I remember loving to laugh as a child. My mom was the “sense of humor proprietor” of our home,
and making her laugh, was especially fun, as she was a tough audience. Especially when I was in trouble, which was a major of the time.
Although the basic principals of laughter are the same as they once were, in a nutshell, one person’s tragedy is another person’s comedy, aka slipping on a banana peel, still holds true to a certain degree.
But audiences have gotten tougher, savvier, and more demanding, and rightfully they should.
We live in a different world than our ancestors. We suddenly woke up in a world that was not quite
as predictable as we were taught it would be in grade school. To say “the world has gotten more
dangerous “or” the world’s gone crazy “has become the commonplace” talk of the town.
We have more anxiety, more worries, strange happenings, our generation has experienced everything
from Woodstock to Dolly The Sheep, when I say “our”, I mean the fringe side of the baby
boomer generation. We are survivors to a certain degree. We have seen more wars than any
generation before us. So we can laugh or cry. Or stay ambivalent. Laughing does not mean we are endorsing it. Humor is a way humans can cope with circumstances that seem to have spun out of control, which, frankly, today, happens in most of our lives now and again.
It is easier to cry. And it is OK and healthy to cry. But to leave humor and laughter out of one’s
life can make it bleak and miserable. People go to therapy. Just because one has a sense of humor about
life, does not make them immune from psychological services. But you can be assured it can be a deterrent for many. After all laughter, like running or walking is therapeutic. We release endorphins when we laugh, walk or run. Imagine doing all three at the same time.
I remember years ago working in my father’s real estate business. It was a thriving business, but one without much laughter. I was the youngest Realtor there, and I felt my job was to (continue) to be the class clown, as I had been in school. It was a nice, but staid bunch of folks. Basically, as in most sales situations, though there may be some altruism involved, money, or the bottom line is the focus.
Do not get me wrong, I like money as much as the next guy. But I have keenly observant that, although there are plenty of very happy wealthy people when people get into a business simply to make money, they end up highly disappointed. Here I found myself surrounded by a lot of disappointed people who really needed some laughter and humor.
Finally, after many years of soul searching, I left the world of sales and stuck out on my own. I had read a biography on Walt Disney, and how he launched his Magic Kingdom. I loved cartoon humor, still do, am not a great artist, so earned a team of excellent illustrators and launched my own cartoon. That was a decade ago. I still love doing it. Not only do I get to (sometimes) give myself a chuckle, but sometimes others as well. Do what you love, whether its making people laugh or not, will make you happier inside, and those around you seem happier. And think about it. Do not you enjoy being around happy smiling people more than frowning ones? Something to ponder.
Featured Image: MontClare School