Laughter Flows with People you Like

I adore my reflexologist.

A gentle and highly effective practitioner from Japan, who speaks in delightful broken English, this woman is a joy to be with. She’s a unique combination of very sweet and highly skilled. Just my kind of person. We completely hit it off.

Therefore we spend our entire session laughing. Or at least the beginning and the end, with a silent intensive healing treatment in the middle.

I can’t tell you what we ever laugh about, only that the sound of it echoes throughout the salon. We emerge from our session like we’ve just attended a comedy club. Renewed. Refreshed. Exhilarated.

In the normal course of life people rarely laugh in response to a joke, and often not in response to any kind of intended humor. But rather most people laugh just being with people they like and having a good time.

Laughter is a social activity. It’s about people being together. Most of the time it doesn’t really matter what anyone is saying, just that people are with those they enjoy. That in itself stimulates laughter.

Surround yourself with people you like and the laughter flows freely.

Photo: Yukari and Me

A Smile is a Curve...

“A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.”

Phyllis Diller

Indeed it does. When you’re feeling down, if you manage a smile, a ray of hope is so evident, as a flicker of light returns to the eyes, and one day so does the laughter.

Phyllis Diller, though she was not my style of humor, was a pioneer comedian in a world dominated by males. She held her own – so often with self-depreciation, but nevertheless....

At 94, she proves that “those who laugh, last”.

Photo: Wikimedia

Nervous Laughter

Someone recently told me that he always started laughing when he was in an argument with his wife, which unfortunately only made her more angry. I explained to him that this was nervous laughter and was an intelligent thing to do. It was his body’s innate wisdom getting him to relax by laughing. Hopefully by relaxing he could then deal with the issues at hand more effectively. I used to do the same when my partner confronted me. It felt a bit bizarre, but it was often my first spontaneous reaction.

There used to be someone in my life that I got very nervous around and I found myself making constant jokes around him. Again it felt a bit bizarre to instantly turn into an incessant comedian, but I realized I did it unconsciously to relax myself.

My dentist’s assistant is a great laugher. I told him it’s a very helpful way for me to relax in the dreaded dentist chair. All dental assistants should laugh.

Laughter is the body’s instinctive response to stress. The higher the stress, the more the need for laughter. It’s why comedians often have challenging life histories, especially when they were children. Hence they develop the skill to laugh and make us laugh along with them.

If someone is laughing in an odd situation, know that they are only trying to relax themselves, by breathing deeper, relaxing muscles, relaxing spirits, in an effort to function better in the current situation.

When in doubt, laugh.

Photo: stock.xchnge

Niebuhr Quote

“Humor is a prelude to Faith; Laughter is the beginning of Prayer.”

Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr

Photo: stock.xchnge