it's all in the WINK

I like winking.

I know, I know, that sounds a little weird maybe, even to me! But it's true.
I wink at people (girls mostly) to say hello without saying hello, I think it's like a silent acknowledgement. Or say I'm across the room from my best friend Ellen and I catch her eye. Maybe we are sitting in a boring meeting, maybe she's in the middle of talking to someone "interesting," maybe I'm walking by and don't have time to talk. I wink at her and it's like the two of us are sharing something that no one else is a part. It's like we shared a silent secret. I could be saying "this meeting is so boring and I get that you are bored too" or I might be hinting mischievously "sooooo who is this that you are talking to??" Or it can just be a way to let her know I'm thinking about her at the moment when I can't or don't have time to talk.

So maybe I am reading a little too much into a wink. Maybe this is how I see things, but other people don't see a wink this way. I've never even bothered asking others. So today I did a bit of investigation. I asked some people what they felt like when someone winked at them. Most of the reactions I got were just from the question itself.
But people said what I thought they would: It depends on the person. If it was a close friend or someone they were very comfortable with, it made them feel special or happy, like a hug from across the room. It let you know the other person was thinking about you. But people besides that was a whole different story. I mean there are so many things you can read into a wink. "Is he flirting with his eyes?" or "Is he even looking at me? Maybe that wink was for the pretty girl behind me." or "What? We aren't tight enough for him/her to wink at me??" Or something like that. No one actually said those last few things to me, I just kind of made that stuff up right now.

I think another reason why I like winking is because I couldn't always wink. Sure, I would try, but my face would get all weird and stuff. My lip would pull all up and my nose would get wrinkled as I tried to shut one eye and not the other. It was not a pretty sight to say the least. But things got better and eventually I figured out how to wink nicely. It took awhile, but I think I've got it all down now. I'll practice on you sometimes so you can see for yourself.......jk.

Another thing I didn't figure out how to do until later on in life was to snap my fingers. And I really like doing that now too. I even remember the weekend I learned how to snap my fingers. I was about 9 to 12 and I was vacationing with my family somewhere and we went to a hot springs pool. We were all in the pool when somehow all of a sudden I could snap my fingers. It was so random and oh was I ever excited! I spent the rest of the evening snapping my fingers almost constantly, trying to perfect my new-found art. Finally Dad told me I must stop because I was drawing too much attention to myself. But I hadn't even noticed. I was too wrapped up in my own little finger-snapping world.

I didn't learn to make bubble gum bubbles until I was older either. I always thought something was really wrong with me as a kid because I could never make gum bubbles and I really felt like I was missing out on all the fun. But eventually I learned how to do that too. I think it just takes me longer to figure things out than the average person. Then every chance I got to have bubble gum I would spend it making huge gum bubbles. (Maybe that is why my parents hardly ever let me have gum.) And to this very day, I still love making gum bubbles.

One thing that I never did figure out how to do is have flying dreams. I think something is wrong with me. I mean it's just not right! I hear people talking about how awesome it is to float or fly in their dreams. Man I'm so jealous. But I guess I just didn't get the "flying dream" gene.

Not sure how we got away from the winking topic, but in conclusion, put those winking eyes to good use. I mean there are so many purposes for winking, why wouldn't you want to try them out as often as you can!?

And thanks to those who helped me out with input even if I did pretty much forget it all by the time I wrote this post..haha.