a true smile is definitely to be treasured. It makes me realise that babies can only smile when it is true – it’s a shame we get taught to ‘fake it’ when the truth is a genuine smile must not only be seen but felt.
Wow – I just retread this article and I remember the moment that inspired it very clearly. This smile marked a new way of being for me, it was a confronting marker, showing me how extensively I have held back the natural love I have for others. I am still working on this and I am amazed by the limitless possibilities to truly connect with others with the simplest of interactions. This blog is such a blessing. It feels like it was written for me not by me. The love I am reflected back at me. Beautiful.
So true Leonne – this blog is a blessing and a healing for anyone who reads it. It is undeniable when you smile from your love inside to another and how they melt in their love and that love comes back to you. When I feel this, see this and experience this I’m left knowing how crazy it is to hold my love back, it just doesn’t make sense.
Leonne I’m so glad you’re sharing that beautiful smile again – and opening your heart to the world.
Absolutely gorgeous Leonne. I can very much relate to all of your excuses for holding back that you have outlined in this blog. Holding back a simple smile, going into protection, having the fear of being seen for who I truly am or being taken the wrong way. I also now enjoying smiling at a man, just because, just because, no reason, just to share the wonder and beauty that is in us all.
Thanks Leonne. Yes a simple smile, unguarded,unfiltered, unscreened by the mind becomes not a smile at all but a moment of true heart connection. How many beautiful tender ‘melting’ moments have we missed by calculating our response. Definitely time to let the heart lead the way.
Leonne, I found your comments so positive and reaffirming regarding the beauty we can share just by a genuine smile if we but open up our heart and let it impulse our behaviour – and not let the head lead the way. I am still developing my capacity to be open and let others in but you have outlined such a simple way to just ‘be’ yourself with others that it inspires me to do the same. Thankyou!
Leonne this is a beautiful blog about how we measure what we bring to the world. Our smiles can be so inviting we often first assess them before letting them be expressed. Here you have shared the power of a true smile from your body without any reservation and this is heart melting. ‘I smiled at a man because I felt joy in my heart and a love for humanity.’ This alone can bring true healing and can change the world as we know it. Thank YOU.
I’ve always liked to smile at another, be it a male or female.
I know I’ve smiled for the simple nice polite gesture of it.
Fortunately, when I smile now, I’m smiling to say I see you with my heart, I know you.
And the most important part of offering my smile, is not expecting one back.
It is simply offered.
Here’s a sweet little tale about me smiling.
I’m spending a day in my beautiful nieces company, we’re in Coles, when she says, “You smile at a lot of people, and its unnerving me. Why do you smile so much? Mum doesn’t!” My response was, “If my eyes make contact with another, I offer a smile, they may smile back, they may not”. “I don’t do it to be nice, or noticed. I offer it, because someone just may need to see love smiling at them”.
Jacinta I love what you have shared & I love this line…
‘I smile to say I see you with my heart’.
This is what I am doing when I make eye contact. It is beautiful to feel how they light up when love is smiling at them acknowledging that I see the love in them too. It just may be the most loving moment that person has received for the day…and it certainly loves up my day even more when I connect with people in this way.
A true smile can communicate “more than words ” and is brigdging to open up a true communication.
The beauty and truth in a smile. Thank you Leonne for sharing.
Very true Amina, the power of a smile can never be underestimated. We don’t always know what someone is going through or what they are feeling so that smile may be the catalyst that brings them to a better space. As a bus driver I am always surprised at the reaction I get from passengers after I have smiled at them, it’s like they have won a prize.
There’s so much to be said and felt about smiling, and the bottom line is ‘smile from your heart’. Beautiful, Leonne.
Wow Leonne, this is beautiful to read, I can really feel the truth in the putting on smiles and my smiles being calculated, it’s great to have awareness around this, I can feel how sometimes my smile says, “I’m only smiling because it’s the polite thing to do in this situation so don’t get any ideas” or I can feel that I’m smiling a half smile, not a full beaming, natural smile so it feels like there is a holding back, a feeling of not wanting to be seen in full, I’m especially aware of this with men, that I can be in my head thinking that I don’t want to be seen as flirty if a guy is with his partner and if he’s not with his partner then I don’t want him to get any ideas that I’m interested in him so I would hold back my natural, loving smile. I loved reading, ‘ I smiled at a man because I felt joy in my heart and a love for humanity’, gorgeous Leonne, thank you.
Everytime I see this photo and read this article I just love it. Such a natural simple thing to do but I have been so protected that I haven’t smiled to my fullest until of late. I can see and feel it in others when they are meet with this warm open connection that they instantly melt and drop there hardness that we hold to protect ourselves from such a destroyed world we live in. If it wasn’t for Esoteric Woman’s Health, Natalie Benhayon, Simone Benhayon. Sara Williams and Universal Medicine as truly deep inspirations I know I wouldn’t have felt this deep level of Joy in me. Thank you to all that live the Amazing Love that we are.
When we smile ‘to our fullest’ then in that moment we are full.
Its crazy how much I have protected myself from the ‘what if’s’ – This has kept me small and a victim – to not fully express as me and in full. Leonne thank you for sharing this – and how guarded you were. It’s lovely to read that you have been able to claim the innocence and love in a smile that has no need.
So true Amina we have the power to change the whole room with our simple smile., it is felt by all and the ripple affect is powerful. Our smile should be shared with everyone equally.
How we smile communicates so much about where we’re truly at. The phrase ‘pinning on a smile’ shows just how much conditioning there is in society to stoically go about your business in pretence. The fact is we all know – because we can all feel – when someone’s smile is inauthentic, manipulative, courageous, pure front and we all know when it’s heart-felt, natural, not wanting anything, no expectation, just an expression of our own loveliness in that moment.
‘when we give a saccharin smile it does not reach our eyes and feels very artificial’ This is so true Mary. A great reminder that when we feel that in ourselves we can stop and check in to see what we are hiding and likewise check in with another if we feel it from them. And beautiful to see your true smile again this morning Leonne, I can’t help but feel the love and joy in myself too.
Our false smiles don’t get noticed at all because they are nestled so deeply within our false lives. The vast majority of us are living in ways that are false, as in go against our innate natural way of living. Sure we’ve kidded ourselves and each other that we’re having a relatively good time but the way that we’re living is not even close to our true loving expression. Pretty much all of our movements are false and our smiles are just one tiny movement within an absolute infinite number of movements, so they simply fade into the general backdrop of falsity. It’s only by starting to live in a way that’s truthful do the things that are not truthful start to stand out. and stand out they certainly do.
It is amazing the thoughts that can run through our head and interfere with what our heart is saying. Thank you Leonne.
It is interesting how quickly our mind can jump in to sabotage an open smile. When we give a saccharin smile it does not reach our eyes and it feels very artificial. When we smile from the heart our eyes shine with joy and love and the truth of who we are.
Smiling from your heart – gorgeous Leonne. Thankyou for sharing your story. As Elizabeth commented, we all smile in the same language and if I’m abroad and don’t know the language I have no need to communicate with words – everyone understands a genuine smile.
Wow thank you for sharing Leonne – I too find that there can be those sorts of conversations and games going on in my head, often especially in regards to men, and even such a simple thing like a smile or a basic conversation can play out as a huge deal in my mind. Thank you for reminding me how simple (and powerful) interactions can be if they come from the heart
Leonne I have just read your article anew. How much a smile can say…all those thoughts and we think no one will tell what’s behind the smile. It’s a beautiful feeling to enjoy another’s smile as you describe and to feel another melt when a true smile is offered. Thank you for sharing your photo, I’ve loved seeing your body smiling out from the screen.
Leonne you have a great infectious smile thank you for sharing it!
Am smiling thank you for this heart felt piece Leonne.
Linda I love what you have shared here – all the different smiles… I’m off to check out all my different smiles and see when I pull them out of my hat!
From my travels, I have noticed that everyone smiles in the same language! A lovely blog Leonne, thank you.
A great point! Smiles are multi-international and understood by any language 🙂 Well that little fact in itself certainly makes me smile…
I love it Elizabeth this is so true. With the true power of a smile, nothing can get in the way. No language barrier, no age barrier, no idealogical or cultural barrier. All that comes through is a one pure love straight from the heart. A gorgeous blog Leonne, that’s left me smiling.
Beautiful Leonne. A smile that comes from us in full is certainly a joy to express and receive. Thank you for sharing the many agendas a smile can hold and I relate well to what you have shared and in the past have used many of them.
Hi Leonne, your account of smiling from your heart and the man responding with the same openness in his smile is so beautiful, as it reminds us that these magical moments can occur every day and they are life’s treasures. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Janet well said, these moments are ‘life’s treasures’, not the parties when we got smashed, the handbag that we bought, the soccer match that our team won, the degree that we got, the plastic surgery that we had, the film that we watched, the dress that we bought, the wage that we earned etc.
A beautiful sharing Leonne. I had a similar experience recently where I was just feeling so great, a smile naturally came out when I passed a man and then later on a woman on my street. It was a joyous moment that I shared with two total strangers, but in that moment they did not feel like strangers at all, they were just other human beings that I momentarily connected with.
Absolutely beautiful Leonne – it is amazing to feel and see how you have claimed your glorious smile, thank you for sharing this inspiring story with us all.
Wow, amazing blog Leonne and what a smile, beauty-full. I am smiling whilst writing these comments. Thank you for sharing.
Who would have thought a smile could be so loaded, so beautifully expressed and I could feel the love in your smile and I too am smiling, thank you.
I couldn’t help but smile throughout reading this blog, a clear and simple exposure of all the nonsense that our minds can run with when the body is saying the complete opposite! Throughout my life people have always told me to ‘smile more’ or ‘stop looking so miserable’ Now I am aware that it was due to paying attention to all those negative thoughts. When I listen to my body I can’t but smile at people, sometimes it comes back to me and sometimes not but regardless of their response it feels lovely to not hold back my smile.
I read this and just sort of sat there going… Wow.
I was totally in the same boat of the mind running away with excuses to not smile at people. You’ve really exposed it down to how truly silly it is.
Great blog, thanks for sharing and most importantly – keep smiling!
…I know I will.
Leonne, I love your honesty and your openness as I read your article and THEN I see your beautiful smile-Wow!
I love your smile. Thank you for your honesty. Honesty is so inspiring.
Thank you for your honesty – love you and your smile. Irresistible, can’t but smile back.
As you say Desiree – irresistible, the blog can’t help but make me smile
Amazing what a true smile can do. It can literally stop someone in their tracks and bring them back to the present and a connection they had temporarily lost.
And thank you for your photo radiating the power of love…gorgeous.
So true Elaine, I have also seen how someone’s whole face and being completely changes with a smile.
I agree Elaine, we can never know what is going on for someone else and a smile may be all it takes to bring them back to themselves.
Thank you for writing about this. It’s a lovely reflection for me on how many stories can run through my mind that keep me from being and showing who I am. It’s lovely and inspiring to read that a true smile came from the fact “I felt joy in my heart and a love for humanity” – I’d never really considered and pondered on smiling before just when I’d ‘put on’ a smile which always feels horrible! Lovely to read.
Awesome simple blog, your smile is beautiful, thank you.
This is an awesome post. I love, “I smiled at a man because I felt joy in my heart and a love for humanity. In turn this man smiled the very same smile back at me…. a smile from the heart” – true connection and divine to experience.
Love to smile, love this sharing 🙂
What you have shared is so true Leonne, and boy oh boy I love your smile!
How often do we hold back what we naturally feel to share, be it through a smile, a gesture, an openness, a word or any other form of expression when those pesky thoughts come into our mind, whether that be self-doubt, fear of being seen, rejected, hurt or the multitude of thoughts that are not really ours, which like to play games to try and stop us from sharing who we truly are and the love that we feel with the world.
Keep smiling, we can all smile with you, so beautiful.
Absolutely beautiful Leonne. I’m left smiling just by reading this.
Leonne I love this article and your realisation is so spot on. Isn’t it crazy what we let our mind and hurts get away with if we let them! Bring on the True open loving smiles – lets be hones the world could do with a few more.
I am so glad you shared this blog with us and your smile, it’s so full of love! A true gift to any man and woman, so much joy you bring don’t ever hold back again!
Thank you Leonne, you have given us all much to consider in how we share the love that we are through a simple loving smile. I can feel a blog about the eyes as well in this. That all knowing look we share with another that tells them, this is me, that is you, we are love, we are equal, we are divine!
We can all recognise what comes through us. Most of the time what comes through all of us is an energy that distorts our ability to recognise and feel the divinity that is also coming through all of us all of the time but a smile from the heart comes from the divine and therefore brings divinity with it. It is the livingness of God expressed in the mouth, sheer and utter joy.
Your blog has left me smiling from the heart – it feels so warm and embracing. Your lovely smile has such a lightness and beauty to it – it could make the whole world smile. Thank you, Leonne.
Thanks Leonne for sharing in your beautiful and vulnerable way – I can really relate to this. I love how you expressed “I smiled at a man because I trusted my body and my body wanted to smile. I shared my lovely smile with a man, letting my heart do the talking and silencing my mind.”
Love this topic, Leonne! It’s amazing how such a simple gesture can come loaded with needs and expectations.
So, I asked myself, why do I smile, and this is what I discovered:
1. I love ‘showing off’ my smile because I had braces as a teenager and I used to hide my teeth all the time. I got into the habit of smiling just because my teeth were so beautiful and straight! People commented all the time. Big, straight, milky white teeth = attention. TICK!!!
2. Having good teeth and a great smile worked to my advantage when it came to men. I’ve used my smile to win men over.
3. I have this habit of giving big cheesy smiles EVERY TIME I have my photo taken, even when I don’t feel like it.
4. When I’m feeling nervous around people and I don’t know what to say, a smile is a great backup!
5. I smile when I’m feeling joy
One thing I’ve noticed is that I can truly FEEL my smile, when I experience joy. All the other times, the smile feels like a function.
Thanks for brining this beautiful smile of mine to my awareness, Leonne.
Hi Linda, it’s great what you say that such a simple gesture can be so loaded… it makes me wonder what other simple body languages act as functional attention-seekers…
Awesome Leonne!
You are so Beautiful! I am also smiling ❤️
I have felt this smile and felt how open and lovely you are. Thank you Leonne for always sharing your smile.
Very heart-warming and joy-full. Your words and innocence made me melt. Thank you for sharing Leonne.
Well said Joshua, Leonne you smile is infectious as well!
Thank you Leone and what a smile! Like your smile, your reflections so honest, true and beautiful! I could resonate with them, not necessarily with men, but anyone who may think I was smiling insincerely or because I ‘should’ or because they had smiled first. Thank you again.
If there are any thoughts that preceed our smile then it’s an indication that our smile is not going coming from the heart because there are no thoughts that go with a smile from the heart, it’s pure feeling.
Gorgeous and beautifully touching Leonne. Thank you for sharing those smiles!
Leonne, I melted with the words and then, MORE, the fully open beauty of you and your smile and your eyes. Thank you. Beautiul.
Oops, beautiful ! 🙂
Thank you Leonne, I am going to smile from the heart today and notice when or why I may smile for any other reason but for love.
Amazingly beautiful blog Leonne, full of the natural joyful smile that is so you.
With a smile like that who wouldn’t melt, just beauty-full. Thank you Leonne!