During the coronavirus sequestering, all jokes will become…inside jokes.
I got that gag off the internet. Feel free to reuse.
If that dad joke didn’t strike your funny bone, then find some other reason to snicker, smile, or smirk. Why make the effort during this gloomy time of crisis? Precisely because it’s a time of crisis. Here are three benefits from introducing a little comedy into your housebound day.
Laughing Bonds You with Your Community
Laughter is a social reaction, occurring most often in groups, within which it promotes bonding, agreement, and affection. Sharing a chuckle reduces tension, which can only be healthy during a time when tolerance of your non-optional housemates may become as rare as hand sanitizer. Humor can also reduce psychological distance, which grows when connections occur across optical fiber rather than in-person interactions.
Maybe begin your next virtual meeting by noting this irony: The Year of the Rat has started with a plague. (More credit to the web. Please recycle responsibly.)
Laughing Puts the Perceived Threat in Context
COVID-19 is real and it can be deadly. It poses a substantial health threat, but that doesn’t mean we can’t put it in context. Laughter can create a subordinating effect – we elevate ourselves and diminish the target of our humor. But there are rules: no bullying, no demeaning, and no inappropriate topics. Put the coronavirus in its place, but be kind to those sharing your place.
And make sure your coronavirus joke is clever and in good taste. Otherwise, it may take people two weeks to get it. (OK, go find a better one.)
Laughing Improves Your Health
Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-battling antibodies. It also releases endorphins and promotes an overall sense of well-being, on top of increasing blood flow, which can help protect against a heart attack. And who needs a heart attack just now?
A hearty chuckle also burns calories, which is particularly helpful now that we can’t go to the gym – or to nail salons, hair salons, waxing centers, and tanning places. It’s about to get ugly out there. We’re about three weeks from knowing everybody’s real hair color. (This one has shown up many places. Have fun – write your own.)
It’s been said that laughter is the best medicine. Actually, a cure and a vaccine would be better medicine just now, but laughter can help in the interim. So be prudent, be careful, share your toilet paper (pre-use), and find a reason to exchange a giggle.
Need something to laugh at? Check out Tom’s latest book, Get the Hell to Work: Humorous Verse about Work & Life, available on Amazon.
