Laughter: Its Nature and Value

Laughter is healthy.  It's good for you.  When you consider it, a sense of humor (the human funny bone), is a  gift of God. 

Humor is therapeutic. Enjoy it as it comes or is needed to pepper the
challenges and humdrum of life with comic relief.  The benefits of laughter could be stretched to include the economic value of providing work for the countless comedians in the world?  Nah.

But, I genuinely believe that that laughter, or even the giggles, can be effective in lifting the spirit.  Humor can be a prescription when you're down in the dumps. Oops.  I wonder if it's addictive!

Depending on the dosage and strength of humor it can bring on a smile, or a few chuckles and when it's really at the top of its game, it can give us a case of the knee-slapping howls.  Warning:  Side effects can range from groaning after hearing a pun to the convulsions of laughter and tears as a result of hilarious situations.

For me, a healthy dose of the upside down comical twists in ordinary life situations usually provides an escape from the ultra-serious moments in life.

Some of the funniest things in life are based on seeing the ridiculous folly of ordinary human behavior. I see that especially in the situations we get into that are on on barely the edge of being believable, but just plausible enough to recognize ourselves in them.

Of course, laughter depends to a large extent on the role players in a situation and how ready the audience is to take its medicine.

I could go on about the variety and intensity of humor and its ability, depending on the audience, to cause anything from a chuckle or two to explosive side-splitting laughter.

Yes, the audience. We seem to get the most out of comedy when in groups, the larger the better. I guess that's true because of those whose funny bone vibrates so easily that they ignite the laughter of others around them.

On that note, how can I resist the opportunity to mention the important role  played by laughter in The Quest for Common Ground.

Now, a piece from Jim Daly Finding Home which got me started on the topic of laughter today.  Daly's illustration uses the kind of unintended humor that raises eyebrows and conjures up ridiculous images based on statements written with less than careful thought. You'll recognize it.