The Humor Vaccine

 

It was more than a year ago that we found ourselves in a peculiar lockdown with many unknowns.

A colleague at my office reached out to me with a suggestion we send words of encouragement to the now-disjointed staff.

And so it began: The Daily Jab.

Now pared down to a less frequent occurrence, the “jab” has made attempts to soften the edges of a scary and long pandemic.

I looked back on the jabs from a year ago and thought you might like to read the one on humor.

With some fine-tuning and a few updates, here we go.

Humor is the antitoxin to sadness – and we’ve all had more than our share of grief.

Please, let’s not go it alone.

With over a year of restrictions, cancelled events and masking up, we’ve all become travelers on a journey we never signed up for.

So many detours, too many roadblocks. Our resilience has been tested and found stronger, yet we are a bit bedraggled and road-weary.

Laughter, however, knows no boundaries; it refuses to be contained or dispersed in measured doses.

Laughter spills out everywhere, with little regard for policy and procedure.

How lovely is that?

Humor is an audacious display of endurance.

Laughter is the music of saying, “I care, and I want to see your smile.”

Laughter is a generous glass of mineral water: bubbly, effervescent and delightfully hydrating!

The memes and jokes floating around are surely a healthy antidote to boredom: a ripple of laughter becomes a hug of affirmation; a giddy embrace of joy.

Someone once said laughter is “jogging on the inside”. That’s a good strategy as we continue figuring out how to keep ourselves healthy while leaning toward normal days.

What we need most these days is a hug.

Recently I listened to a podcast about a woman who just wanted to be held. It broke my heart.

Until we can go back to our social norms of meaningful connection, let’s continue sending ripples of humor into the unknown.

Let’s stay connected in playful, childlike ways.

 

 

A good belly laugh releases endorphins, and those are natural inhibitors of pain.

Even a quiet chuckle gives you an upswing of wellbeing for the moment.

Moment by moment – that’s how we’ll continue navigating this foggy voyage, this weird interval in history.

Because, you know what?

We are pathfinders. We’re doing this together, this off-kilter Covid dance, and we will emerge strong. We’ll gather like superheroes at a comic con jubilee: caped up, compassionate and absolutely intrepid.

Infectious humor is the vaccine. Laughter inoculates against despair.

It’s available in unlimited supply. Organically dispatched through real time, Zoom, phone calls, texts and other passageways toward human beings.

Including elbow bumps and rogue hugs. Especially the hugs.

We’re all in need of a boost.

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” 

>Victor Borge, comedian/pianist

 

 

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