Jeanine+S’s+Final+AmEx+2014+Speech

=Title of Speech= Smile Like You Mean It =Text of Speech= = = As straight-faced and sarcastic as I am most of the time, I really like smiling. No, I love smiling. It’s a proven fact that smiling makes you happy! Scientists say that the emotion, oftentimes, follows the expression. So if you smile, even when you aren’t happy, it can make you happy. But sadly, people don’t smile at each other as much as they should. I don’t smile at others as much as I should. I get caught up in this static routine of getting from place to place or completing task to task with no interruptions, ignoring the people around me. I find myself pasting a blank expression on my face and setting my eyes to vacant so I don’t have to smile at the people I pass by, so I don’t even have to acknowledge them. In America today, it pains me to witness and take part in the insouciant attitude we express towards one another. The concrete mind set of avoiding eye contact at all costs. We cling to the frown that keeps us in our comfort zone. Is it because we don’t care about each other, or making one another feel loved and accepted? Of course not! (At least I hope so.) It is more convenient to simply ignore the stranger standing next to you in the elevator, rather than greet them with a bright smile and a friendly hello. We have it engrained in our minds that we don’t have time for such frivolous greetings. They don’t matter right? That stranger isn’t worth the smile, the time, or the attention. No, that’s not true at all. Even if it’s just a simple smile or a simple hello, it makes a difference. It says, “Hey you, I acknowledge your existence. I accept that you are a living, breathing human, and I think you’re worth something.” I am not just talking about smiling here, but something much deeper. It is a disconnect in American culture that pains my heart. It’s something we barely notice but it happens everyday, all around us. It is the cell phone in our hand that keeps us from communicating face to face, the computer on our lap that we hide behind, typing things on a screen that we would never say in person, and our empty eyes that reject warm greetings from our fellow comrades. It is so easy to keep ourselves from connection. I think we really want to be friendly to everyone, but it offsets our usual routine of numbness towards the people around us. In fact, it’s not just strangers that we ignore, but also the people we know. Countless times, I have walked right by my friends in the hallways at school, not giving them the eye contact or the attention I should, because I just ‘really have to get to class, and I’m busy, and I don’t have time for a hug and a little conversation’…blah, blah, blah. That’s what I tell myself. I have to remind myself over and over again break that habit, that mindset, and say “Hey (insert student’s name here), hello there! How are you today?” I have challenged myself lately to say hi to strangers more, (even though my mother told me never to talk to strangers) and do my best to smile and be friendly, because you don’t know how much it could mean to someone. It could simply be a nice gesture of acknowledgement or it could mean so much more. Like when you smiled casually at that kid on the bus, maybe you were the first person to smile at him all day, the first person to make him feel cared for and accepted. We never know! I love greeting someone warmly and then seeing their expressionless face light up with happiness. Happiness to engage with another person, to have a friendly conversation and to know that someone cares about them. And smiling never hurt anyone. Well, except when you have braces and your lip gets stuck to one of your brackets…that’s actually really painful. Side note: I’m not saying we should smile at everyone. Like, I probably wouldn’t smile at the sketchy person on the corner trying to sell me drugs and illegal weapons, or the man at the gas station who looks like he could be a serial killer or a rapist or maybe even a combination of both. Use your better judgment on those people. Anyways, smiles are contagious. It’s not just a saying: smiling really is contagious, scientists say. In a study conducted in Sweden, people had difficulty frowning when they looked at other subjects who were smiling, and their muscles twitched into smiles all on their own. It’s also easier to smile than frown. Frowning requires more muscles to be used. Smiling is also a universal sign of happiness. While hand shakes, hugs, and bows all have varying meanings across cultures, smiling is known around the world and in all cultures as a sign of happiness and acceptance. I have concluded that we really have no good reason not to smile at everyone. (Well accept for the serial killer rapists...but then I think, maybe that’s why they are serial killer rapists because nobody ever smiled at them!) Certainly, it takes some amount of attention and energy. But in smiling at strangers and acquaintances alike, we acknowledge their humanity. In the America I grow up in, I want to see more smiles and less frowns. I want to be smiled at rather that being looked past and being ignored. I want to have nice conversations with strangers and not feel like it’s a burden to do so. I want to experience more connection with my fellow Americans, rather than the disconnect that plagues our culture today. I hope to positively impact peoples lives by expressing to them, that I care about them. So smile pretty ladies and gentlemen, because the whole world is watching. = =

= = =Cite Your Sources= http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/happiness-in-world/201202/smiling-strangers