Blah blah blah, life blah blah, compassion blah grow… blah blah blah.
How freeing it is to poke fun at my search for meaning! How light it feels to laugh at oneself, at life, and at all the petty seriousness. There is a magic to humor that transforms everything – that liberates the mind and bonds us to one another. Struggle becomes lightness and obstacles melt away. What we think is insurmountable becomes but a little hill to climb; what we feel is so important becomes nothing at all.
Humor is the grand equalizer. It has the power to dissolve fear and judgment and to break down barriers. It creates a universal experience that reminds us that we are all in this same boat.
Humor can unite us in the most positive ways. It takes the seriousness and criticism out of relationships. We can be struggling endlessly, and suddenly overcome our frustration in a single moment through laughter. To me, this laughter says, “Isn’t this funny – this thing that we call life?” Laughter is a breakthrough, a release, and a gift from God.
Humor is so often born out of tragedy, allowing us to cope and to mend. It holds tremendous power to heal. Laughter can literally cure our bodies and is instantly restorative. We are then reminded to enjoy life and to live our moments more fully.
Humor celebrates the spontaneity of presence and is always here for us to enjoy. When the day bogs us down, or when we find ourselves stuck with a problem, we can try to see the humor and notice how the situation becomes lightened. We see how to not take our worries so seriously, but to laugh at them instead. Humor helps us to handle our endless mistakes and our humanity. When we make ourselves open to its possibility and its perspective, everything becomes elevated.
Of course, with this gift comes responsibility, and it goes without saying that humor isn’t meant to exclude or make fun at another’s expense. It is obvious when this happens – when things just don’t sit well or feel right, and another person or group is made separate. We know in our hearts that we must strive to use humor with reverence, and to be compassionate to others, even when we disagree with them.
I think of the Dalai Lama smiling, and I see his beautiful use of humor to communicate peace, compassion, and love. I see how children are the greatest messengers of laughter of all. When I hear my little boys laugh with all of their beings, it brings a kind of therapy to the whole house that is uplifting and contagious. I think about how children arrive here so recently from God’s presence, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find that humor abounds in heaven.
It seems to me that laughter aligns us with the divine. I think it is a gateway to love – that transcendent fabric of the universe. And I believe it can deliver us to a higher, more golden existence.
Share the Spiritual 
Laugh, laugh all you can because the laughter brings rejuvenation to all the cells in our earthbound “human skins” The laughter brings oxygen to parts of our bodies that need it most…our human brains. It lifts our seriousness to a place of lightness, it helps heal the heart when our hearts are “broken”.
Mostly we laugh at ourselves because of the serious ways we view our lives. We are here to be the way showers…take the rest of humanity down the pathway of Love and Laughter so we can and will “float away on wings of joy and gratitude”.
Suzy is on target with the right brain being the creator of laughter. The left brain is needed to guide us in our journey and the heart allows us to love all beings. We we are in that space with all three in harmony we laugh, we are light in all that we do and we grow and grow and grow.
This is wonderful James, and makes me feel lighter just reading your words.
As my amazing mom Beverly Baker puts it, “In humor is the preservation of sanity.”
Beautiful words, Suzy, on such a wonderful topic. You’ve given me many lovely thoughts to think about today. Although this topic is on the act of laughing, it goes hand in hand with humor, again, as you have conveyed here, and I my secrete favorite time that humor is exercised in my life is in depositions when, usually an attorney, cracks a funny line. It just melts away the stress in the room and it also conveys confidence in that person which I love to see. I want to grow up and be able to do that.
Also, Suz, I completely agree with you on the value of laughing. I believe its magical quality is what makes my marriage tolerable — just kidding — lots of fun. :)
Take care and thanks for the beautiful words. I am going to pay attention today to the next time I have a real laugh-out-loud moment and just savor it.
[…] I’ve long thought so, and Suzy at Share the Spiritual reminded me of that thought with her most recent post. Laughter is one of life’s mysteries, one of those things without a clear purpose. Nature is […]
LIKE! :-)
Pulitzer prize substance present.
I love this post about laughter (and all the comments too). It’s brilliant. Not only is laughter so healing, but the more we find it our lives, the more will come. I have been far too serious in life and have recently taken on actively looking for humor. Suddenly, I’ve found myself smiling at a lot more situations and experiencing more warmth in my heart. And then when I’m smiling, more people show up smiling in my world. Thank you, thank you for writing about laughter!