Secret smiles, hidden tears.

We wake up each morning expecting life to continue that day just as it was when we went to sleep the night before, and most of the times it seems that is exactly what happens. However, what we remain completely unaware of is how for someone else, their life has completely changed. A day in between the last time we talked to them to the current moment- their life may have changed forever. A day before would be a day they remembered without end, forever etched into their memory- whether it be good or bad.

When we ask people the age-old question "How are you?", do we really expect them to launch into a story of how they are feeling at that exact moment and what's been on their mind? In an episode of Sex and the City that I watched over the weekend, Charlotte is asked at a fancy afternoon gathering by a similarly over-the-top dressed woman how she and her husband are doing. She proceeds to launch into what seems like a lengthy description and explanation of their problems, but in reality I'm guessing it wasn't that long- maybe 15 seconds. The OTT dressed woman promptly walks away and stage whispers to the next woman "Don't talk to her". Fifteen seconds isn't too much to give to listen to someone else, but maybe it was 14 seconds too long- after all, it only takes one second to reply "I'm good, thanks".

The thing is though, if it was good, we'd most likely hear about it, but even if we didnt, life goes on. What is more significant is that if it was bad and they chose to keep it to themselves, we are likely to never have any idea. And so we continue to live in our happy yet bittersweet little state of oblivion.