Email
Print
The healing power of laughter
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: October 25, 2009
"Oh, goodness gracious, it's time for me to go get undressed for Lawrence Welk," my grandmother used to say every Saturday night, just as the magical 7 o'clock hour was about to hit.
She would scurry off to her bedroom to get herself into her pajamas for "chillin' out mode" for her favorite hour of the week with her favorite musical man. She would bolt out of the room while leaving my family laughing in hysterics. It has given my family fodder to laugh about for many years at the humorous reflection. Isn't laughter pure nourishment for the soul?
We, as humans, can come to appreciate the faux pas, foibles and funny moments — life's all-important spices that carry us and take the edge off of a stressful day. Laughter has a healing effect from the stories that can be told and re-told for posterity's sake. Without them, life would be so boring and mundane, don't you think?
I have a vivid recollection from my childhood of singing the wrong words of "Blowing in the Wind" — off-key and at the top of my lungs — at Camp Cheerio. I made quite a musical display as I sang the incorrect words for years: "The ants are my friends, and they're blowin' in the wind!" I have to admit that I did think it actually make a smidgen of sense. I remember feeling stunned and embarrassed when they passed out sheets with the words to the song after about my fifth summer of singing it like that — loudly. It was only then that I discovered that the correct words were, "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind."
The story has given my friends and family something to laugh about through the years. And that makes it all alright.
Blunders go hand-in-hand with varying levels of embarrassment. My grandmother (the Lawrence Welk granny) had a run-in with a policeman once. She was pulled over for speeding, and the cop asked to see her license. She was so flustered as she fumbled for her license that she inadvertently pulled out a $5 bill. Sensing that this granny was trying to bribe him, he indignantly said, "Ma'am, if you think that will get you out of this, you're very mistaken!"
And yet another story for the archives of our family.
I have a friend who made an embarrassing blunder due to stress. Sometimes, they're the best kind.
She had traveled four hours one day on business with a car full of reports that she had worked on tirelessly. Imagine her distress when she came out of the meeting only to notice three strangers pulling the papers out of her car. She went flying down a hill, frantically waving her arms and shouting, "Put everything back! Put it all back and I won't call the police!" Now imagine how she felt when they said, "Ma'am, this is our car."
The retelling of the story never gets old.
When I was in college, some of my friends were invited to a sorority party. They made their way to the sorority house — or so they thought — opened the door and comfortably walked in. Since there was no sign of a party, they thought they were just early, so they made their way into the kitchen and rummaged through the refrigerator looking for a snack before the presumed party got under way.
Imagine their dismay when a woman in a bathrobe came down the steps and asked them what in the world they were doing in her house. They were in someone's private home, and to make matters worse, it was the dean of the school's home. The lady kindly showed them the door. Just a little misunderstanding gone awry, but, of course, another story to invoke more of that healing kind of laughter.
We're all just human, I suppose. And laughing about just being human is just being human. Make it a point to find something to laugh about today.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement
