Oooo, this subject has gotten to me. Real good. I’ve talked with girlfriends and family and I can’t shake it. Which means, I need to blog about it.
I have observed something over the last several years, and I have a deep need to share it, have it inform you, so we can collectively do something about it. I don’t need your time or money; there is no charity name to give, no donation, no sign up needed.
I need your smile. And I need it out in the world, wherever that finds you today. And I need it starting right now. Because more than ever, this world needs it. IT NEEDS YOUR SMILE.
Here’s the thing:
When I was pregnant with my first baby, I noticed that as soon as I had that fun little baby bump, I got a lot more smiles. Randomly, people would take one look at my belly and it would literally light up people’s faces and I’d get this smile. Sometimes they were ear to ear, sometimes, just a soft smile. And those unsolicited, beautiful, generous smiles – they were day makers. Not so much because of the baby-factor, but I noticed that the smiles do something so wonderful for the soul, that almost nothing else can. Just google “benefits of smiling” – there are hundreds of articles on all the good things they do for you.
Some themes from the Google:
Improves mood (I dare you, smile, right now, get someone else to smile back, tell me you didn’t feel a lift).
Reduces stress (Hmmm, the stressed category, so, EVERYONE).
Retrain your brain for the better (what? who wants to be better?).
They are CONTAGIOUS (show me a baby who smiles and the world doesn’t smile right back? watching my two little girls flash their dimples at people is absolutely priceless in the smiles that break on other people’s faces – brings total joy).
Boosts your productivity (turns out, you don’t need to be “heads down” to get more done, eh?).
And it should be noted, even mustering up a smile, even if it feels mildly fake, still has powerful mental affects.
Think about when you’re out doing your daily grind, and you get that genuine, contagious smile from a total stranger. It catches you off-guard, in the most spectacular kind of way and adjusts your brain and heart, like, “Yeah. Yeah! I can do this day. Look at me smiling! I got this. You got this, too, random friendly smiler in the check-out line. We got this, world.” Boom. Day-changer.
So then, you know, I give birth and no longer have said baby-bump, the smiles don’t flash. And I miss it. And I think – why? Why do I miss it? And why in the heck are smiles at such a freakin’ premium these days, if they can make people feel so damn good (and they are FREE)?
My “why” reflection went on for a while – and I think I landed here: It creates a connectedness between humans. Something we’re deeply missing in this day in age. Even a moment of connection. A moment of, I see you, and I want you to know it. A tiny little bit of goodness exchanged, without any sort of requirements, expectations or words.
So I have this thought: I’m going to make it a point to smile when I’m out and about. For two reasons: First, I want to give that feel-good to other people and get some smiles back! (See above and Google yourself why smiles are amazing and why I wanted them back.) Second, I want to see how the world responds, because I know in the very depths of my heart, more people need a genuine smile and connectedness inundating the human spirit. (You don’t even need to Google ‘why’ on this statement, #amiright?)
And you know what I observed in my smile-observing research (very, very scientific-y, mind you)? In general – and I’m not gonna sugar coat it: it’s a SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS, people.
We are heads down.
Too busy.
Too busy looking at our phones.
Too busy focused on whatever takes care of me, not you.
Too busy helping myself and not recognizing the human need in front of us, in a very basic way.
Now, I get it. Everyone can have a bad day. But I’m talking bad, like, devastating bad. The days where it’s hard to even lift your head off the pillow, because you live with such debilitating circumstances, where the chips are stacked against you and there’s no two-ways about it. The really effing-hard days. And on those days, yes, free passes are given. Grace is given.
For this category, for those people who are having those devastating days, here’s the thing: They fundamentally need YOUR smile – one from the rest of us general-folk, primarily going about our business. They likely could use hundreds of smiles. Your smile might be the one thing that saves them in that moment. Think about your bad days. How many times has a smile saved, if even just a moment, of that day for you? Gave you a little lift and it was welcomed, like, inside of your soul, welcomed. You could probably name the person who was able to pull you out of that funk for a minute.
Then there are the rest of us, in the non-devastating category. The generic days, good and bad, ups and downs, life’s stressing us out (because it’s LIFE, people). I’m going to go with that’s about, let’s see, um, numbers-wise, pretty much a whole crap-ton of folks in this category. (There are at least six of you in my inner tribe that hate me right now without having solid data. I love you. Thank you for loving me and my math-free part of life.)
So at the end of it, my target-audience for my ask is the crap-ton of people, Kim-statistically speaking.
So here it is. Here’s the ASK: I want you to start your own smile experiment. Maybe you do it for a day, or a week. I want you to get out there (and frankly, you can try it at home) and SMILE YOUR BRAINS OUT. See what happens. Report back. Start to Facebook and Instagram about it. I want to start the #smilemovement. Tag me. Use the hashtag. Or don’t. But I dare you to try it. The world needs it, right now, and it costs you absolutely nothing. And I’d put my morning cup of coffee on it that it is a game-changer for you – and could change the world. (Note: first cup of coffee is worth more than my paycheck, if you know me well at all.) Yes. I’m being that dramatic and that lofty in it’s capability to create tiny bits of love and healing that translate into big things for humanity.
I started it – right here. I’m wearing a peach scrunchie and no make-up people, but in case you needed an example, here you go. Some smiles. Your turn. Let’s do this, people. Change the world with a #smilemovement.
