One of the best things about hanging out with Darren all the time is that my daily laugh quota has skyrocketed. He doesn’t take life as seriously as I tend to and constantly gets me to lighten up. Being around him for a couple of weeks has reminded me how important it is to laugh, and how easy it is if you’re open to what’s around you.
I just wrote an article on “Laughter, the Best Medicine” (I’ll link to it once it’s published) and can say from experience that it’s true. When I’m laughing throughout the day, I’m more relaxed, optimistic, and engaged with whatever I’m doing at the moment. According to research, increasing the amount of laughter in my life is also making my immune system is stronger and my cells more full of oxygen, both of which help prevent cancer and other serious disease. There are myriad other benefits to laughing, including burning calories, increasing job satisfaction, and developing bonds between people.
Getting out of my head and present to what’s around me has brought funny things to my attention that I would have otherwise missed. I’m especially big on wordplay and five-year-old potty humor. I prefer to think of my sense of humor as childlike, rather than childish. An important part of reschooling is remembering how to laugh at the silly things you found funny as a kid. Here are some of my highlights from the last couple of weeks:
Darren was reading Esquire magazine this morning and suddenly said with outrage, "I really want to read this chili recipe, but I don't want to look at this guy!" He decided that he just couldn't stand it and flipped past the recipe.
I spotted this brand at a fish and game store. Apparently, a "crappie" is a small fish, and it instantly became one of my favorite animals.
Darren prides himself on being a southern man's man, and I pride myself on girlifying him. When he left his computer alone for a moment, I changed his Gmail theme to "Candy," giggling to myself at the icons of pigtailed girls and ice cream. I pretended to be working as he returned. He was satisfyingly shocked and revolted at the bubblegummy theme, and it took him a while to figure out how to change it.
We often work on our laptops at a local cafe-bookstore. On the shelf next to our usual table is a copy of Pearl S. Buck's "The Good Earth," whose title has been scratched out to read "The Cool Fart." Darren credits our discovery of this gem to divine intervention.
Chicago's natural gas company is called "People's Gas," and their motto is "Delivering warmth. Every day. Every night." I love the picture on this bus of the child, sleeping contentedly as she's warmed by People's Gas.
Love this post. nothing makes me happier than hanging out with people who make me laugh. and the comment about not wanting to read the recipe cause that guy was staring at you actually made me laugh out loud. great stuff melia, and im looking forward to the article you wrote!
Thanks, Danielle! I’m glad the story was funny to someone besides me. 🙂
One note on the picture of the bus: Thanks to my friends Katie and Josh for standing out in the Chicago cold for 10 minutes while I got a good shot. They were glad that I found it amusing, because apparently some of their friends didn’t see what was so funny about it.
Hahaha, you should laugh especially at the silliest things! Love it, such a good reminder that giggling keeps us young and happy. I love the Gmail prank on Darren. My favorite thing to do in college was change my newspaper coworkers’ computer wallpaper or default home page. Personal favorite: the John Stamos Fan Club Web site.
I snicker every month as I make out a check for the People’s Gas that fuels our stove and oven. I can’t believe there are people in this world who DON’T find that amusing. And whoever thought up that ad campaign deserves a raise.
For future reference: when you come across an ad in a magazine that is just annoying the bejeezus out of you, simply “fold” the page back onto itself and hope there’s nothing equally offensive on the other side. That’s my secret to surviving creepy fashion models in “Vogue” and “Vanity Fair”.
I LOVE this post! And I absolutely love your pooptastic humor. I can’t wait to have more candid facebook back and forth conversations that make us both laugh like we’re in middle school again. One of my favorite things is to laugh at absolutely nothing until it becomes difficult to breathe while clutching my stomach, which is a trend of my best friend and I. It’s therapeutic like a good cry, only funnier.
I concur with Mr. Hsu! There is no better feeling than when you are just rounding off one of these gut-busting sessions of laughter at something silly. It’s great even when other people don’t get it, because then you have to try to choke out WHY you’re laughing and get them to see the humor… an enjoyable challenge. You feel relaxed, you feel uplifted, you feel at peace. And you’re smiling!
People’s Gas- hilarious. Giggled out loud.