Losing Face

I have a terrible hypertrophy of the jaw muscles. It has taken some years of unconscious jaw-clenching, but finally, I have noticed the bulges that result from that practice.

It is bad that I have learnt these things too late. My face is stretched and malformed by the kind of artificial patience that owes nothing to natural temperament and too much to the capacity to grin and bear it. My stiff upper lip is not British, but from brygmoidal pain.

Similarly, my stiff-necked behaviour comes from trying to remain unbowed beneath the burdens of the world. Since I noticed this, I've learnt to be more humble. Bowing the head is preferable to breaking the neck.

And so, slowly, my face has sagged into anonymity. Life is good.