Michelle Blanchard Ardillo

TikTok is an ocean of possibilities. I have an account but I don’t ever open it. I do, however, frequently watch TikToks that are cross-posted on Instagram or Facebook, and that is how I stumbled upon 26-year old Taryn Delanie Smith, a former beauty queen who is as of this writing sitting pretty with 1.3 million followers.  She posts videos about fashion, her dog, NYC, and more, but what has really earned her those 1.3 million clicks is her alter persona as Denise, receptionist in Heaven. 

In these short videos, “Denise” sits at the front desk in Heaven, taking calls and registering new guests as they arrive. She is wearing a fluffy white terry cloth bathrobe, a terry cloth turban on her head, and a ladies disposable razor as a headset. The original videos were meant to be funny takes on her previous job in a call center, but the videos touched a nerve with many viewers, and to me, that is the interesting part of this social media phenomenon. 

As Denise takes calls, she is smacking her gum and typing furiously on her keyboard, ostensibly entering info into Heaven’s database, or perhaps, searching the database for info about the person on the other end of the line. In one such video, “Dorothy” had called again asking for an “Angel Premium Plus” upgrade, which Denise once again denied: “Should I send you  screenshots of that Facebook post from 2008?”

Wait, what? 

Can some rant on Facebook from 2008 keep you out of Heaven?

Let me let that simmer with you for a minute.

Dorothy then asks Denise if she knows WHO she is? Denise’s response, “Do you know WHO my boss is?”

Another caller is denied the Angel Premium Plus upgrade into Heaven because of a bitter conversation she had with her son Ricky when he came out.

So, Denise, are you telling me that things we say to others and things we post on social media have bearing on whether or not we get into Heaven? If this is true, Denise is going to be very busy taking calls from disgruntled Heaven-wannabees.

I’ve always believed in Heaven, and some of my earliest memories are praying with my mom before bed: one Hail Mary, one Our Father, and one Glory Be. When the stress of adulthood, marriage, parenting, work, and, well, just life, got the better of me, my prayer life suffered. So did my general attitude about life. Towards the end of 2016, I was at a low point. The morale at my workplace was very low,  I had just hit a milestone birthday, and my husband and I were empty nesters with one daughter in Pittsburgh and the other in Los Angeles. I wasn’t thinking about reaching for Heaven. 

Over Christmas break, I thought long and hard about my New Year’s resolutions. I decided that I would pray more and worry less. I would look for happiness each day, honor the simple things that made me happy. I would try to find joy in everything I do. I started signing off my social media posts with #findthejoy. I played Pharrell’s “Happy” in my classroom every morning when my students came in. When I was annoyed or feeling put out, I tried to put it aside and remember how lucky I am. When someone was on my very last nerve, I called to mind the Great Commandment: Love God, Love Others. Easy, no, but praying more helped me. 

The crazy thing is – you guessed it – I was happier. My prayer life became richer again. Teaching became easier. Every morning in the shower, instead of stressing about my day, I said the Angelus, a prayer that includes three Hail Marys. Every night I thanked God for my many blessings and asked for the strength to be a better person, to watch what I said and did, to #findthejoy. To reach for Heaven.

Maybe “Denise” is touching a nerve because so many people today are struggling. The country is divided on so many issues, red and blue aren’t just primary colors anymore. Everything is so expensive. Crime is high. The world continues to suffer from disasters, both natural and man-made. People are living with mental health issues and not seeking nor getting the help they need. Maybe Denise’s short videos are like a salve, bringing a moment of calm to the stress of life, maybe they are making people think about God, about reaching for Heaven.