A Smile is the Shortest Distance Between Two People

Pianist, composer and songwriter, Victor Borge, probably couldn’t predict how profound and prophetic his quote, used for today’s title, would be in 2020. Unless he palled around with Nostradamus or Allison Dubois, he also couldn’t foretell we’d be experiencing a global pandemic. 

But here we are. And now, we have the opportunity to test our mettle. I’ve chosen to challenge mine creatively. The result? A music video inspired by Victor’s timely sentiment.

Originally, I wrote the song “Smile” as a celebration of escaping a very controlling, verbally abusive relationship that lasted nearly 15 years. I was literally smiling for months (if not still), after landing in my new home of Redondo Beach, a beach-adjacent community back in 2001. 

Backstory

During the recording of this 9-track album, appropriately dubbed, Smile, my pianist, Rob Rennie, approached me with a ballad version of this song. “Smile (reprise)” is a vocal-piano-only, melancholy look back at the original message which was quite jovial and upbeat. 

This second version came together quite organically and is one of my favorites. I guess it’s because my personal life is a definite mix of joy and heavy-heartedness. Still, I find beauty and inspiration in the juxtaposition of these two states of being. 

Kind of like how a mile-wide smile, so easily travelled, can turn someone’s bad day into a better one. Happy meets sad. Thanks Vic!

Video

Bringing together originally shot and loaned clips, the Smile (reprise) video encapsulates this incredibly unprecedented time in history. My goal was to capture smile-worthy moments that would speak to the goodness of people - a virtue, I believe, the majority of the world holds.

As a contrast, the music creates an undertone emotion, a “longing-to-be-true” hope, that I’ve personally been feeling. Are we a people of goodness? Are we?

With a country so divided - our “stones” turned over, exposing the dirt, grime and pincher bugs - my beliefs are certainly being challenged. I also recognize those suffering during this time, finding it hard to find any smiles at all.

And, that is why I created this video. It’s all about the juxtaposition of it all today. But, I lean towards hope. Towards goodness. And, continue to smile.

Won’t you join me and #shareyoursmile ? 

Photo Credits & Blurbs

All photos and videos are original except for the following whose owners gave me permission to use in this production. I want to thank my friends and new friends for granting me this honor to include a piece of their smile-worthy lives on this project.

Photo credits and blurbs in order of appearance:

Robertino is a respiratory therapist at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, CA. While working with Covid-19 patients in head-to-toe personal protective equipment, Robertino soon noticed their isolation was being compounded by their inability to see his and the faces of those caring for them. 

Inspiration struck prompting Robertino to pin an enlarged, laminated photo of himself, along with his name onto his PPE gear. This small but meaningful gesture went a long way in reassuring his patients. 

It also resulted in a world-wide “see-me” movement with healthcare workers adopting this photo name tagging, as well as Robertino’s #shareyoursmile campaign. In honor of Robertino Rodriguez and all healthcare workers, we are continuing this campaign with the launch of this video. 

Asli is an associate of Publix, an employee-owned, American supermarket. After everyone was required to wear protective masks, Asli began to realize she was putting the deaf and hard of hearing at risk every time she pulled down her face covering to allow them to read her lips.

Enter Brian Travers, creator of Anchor Handmade Designs and his see-through masks which enable the deaf and hard of hearing to stay safe and communicate through lip reading. Brian has also recently received a Cochlear implant and heard his wife say “I love you” for the first time. Watch more of his inspiration and smile-worthy story:

“I love you.”
— The first words Brian heard after his successful Cochlear implant.

Bruno is a self-made success who arrived from his native Italy with no English and just $200 to his name. Today, he is a renouned chef, philanthropist, author & speaker and has, to date, donated over 1,000,000 meals to those in need since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Definitely smile-tastic. 

• Senior receiving prescriptions delivery at door: source: Earley Spotlight

This senior citizen is actually my 90 year old mom, Lois! My life-long friend and former springboard/platform diving teammate, Wendy Earley (Earley Spotlight) has been her personal fitness trainer and assistant for the past year. She, like many frontline essential workers, has continued to keep my mom fit, healthy and smiling throughout this pandemic. I am so incredibly grateful and thankful for her. You ROCK Wendy!

I discovered these 14 year old, superfly sisters from the Netherlands dancing on the Ellen Show a couple years back. I then noticed how this current routine brought so many smiles on social media and just had to include them in this video. 

Not only are they outrageously talented, they’re incredibly sweet and humble-they seemed sincerely honored when I asked them to be a part of this fun project. I couldn’t be happier and more honored to feature their monstrous moves. Just try not to smile!

• USC Graduate/source: Andrea White-Kjoss

  • Virtual Thank You to Teachers/source: Erin Inatsugu (@inatsuguki and @alloramanti)

  • Heart on the Huntley Hotel, Santa Monica/source: Fiona Locke

  • Skaie’s “Air Hug” hat design: @bucko’s Lids

music videosSkaie Knoxmusic video, inspirational, Covid-19Comment