When a Rock Smiles Back

How a winking stone in the Wyoming sagebrush reminded me of the rare magic of a genuine smile.

For dozens of years now, I’ve collected a rock from most places I visit.

Nothing fancy (although, some of them do show off:) Just a little piece of that place that I can bring home with me, a tiny treasure tucked away among the memories made at the time.

During a recent trip to Wyoming, I found this one.

A rock with a smile and a wink.

I simply looked down, as I always do, searching for that one special rock, and there she lay, tucked among the sagebrush and scattered stones, her smile carved by nothing but time and the wind.

Smiling in all her glory, with that impish one-eyed, wink, made me laugh out loud. It was almost as if she had been waiting for me. Begging me to pick her up and take her home to join my collection.

If you remember the days of the pet rock, this would have made a great one!

But as I held her in my hand, turning her over and over, I couldn’t help but think about human smiles. Real smiles aren’t a dime a dozen. They are precious. And few. I find myself always searching for them in every passerby I encounter.

A genuine smile can change the temperature of a room. It can soften a hard day, ease a weary heart, or remind someone that they are seen. Sometimes, a smile is the very thing we didn’t know we needed. And maybe that’s why we shouldn’t rush past them.

A smile is meant to be savored. Enjoyed. Remembered. I’ve learned that real smiles, the kind that reach all the way through a person and settle somewhere behind the eyes, show us more than just what’s on the surface. And in return, we owe the owners of the smile more than just a quick flash across our face before we move on to the next thing.

So today, I’m keeping this little Wyoming treasure close by as a reminder.

Look for the smiles.

The unexpected ones.
The crooked ones.
The ones that find you when you aren’t looking.

And when you find one…

Stay there for a moment.

Savor it.

Because smiles, like little treasures hiding in plain sight, are precious and few.

And sometimes, if we’re really paying attention, they are waiting right beneath our feet.

*from the book of Sue:)

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