Humor?

I am not a natural humorist, but this month my theme is humor because it will be an out of the box experience for me to explore.

I enjoy a “good” laugh like I enjoy a “good” cry. Both have a way of resetting things inside my brain. But, I tend to have more “good” cries than “good” laughs. 

An ex-brother-in- law once told me that according to him, I take life way too seriously. For the next few years he proceeded to pull off practical jokes, such as making my Volkswagen disappear. But such things as that only made me cry.   

So, I have to say that I am a little unsure, uncertain and a little unsettled about my theme for this month. But I’m trusting that something I’ve read to be true. Once we start to see things that are funny, we’ll see more things that are funny. Once we start looking for humor, we’ll find more and more humor. I guess it’s a little bit like once you buy a new car, you are suddenly made aware that everybody else has the same car as you.

By definition, humor is our capacity for recognizing something funny. Not only that, but we react to things we find funny by laughing. We share our witty ideas with people who we think might appreciate our amusing point of view. And, I’ve heard that people get into funny moods. Something I’ve yet to experience personally. 

We’ve all been created with the necessary physiological parts needed to laugh such as facial and belly muscles. But, unlike talking ourselves into training for a triathlon, marathon or long distance open water swim, we can’t talk ourselves into a good belly laugh. Fake laughter is just that, fake. 

A few days ago on a walk that took me through a local cemetery, I came across a funny sight. Somebody has a sense of humor I thought. The next time I took that same route for a walk, I carried my phone so I could snap a picture of what appears to be Cookie Monster carved out of a bush. 

Why Bother?

Why bother with humor? There is already enough seriousness to my life and most likely yours as well. Maybe together we will be able to lighten up our lives with a laugh or two this month.