Laughter Is the Universal Language

by Joyce Shafer

"Laugh, and the world laughs with you..." Maybe instead of the fast-track, we should get on the laugh-track.

Many might argue that love is the universal language, not laughter. Can you look at someone and absolutely know that their thoughts are loving ones? Does everyone look the same when they feel love in its various forms? Not really. You can look at someone laughing and recognize it for what it is. Love is not always "contagious," but laughter often is.

What caused me to think about this is my friend's life partner whom I've known for nearly eight years. There are many good things I could say about him; but as many times as I'd been a guest in their home, he and I never really related. In fact, I'll make this about me and say that I just wasn't able to connect energetically with him...until the night of laughter mentioned in an earlier column, but from a different perspective.

The moment that linked our energies is etched into my mind. I was downstairs when he did something upstairs that sent me into bouts of belly-laughs. When I heard him respond to my laughter with his own, I literally felt the energy click into place. I walked upstairs and over to where he sat, both of us still laughing, and felt a wall between us lift. At that moment, it wasn't intellectual dialogue or commonalities that linked us, it was laughter, the great equalizer. I'm not going to say that we now sit and gab with each other like old friends; but both of us are aware that something changed. My own comfort level around him is far more relaxed.

Book shelves are filled with guides to communicate better with everyone we may interact with, from family members to total strangers. Same for how to find or create common ground. Years back, National Public Radio aired a program where a class of American children and their parents sat in a room with video and audio feed to a similar set-up in the Soviet Union. No one really knew how to start the conversation. Finally, one little boy spoke about how every afternoon when he returned from school, he sat in the kitchen with his mother to enjoy cookies and milk, and talk with her about his day. He asked what "they" did after school. Across the globe, a little boy spoke up and said the same thing. Everyone became immediately aware that "they" were not so different from "us" after all. The conversation became quite animated after that pivotal moment, as they shared stories about day-to-day living and much laughter.
We attempt many methods to connect with the diverse groups we share our planet with because it's not always simple with so many language and cultural (and perceived) differences. Perhaps what we need to do from time-to-time is find a way to laugh together. Difficult to imagine political leaders starting a serious discussion with, say, a Charlie Chaplin film where words are not needed. Maybe laughing for an hour with someone, seeing how much we have and might have in common, may cause both sides to pause before considering harming each other. We know that laughter heals. If we used it more often, we could possibly detoxify our individual bodies, minds, and spirits, as well as our global aspects.

Swami Beyondananda (Steve Bhaerman) recommends people "Have a good laughsitive twice a day..." I think he's onto something.