Of Laughing and Laughter

There has been little to laugh about during the last couple of years. These were years of crisis with the Covid Pandemic, Economic downturn, supply chain problems, families and their children trapped at home because of the need to protect against contagion from Covid, political instability, and the crisis in Ukraine.

All of this means is that now, more than ever, we need to understand that these problems will pass and, in the meantime, laugh.

As a college student, I wrote a term paper about the Pygmies of the Congo in Africa many years ago. While doing the research for the paper, I came across one observation of their way of life that caused me to laugh. The anthropologist who wrote his observations while living with these people was that they would begin laughing when something struck them as funny until the laughter became so side-splitting that they rolled on the ground. Tears came rolling down their faces.

I was recently reminded that I loved seeing Jerry Lewis movies when I was a child. I would laugh so hard and loud that my laughter spread through the theater's aisles until everyone was laughing at me laughing.

I remember a psychology class I took in college where the professor used a lot of humor in his lectures. One day he said something that made all of us laugh. I don't know if it was his joke, something about my mood that morning, or the atmosphere in the classroom, but I couldn't stop laughing even after the others had. That caused the other students to resume laughing after they had stopped. For fear of being reprimanded, I looked up and was relieved to see the professor laughing along with the rest of us. This laughter was purely spontaneous and left me with such warm feelings about the class and professor that I still remember it after all these decades.

Whether laughter is medicine is unclear. It is said that the best medicine is laughter. Psychologist Robert Provine, Ph.D., is the foremost expert on laughter. He states that:

"Laughing more could make you healthier, but we don't know," he says. "I certainly wouldn't want people to laugh more just to avoid dying — because eventually, they'll be disappointed."

Of course, that is a joke. Most laughter is not a result of a joke but is a laughable part of being with people. For example, the health of a relationship might be measured by the amount of laughter. 

There is a ton of research on the problems and conflicts that cause people to divorce or end a relationship. Yet, laughter is one of the most apparent ingredients of any happy relationship. Laughter may be a symptom of how well a couple is doing. Laughter binds people together. There are lots of laughter during the early stages of a romantic relationship. It is warm, mirthful, and spontaneous. Perhaps couples need to laugh a lot more.

Laughter brings people together because it's contagious. When you hear someone laugh, you also laugh. Do you remember how you also yawn when you see someone yawn?

How might a couple reintroduce laughter into their relationship? According to Provine, the most primitive form of stimulating laughter is tickling. Not only does tickling cause laughter, but it also causes the person getting tickled to turn around and start tickling. Besides couples engaging in tickling and laughing, we love to tickle babies and children because it's fun to see and hear them laugh and giggle.

It's always fun to get together with people who also spontaneously laugh. Once the laughter begins, everything that happens and is said is funny.

Do you allow laughter into your life? Just remember, we don't laugh to solve problems. Instead, we laugh to bring joy into our lives. So, let's all get together and laugh.