I guess almost everyone knows what a “bitch face” or more formally “resting bitch face” is, someone who looks annoyed, angry, or unapproachable. It is a release for someone facing a bitch face or the bitch face owner to know the existence of such a thing. However, there is another type of face that is opposite to the bitch face, that also worth for attention, I believe. I call it “sunshine face”, or also formally “resting sunshine face”.
I believe there is a small group of people, they appears very nice to friends or strangers. Actually it feels like they are smiling all the time whenever they are not angry or upset or thinking about something serious. I belong to this group of people. I can also remember few friends, classmates, and colleagues who have such a sunshine face.
For me personally, my sunshine face comes from 3 sources. First is that I am a positive type. I am easy to be entertained by little things. Second is by genome. My grandma and my aunts are like this as well. The third is by culture. In my culture, it is encouraged to be kindly and friendly to others. So it is polite to smile, even to strangers, even if you are pretending. So from very young I have a perception that if you are not smiling, you are too serious. However, as I grew up, as I start to observe interactions of other sunshine faces with their surroundings, I come to realize, like anything else, sunshine face can cut two ways.
Yes, when you meet a stranger, it is good to have a sunshine face so that the stranger feels welcomed and relaxed. But to someone close by, a sunshine face can be overwhelming. Other people may feel “Why he is smiling all the time?!” “What is funny about this?!” “Do I look funny?” “I have so much trouble to deal with, why he is so happy?” As a sunshine face owner, I know these thoughts are going through people’s mind when I meet them, but what can I do? I don’t have a backup resting face!
Since sunshine face is just another way how people looks when they are resting, it is good to know its existence, and don’t take it for how it appears. I paid for a lesson for this. Out of all the driving exam examiners I met, there is a very kindly looking lady that I still remember very well. She looks very nice to me. The messages she radiated to me are “Relax, I am your friend.” “Take it easy, I will let you pass.” “You are doing a great job”. When we go back to the exam center, I was quite happy because I feel this is it, this is the end, I am going to pass the exam. But when we meet my instructor, she started to say like this: “He is almost perfect, but …”. From that day on, I learnt that don’t take people for how their face appears, assume neutral is a good start.