Adoption Art of the Week...

Sorry for the recent lull in posting, I had some health issues to take care of, but we are back in business, so here is another edition of Adoption Art of the Week...

Dedicated to birth mothers

This week we are going to cover one of my favorite songs EVER, just because I feel like it. It doesnt necessarily hold for just adoption, it is just overall a good song. It's called "Smile". I heard it when I was younger, but this has been around quite a while. According to one website "Words by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons and music by Charlie Chaplin" I do know the original tune was written for a Charlie Chaplin spot in 1936. Lyrics and title were later added for the debut of the song in this form in 1956. My favorite version is the one by Nat King Cole. Lyrics as follows:



Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through for you

Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile



Such a chipper message (or so it seems), sung with such a somber tune. I fell in love with this song right away. It almost perfectly describes how I felt after placement, keeping an ingenuine smile pasted on my face for the world. I think it was that ability to keep trudging on that allowed me to find real happiness later. When I placed my son it gave me strength, and now I sing it to my daughter when she is sad or ready to go to sleep. It seems to calm her, probably because I've been singing it since she was in the womb. When you read into the lyrics it does kind of seem a message of the era it was written for (conform, be happy, dont show the world your troubles). I suppose for some people it would be a sad statement of how people expect you to hide your true feelings. Honestly, the way I see it, it's more of a message that what we put out in the world is what will be. I choose each day to smile and love my life, and each day life hands me more and more reasons to keep smiling :D