Litany of Laughter Stories

I've been performing my morning laughter ritual slightly differently lately.  Instead of going through the laughter exercises, I conjure up some very funny stories from my life:

·      * Adele, the 80-something ex-nun in our writing class, who loved to shock, using the f-word, causing Bill, the sweet 80-something ex-newspaper reporter, to gasp slightly and question his ears with a “what?” causing the ex-nun to gleefully repeat her f-word….well you had to be there to get how hysterical this repartee was.

·      *My friend’s 5 year old daughter spontaneously, and for no clear reason, shouting  “Barbie Win!!!”  with fist pumped in the air for emphasis.

*  * Or Rex doing his James Brown imitation!!!

Retrieving memories, that kept me howling then, are keeping me howling now.

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Bank Laughter

Her joy-filled laughter crackles through the stale air of the credit union.  Bringing the place to life.  Shining as she does.  

My bank teller today is one bright spirit and she makes the whole place shine with the light of her laughter. I tell her she has the best laugh.  She tells me, what unfortunately I've heard too many times before, "Oh but it's gotten me into trouble".   Why is laughter considered so unprofessional?  I tell her, "Don't ever let anyone stifle your laughter - it's beautiful".

More bank tellers need to laugh.  It would make the world that much brighter.

I leave with a huge smile and a brighter spirit.

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Dolphins

Dolphins are always smiling : )

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Laughter Helps My Memory

I noticed not long ago that I was having trouble remembering things – details.  Signs of aging?  I refused to accept it. 

I thought for a moment, “What can I do to wake up my brain?”  The answer came immediately as I lecture about it all the time – laughter.  Laughter wakes up the brain – by bringing more oxygen to it. 

Studies show that Alzheimer’s patients have low levels of oxygen in their brains.  This is completely congruent with our findings about laughter.  We bring more oxygen to our brains when we laugh, making our brains more alert, more clear and higher functioning.

Confession:  I had been experimenting with simply smiling in the morning in place of my morning laughter ritual (2 minutes of hearty laughter every morning in the mirror).  Smiling is so peaceful I wanted to experience that for awhile as the beginning to my day.  But after I reinstated my morning laughter ritual, the result was that my memory improved again. 

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Pope in a Clown Nose

The “People’s Pope”, Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, and a pope not afraid to have a little fun.  How cool is that!