The Smile Experiment
Making the world better, one smile at a time
They say life is like a mirror, smile at it, and it smiles back at you.
For a couple of years, my life was a real balancing act. I had two kids in middle- and high school, I was an adjunct teacher at two different universities, and working on my second graduate degree. My marriage was dicey at best, and one of my coping mechanisms was to train for triathlons. I had sort of a lot going on. Many days, I had plenty of reasons to walk around, lost in my own thoughts. And for a while, I had gotten used to doing just that.
Part of my morning routine was to grab a caramel macchiato at the campus Starbucks, then go to my office to grade papers or plan for class.
But then I decided to start my day differently. Not an overwhelming change, just a minor one. I think I had read somewhere about the benefits of smiling. So I tried it.
I changed my day to begin with that simple act — I smiled at the barista every morning, without fail. The person making or delivering my morning coffee was usually a college student or college employee, and the same rotation of people. I’d come in with my heavy backpack and a bright smile irrespective of the weather or what I had ahead of me that day. I didn’t alter my conversation much, just “Hi, I’d like a venti…
