Even the Gods Laugh: How Humor Becomes Transformational 

by Diane English

Most of our lives have become caught up in the dizzying stress, anxiety and self-created drama of the fast paced, Twenty-First Century.  It was slower back in the 14th Century; I miss those days.  Just the story of being a member of the human race can make you terminally depressed and confused.  It may be inevitable that everyone on Earth is challenged by negativity in life; but it is far from inevitable that we have to keep the soap opera going.  Besides breathing, humor and laughter are the simplest and most natural paths to joy and, when embraced, a powerful transformation takes place.  With intention, this change leads to healing and freedom in unexpected ways.  Here are some pointers:

Stage One: Questioning Your Beliefs

I define humor as “a break with consensus reality” or, what you think is happening, isn't.  Each of us has a belief system that has been imposed on us right from birth and those beliefs either affirm or deny our power.  You can bet that consensus reality (parents, TV, radio, news, politicians, etc) is not about to affirm that we are Infinite Love in form.  We are constantly reminded that we're victims, helpless worms of the dust and in dire need of Viagra.  We're not, not even close!

Stage Two: Healing

Scientists and doctors have documented research that humor and laughter are beneficial for the body.  Norman Cousins, while ill with a severe connective tissue disease, was the first to write a bestseller about the healing power of humor.  He was able to document how watching Candid Camera and the Marx Brothers allowed him to significantly decrease his physical pain with laughter.  It was later discovered that laughter also massages the organs, builds the immune system with beneficial hormones, releases mood-elevating endorphins and lowers blood pressure. What a wonderful and legal way to get high! Just laugh.  See the absurdity of what we all take seriously, especially what YOU personally take seriously.  Just how important is it?  Since we all die, (more or less), put it in perspective.  Somebody famous said, "There is not one shred of evidence that life is serious" and I seriously agree with that.  What good does it do to feel bad, depressed or guilty?  You don't have to, you've been taught to.  There is nothing we have to learn.  THERE IS A LOT WE HAVE TO UNLEARN.

Stage Three: Uncovering Who You Really Are

This three dimensional world is only part of who we are.  At our core we are infinite love.  Once we shift out of everyday reality to see our own magnificence and experience the joy of living in the present moment that laughter initiates, we can release the beliefs, which keep us from living spontaneously.  According to professor of psychiatry William Fry, M.D., at Stanford University Medical School, the average child in kindergarten laughs 300 times a day while adults only laugh approximately 17 times each day.  (Are we crabby, or what!)  This is why children have more imagination and heal faster than adults.  Children live free until taught shame and guilt; reclaiming your childlike energy is the key to transformation.

Let yourself giggle as an expression of your own freedom or better yet, double over with laughter.  Ah, but I can hear you saying: what about all the awful stuff that happens?  What I'm talking about is a MAJOR SHIFT in your thinking. Imagine for one moment, that millions of people on the planet believed laughter is the best medicine and all at once we started to laugh.  Go ahead... start now... giggle, chuckle, guffaw right now.  Laughter is contagious and others will catch it and begin laughing too; then another and another.  Can you feel what that would be like?  Can you feel the potential, the release, the love and joy that would envelope the entire planet?  Anything is possible, anything.  “Even the gods love jokes,” said Plato.  That is because the Cosmic Cookie knows the importance and power of laughter.  Nature invented it for a reason.  Humor and laughter are sacred, they are the Universal keys to the unexpected joy of release and the inspiration of new perspectives.  Once you have unlocked this door your life will never be the same.   

I am a self-taught artist, who, shortly after menopause, threw caution to the wind to follow my dream of making a good living with my artwork.  So far, so good!  I'm now selling my original designs internationally as greeting cards, magnets and prints.  If I can do it, you can too.  I've also survived countless spiritual crises, have seen "the light" and discovered the secrets of the Universe.  Yes indeedie... after years of deep meditation, fasting, prayer, a couple of colonics, and a few bottles of Merlot, I now know that chocolate is the way to peace and eternal life.  Diane English  www.greatcosmichappyass.com