Let's Laugh Day was Tuesday. I sincerely hope a lot of us took advantage of it. I hope we're still laughing.
Granted, there's so much not to laugh about these days. Life seems to want to imitate art, resembling a tangle of horror, psychological thriller, science-fiction and natural-disaster films. Mass shootings and natural disasters happening just about daily. Hate, showing itself to be alive and thriving. (Not to mention news of public figures, once admired, going down in disgrace due to allegations/proof of misconduct; and the matter of politics itself -- downright depressing.)
I recently unsubscribed from the daily newsletter put forth by one news website in particular. I suspect the relationship was born of the vacation sweepstakes I constantly enter, but which so far has awarded me only with a wealth of electronic junk mail. Won't name the site, but its newsletter consistently bears links to bad news ... as in uber-sensational, "Oh, my God!" bad news. Usually, said news involves some seemingly normal human being who one day decided to do something horrific to somebody else, or some freak tragic accident. After a while I couldn't take it anymore. Roland Emmerich, Wes Craven, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese ... they couldn't have made some of this stuff up.
In light of it all, it's easy to feel guilty laughing about anything. How dare we laugh when so many are suffering? When that laugh may be coming at someone else's expense, or perceived to be, and we may be phone-filmed by somebody who'll out us on social media? Heck, when the very sound of our laughter may disturb the curmudgeonly coot next-door or nearby? And what's there to laugh about when we ourselves are suffering from our own misfortunes and setbacks?
Well, there's one thing we can chuckle about when the general state of affairs seems to be no laughing matter: These made-up national holidays, such as Let's Laugh Day. And things on which surveys are based. Such as ... laughter.
Yes, to celebrate national Let's Laugh Day, the folks at Laffy Taffy -- the candy that comes bearing jokes on every wrapper as its purveyors try to make us jolly along with making us fat -- did a national survey on Americans and their laughing habits. Among the findings of its survey of 1,500 people: 96 percent of Americans enjoy making other people laugh. Seventy-nine percent of people love the sound of their own laugh. Arizona is No 1 in the top 10 most laughter-loving states. Arkansas isn't in the top 10, but neighbors Oklahoma (No. 3) and Louisiana (No. 4) are.
Other findings: The most common laugh is the giggle, at 32 percent. Chuckles come in next at 20 percent. Then come belly laughs at 19 percent; the infamous "cry laugh" at 7 percent and guffaws and cackles, both 6 percent. Survey respondents love to laugh with, or at, their significant others the most (33 percent). Most importantly, 95 percent of respondents consider laughter to be a stress reliever. Fifty-four percent of respondents confess to LOL-ing -- laughing out loud, for you nontexters -- even when they're by themselves.
The benefits of laughter are backed up by Proverbs 17:22 of the Good Book, which says "a merry heart doeth good like a medicine," along with the health experts, who speak to the stress- and blood pressure-lowering, heart-health-improving power of a good laugh. Oh, and hey, laughter even works your abs! I'm not sure how well publicized the survey was, but I'll give it to the Laffy Taffy people. They've served as a gentle reminder of the importance of laughter.
I've written repeatedly here about taking pleasure in the simple things. It's in the simple things, too, that we can find some of the best sources of laughter. Yes, including cat and baby videos. Including the corny jokes (sent in by children, according to one report) on the Laffy Taffy wrappers. Including ourselves.
No matter now no-laughing-matter-ish the news gets, everybody can stand a good chuckle, guffaw or belly laugh now and then. After all, there's that warning that makes up the second half of Proverbs 17:22: "a broken spirit drieth the bones." And, possibly, lead to flabby abs.
Just burst out emailing:
Style on 03/24/2019