Recently while thinking of ideas for our next newsletter, Jason proposed the question of what makes you laugh? This is a seemingly simple question, but I’ve actually found it so hard to define! I know that I laugh often and easily multiple times a day, but how do I describe that to all of you as something that’s relatable? I decided to make a list of things. The first and most important being myself! I find my thoughts to be so funny. I constantly make fun of myself and will tend to narrate most situations. I love the show Friends, and have probably watched every episode 10 times. I have memorized the words to many of them! And last but not least, my sweet baby. His facial expressions along with my narrations can have me in tears and cracking up for days. As he continues to develop, one of my many roles is helping him develop a good sense of humor. I look forward to the days when I will receive his brutal honesty. Children have the best way of being direct. So I will ask you, what makes you laugh?
– Jessica
YOUR LIFE
Our sense of humor is about as diverse as hair or eye color and greatly contributes to the depth of human relationships. Scientists and psychologists have tried to quantify humor into 4 broad styles: Affiliative, Self-Enhancing, Aggressive, and Self-Deprecating.
1. Affiliative. These are jokes everyone can relate to and create a sense of fellowship
– I’m a godmother, that’s a great thing to be, a godmother. She calls me god for short, that’s cute, I taught her that.”-Ellen DeGeneres
2. Self Enhancing. The ability to laugh at yourself or at the absurdity of a situation
– “Before you marry a person, you should first make them use a computer with slow internet to see who they really are”-Will Ferrell
3. Aggressive. Characterized by sarcasm, teasing, criticism, and ridicule
– “Here’s all you need to know about men and women. Women are crazy. Men are stupid. And the main reason women are crazy is that men are stupid.” -George Carlin.
4. Self Deprecating. Attempting to get others to like us by putting ourselves down
– “I went to a freak show and they let me in for nothing.”- Rodney Dangerfield
You can have a mixture, but oftentimes people lean more towards one than the others. What’s your humor style?
– Hunter
YOUR LEGACY
Humor is needed now more than ever. With all the social anxiety in and around us, we all need to laugh more. The Mayo Clinic released an article in April 2019 showing the short term benefits of laughing can stimulate organs, activate and relieve stress, and soothe tension. Furthermore, the long term effects of laughing are that it can improve your immune system, relieve pain, increase personal satisfaction and improve your overall mood. During our transition out of this pandemic , humor around Covid can be sensitive but I’m sure we can find ways to laugh. Go ahead, laugh out loud, the benefits are worth it. Here are a few jokes I found to lighten the mood:
1. Day 121 at home and the dog is looking at me like, “See? This is why I chew the furniture!”
2. What’s the best way to avoid touching your face? A glass of wine in each hand.
3. Back in my day, you would cough to cover up a fart. Now, with COVID-19, you fart to cover up a cough.
4. The World Health Organization announced that dogs cannot contract COVID-19. Dogs previously held in quarantine can now be released. To be clear, WHO let the dogs out.
5. What do all virus jokes have in common? They’re catchy.
6. Since we’re all in quarantine I guess we’ll be making only inside jokes from now on.
7. After years of wanting to thoroughly clean my house but lacking the time, this year I discovered that wasn’t the reason.
– Travis