On the Frightening Face I Wear When I Concentrate

A confession: I, too, have hours when my face turns fierce — when I am concentrating, striving in earnest. After writing so much about smiles, this may seem contradictory. It is not. My foundation is to be fundamentally smiling, always wanting to deliver smiles; upon that foundation, my brow furrows at decisive moments.

Without hours of thinking hard enough to furrow a brow, the smiles you deliver become thin. What matters is the order and the ratio: a smiling foundation with occasional fierce focus is respected as proof of seriousness; a sullen foundation with occasional sales smiles invites wariness.

A fierce face has value only on a foundation of smiles.

What do you work for?