I love all the English words I know about that refer to laughter. Chuckle, giggle, guffaw. I like chortle, cackle, crack-up. I even like snicker, though that implies a slightly less than straightforward merriment. There's an edge of mean connected to snicker.
The people I prefer to hang out with these days are friends who like to laugh. When we get together, we always find lots of things to laugh about. Sometimes we howl. Oh man, I really love these people. Y'all know who you are. Thank you!
A big ole belly laugh serves to empty all the lymph nodes in the abdominal cavity, a Very Good Thing in terms of promoting good health. Actually, a gut wrenching, sobbing cry will do the same thing, though it certainly isn't as much fun.
Is laughter the best medicine? Lots of people think so. Some healers are methodical about it; there's a modality called "laughter therapy," something that sounds a little bit forced if you ask me. A few weeks ago I read about the giggling guru who cures through laughter. When I googled "healing power of laughter", 213,000 sites came up within seconds. There is even a blog called Healing Power of Laughter. Wow.
This morning I'm feeling so grateful for my friends, for their great senses of humor. I'm smiling just thinking about how much I love them. The people I surround myself with these days are so good. Cheers, y'all!
21 comments:
Sweet post. I'm so happy for my blogger pals and those of you on FB. This keeps me smiling more than the people around me most of whom are not like-minded. The G-man & I try to smile & nod and we are finding some who have our same/similar values. It's sometimes a tough gig!
Love your pumpkins & jack-o-lanterns!
Reya, and Lizzy, I am a member in your circle! You can bring me to laugh (mich zum lachen bringen)with the silliest thing you say, or point out. I am ready to laugh any minute. The German word for giggle is kichern, and we even have Kichererbsen (giggly peas). Yes, kichern is also a good word. Und herumalbern. And I am exceptionally healthy.
Kichern is a good word!
last time i laughed that hard my internal organs bruised. getting uncontrollable giggles can be hazardous to your health!
Oh my, we are laughers over here. My husband and I crack each other up all day long. My best friend is full of funny. I think I would rather laugh than do almost anything, except maybe eat Nutella. Both at the same time is pure bliss.
Jeanette you made me laugh. Nutella. xx oo
Yaay, it's pumpkin time on Capitol Hill! Your pumpkin photos always make me smile, and sometimes even chuckle.
A yoga instructor taught a lesson in this a few years back, and I was at first, mortified to practice belly laughs with a group of almost-strangers! But it was one of the lessons that I remember the best. You are so right; it is a good and healing thing. What is that old adage: "laughter is the best medicine?" yep!
laughter, real genuine, gufaws- best thing about being in this human body- Great that you surround yourself with humour! As essential as light! You will live a happy long healthy life with humour as your companion...beware the serious! I can see from your photos of your lovely face - something in your eyes,intelligence sees humour in everything.
Thanks for the blessing, Linda Sue.
Life really IS pretty funny.
I don't want to grow into a sour old lady. I'm practicing RIGHT NOW being light hearted.
LOL!! My mantra.
There is nothing better and finer than ROARING with laughter with a bunch of friends.
That knobbly, warty pumpkin in the group of smooth-fleshed beauties made me smile, too.
i work in a school filled with kids from four years old to twelve. they laugh. they can't help themselves. it's a good place. i laugh lots. it's a freak-show in my room but the kids leave wiser and richer for what they see happen to me in their company. the people i work with - well i have my peeps right and they know how to be having a good time even when it's a complete madhouse time of year. so i know how blessed and well taken care of i am and i give back my fair share of the good stuff for sure!!! i'm not a joy snob for sure but i love being with people who suffer just as much or more than me and can find the joy all the same. sweet post reya - good good good!! steven
Thank you, Steven.
Love the idea of a joy snob. Hmmm....
Personally I like a life fully lived which means despair, joy, laughter, sobbing and everything between.
L'chaim!!
We laugh a lot here. there were so many years when we didn't, when we fought and the house was filled with anger. We like this a whole lot more.
For a while I was going to a kundalini yoga class. One of the things she would have us do is laugh for one minute. She'd set the timer and we would start out laughing. At first it would be forced but pretty soon you were laughing for real at the absurdity of it.
And lastly, there was a film going around on FB I think about the guy on the public transport that got on and sat down and started laughing quietly to himself as if he had just walked away from something really funny when he got on the bus. Before you know it, his quiet chuckles and giggles get other people going and then the whole bus is just laughing uncontrollably over nothing. He gets off at a stop and then gets on the next bus and the whole things starts again. It was excellent.
It definitely is contagious! Ellen I'm so glad you two are laughing these days. Life is short.
LOVE this post, Reya. I've never heard of "giggly peas," but just saying the words makes me smile!
I do laughing pretty well, I think --
the comic and tragic sensibilities living in rather close proximity
Now what we need to have to read is a totally comic novel
a positive giggle fest
when you were a child did you ever long to giggle and have to stifle it
and long and long for it to burst out?
oxxo for a happy weekend.
I was not a happy child. I've grown steadily happier as I've gotten older. So no I didn't stifle giggles or laughs. I was so morose.
I take care of a four year old, so, obviously, I laugh a lot! Her idea of a joke is so bad that I sometimes have to laugh to keep from crying! pah-rum-pum!
I don't know what I'd do without the ability to laugh at a tough situation, my own frailties, or every day nuisances. That ability has carried me through life for sure, and transferred to my children, thank God.
When my adult son was in the hospital for surgery to remove his colon, an army of docs came into the room one day all at the same time. Of course,they all had somber expressions, given the situation. Tony looked at them as they surrounded his bed and said, with a perfectly straight face, "I hope you've all come prepared to talk poop."
Sometimes you really DO have to laugh to keep from crying!
Yep.
Also it's a matter of perspective. All our shenanigans and dramas really ARE kinda funny.
Chiming in late, but I thought I'd add that there was one winter (my first or second, can't remember, of my tenure-track job) where I think the only thing that kept me from getting really depressed was the Dave Barry books I kept borrowing from the library. He made me laugh when it was dark outside plus most other things were making me freak out. Thanks, Dave!
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