Humor and laughter are powerful things.
They can connect us as human beings, whether we’re bonding over a shared laugh, an inside joke, or affirming one another with “social laughter” that has little to do with actual humor. (It turns out, we laugh a lot in mundane social situations. Laughter is a kind of social lubricant.)
Laughter can help us release stress. It can defuse a conflict or tense situation. Offer consolation amidst difficulty. And help us not take ourselves and our daily lives too seriously.
Humor literally helps us heal and renew. The changes in your body from a good laugh are measurable — from reductions in stress hormones and increases in feel-good endorphins to pain relief, better immune system functioning, heart health, and mental health.
Humor can offer new perspectives. It can grab our attention, keep us engaged, teach us important lessons, and help us remember information better.
And as we’ve seen again and again throughout history, humor can be a way of speaking truth to power, pointing out the need for change, and creating social momentum.
I’ve been planning for a long time to explore this topic this month. It seemed like something light and fun for the summer.
But my perspective on it is a bit different now…
Yes, I think we’ll have a lot of fun with this. I think we’ll spend a lot of time laughing and smiling together.
But given what’s been happening in our world lately, I’m not thinking of this as a fluffy cotton candy kind of topic.
Instead, I hope that diving into this theme together will be like taking a deep drink from healing waters — and that it will renew us and inspire us to not give up on leading full, authentic, awake, beautiful, meaningful lives that make a difference.