“The love of truth lies at the root of much humor.”
~ Robertson Davies,
CC OOnt FRSC FRSL {Whew!} (28 August 1913 – 2 December 1995).
H – Health: I’ve spoken of laughter and humor quite a bit over the past several months, so decided to ‘dedicate’ a call-to-Practice, on a consistent and daily basis. Just as folks tend to go out of their way to maintain the habit of daily news, or brushing teeth, I am encouraging a daily practice of finding, adding, using humor as a foundation for mental and emotional health ~ which, by jove, promotes even greater physical health. Truly. Check it out:
www.mayoclinic.org › stress-relief › art-20044456 or, any of the other countless research studies and articles out there. More than “you are what you eat” is the truth behind “you are what you think.” Huh. Humor needs to be added to the Five-Food-Groups!
U – Uplifting : Try watching older comedy routines: Shelly Berman; Red Buttons; Jeff Foxworthy – these are ‘clean’ comedy and they all have representation on YouTube. Up-Lifting. Lifting yourself Up. Try simply listening to the gut-busting laughter of kids when something tickles their fancy. They ‘get it.’ The unabashed joy of the silly and the sublime. Their laughter is infectious. Go ahead and give yourself permission to ‘catch’ this one.
M – Maturity: Interestingly enough, it takes a level of maturity to ‘get’ humor. Usually Intellectual maturity ~ though not necessarily chronological / age maturity. An openness; not a closed-in-ness. A guilelessness that allows for the expansion of ideas, thoughts and possibilities. Another reason why children can be so ‘mature’ when it comes to humor.
O – Open-minded: Humor uses a clever little ‘wedge’ to open the mind to perspectives otherwise often overlooked. The ‘other side’ of a thought, a disagreement, a ‘position’ or a policy. It provides a moment of “Hahaha … that’s funny (or silly). Never thought about it that way before.” Good. The important thing is to Think About It. And laugh!
R – Reality: Humor can be a great reality-check too. A way to poke fun at the absurdities and bizzarro current events of life. The OMG’s and catastophizing (…can thank Albert Ellis for that coined word), especially regarding events that are beyond one’s simple ‘control.’ George Carlin was a master of this art. So is Christopher Titus. Great humor can ‘bend’ a presupposed (or predisposed) belief by letting in the air and light of laughter to those ‘scary places.’
“Humor is the good natured side of a truth.”
~ Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain).