The name of my photography company is "smile out loud." That phrase, which at first doesn't seem to make sense, comes from something this young lady said nearly seven years ago! When she was around four, I think, she and I were doing something together - and she turns to me and says, "Momma, that makes me smile out loud!" To which I replied, "silly girl, you can't smile out loud." I went on to explain that a smile was an expression and didn't make any noise. She just sat there looking at me like I'd not quite made my way to discovering that she wasn't talking about a sound, she was talking about a feeling.
It occurred to me then - to smile out loud is to feel such happiness that it cannot be contained inside yourself. It's the happiness that seeps out between the cracks in your soul and displays itself for the world to see.
Now - all these years later, my little girl is growing into a beautiful young lady. She just recently blew out eleven candles topping her birthday cake. I'm so glad to be a photographer on days like that. Because see what I caught? See the look on her face? She's not just smiling - she's smiling out loud!