The Power of Silliness

I am becoming an old person.  The years are stacking up.  I suppose retirement does that by creating an awareness that the times are changing and there is nothing that can change that.  Life is serious and that seriousness is being seen and experienced through younger and fresher eyes.  Generations experience life differently.  This transition into the realm of elderliness becomes more obvious with each passing day.  I and my generation are now becoming categories in Trivial Pursuit and the “do you remember” questions asked at the end of the nightly news.  I am becoming a relic . . . and old relic at that. 

This is not anything that has been pointed out by the masses.  We, there are those smart aleck people who relish the old age putdowns when they have the chance . . . but for the most part it is more subtle.  When going out to play with the grandchildren, I hear my children say, “Be careful with Papa.”  A reminder that Papa is getting older, slower, and more breakable.  Wouldn’t want to break Papa!  “You, okay?” is another subtle reminder I get whenever I moan or groan with any movement I make.  Most of the time I am just moaning and groaning because it is expected at my age and I do not want to disappoint.  Gotta play the part whether there is a reason for the moaning or groaning.  The children are gracious in their subtle hints at my movement into being old.

 

It is not like I am not aware of this transition into old age.  I may be old, but I get the hints.  The biggest culprit is my body.  It seems that arthritis and its buddy rheumatoid like to play tag with the joints and muscles in my hands daily.  Sometimes they even expand their playfulness and wander up my arms to camp out in my elbows.  Stamina isn’t what it used to be.  The heart and lungs rebel more than they used to.  They tend to send reminders to slow down and don’t overdo it.  The heart is especially adamant in letting me know that if it goes, so goes everything else.  Eyesight is fading . . . we now have a drive in size television.  Hearing is following closely . . . thank goodness the big screen television comes with closed captioning.  I’m not complaining about the hearing going as I am discovering that a lot of what people want to tell me really doesn’t matter to me.  Memory is staking a claim in the race to physical disintegration of my body.  I catch myself often forgetting little things here and there.  Which has actually been wonderful as it has provided multiple epiphanies once I remember what I forget.  A whole lot of “oh, yeah” moments.

 

So, yes, I am joining the ranks of the elderly.  I am assuming my place in the geriatric choir where we sing lots of songs from the 1970s—Beatles, Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, CSNY—instead of the hymns of our parents.  I am old, but I ain’t dead yet.  Nope, I’m experiencing a “Merlin”.

 

In T.H. White’s Arthurian legend, The Once and Future King, the child Arthur is taught and mentored by the old wizard Merlin. As the story begins Merlin has reached the peak of his age and has begun his descent down the mountain of age.  As the child Arthur grows older each year, Merlin grows younger—he lives backwards, starting as an old man and aging toward infancy.  I have entered the “Merlin” stage of my life . . . I regress.

 

What a wonderful gift it has been to backtrack and rediscover the beauty and joy of life that have been repressed by the duties, responsibilities, and expectations of adulthood.  There is much to re-learn, re-experience, and re-grasp.  Too often I forget this gift . . . this regression.  Yet there are those who remind me.  Where my children focus on my journey of aging, my grandchildren see the other side.  They see the gift of my youth shining through the wrinkles and cracks of old age.  They recognize the “child” in me and encourage that “child” to come out and play.  After spending a week with two of my visiting grandchildren it is more obvious that the “child” in me is emerging.

 

And the “child” rejoices.

 

The greatest gift revealed from my childhood has been silliness.  Garrison Keillor recently wrote in his weekly column: “Silliness is essential to human life, it’s proof that life can be joyful, we need not die from indifference.”  As my grandchildren have told me many times, “Papa, you are silly.”

 

They are right.  I am silly.  A week with my grandchildren amplified the silliness often hidden from the judgmental eyes of adults in my life.  From discovering rocks and their hidden identities waiting to be released with a little paint.  Drawing pictures with chalk releasing a world others cannot see on the sidewalk before them.  Making joyful and beautiful music with a kazoo that others claim is noise.  Drawing pirates, Easter bunnies, flowers, caterpillars, and butterflies on windows with markers.  Basking in popsicles.  Waging battles against unseen foes with all the sound effects of the old Batman series . . . boom, bam, wham, and POW!  Wearing two different colored socks.  Blowing bubbles in the milk glass.  Constantly giggling, laughing . . . and doing it some more . . . at really bad jokes, puns, and riddles.  Teasing.  A whole lot of silliness.

 

And it was joyful!  A celebration of life.  A wonderful dance of love . . . and if you have ever seen me dance, you’d know silliness.  For a while nothing else mattered.  There wasn’t the drama of a crazy orange person in the White House.  No worries about inflation and rising gas prices.  No thoughts about war and injustice.  No pictures of meanness or cruelty.  No fussing and fighting.  No darkness blocking the sun. Only blissfulness and joy of embracing the silliness of childhood and life . . . and it was good.  For this reminder I am thankful.

 

I may be seen as old and elderly by the world around me, but I regress.  As I regress, the “child” I once was with all the dreams and hope that youth can hold comes tumbling towards me.  It is a gift . . . a wondrous, beautiful gift of life that reminds me that I am loved and cared for.  I may be getting old, but I am not dead or forgotten.  Nope, I’m still here and I am . . . silly.  Silly and enjoying life.  And it is good . . . really good.

 

Life is pretty dark and tough right now.  We are all experiencing our age in these difficult times.  It is frustrating and scary.  Dark.  Because of this I encourage you to pause, find a child, and spend some time getting silly.  It is good for the soul.  It will help you to see and remind you that life is good . . . life is beautiful . . . that it is joyful.  Silliness reveals what the eyes cannot see but what we need to see.  As Johnny Nash once sang:

 

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone

I can see all obstacles in my way

Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind

 

It’s gonna be a bright, bright

Sun-shiny day

It’s gonna be a bright, bright

Sun-shiny day

 

I think I can make it now, the pain is gone

All the bad feelings have disappeared

Here is the rainbow I’ve been prayin’ for

 

It’s gonna be a bright, bright

Sun-shiny day

 

Look all around, there’s nothin’ but blue skies

Look straight ahead, nothin’ but blue skies

 

The power of silliness . . . the power of growing old.

 

A Political Litmus Test--Laughter

One of the greatest joys in my life is sitting around with my grandchildren and laughing.  Whenever we are together, we laugh a lot.  It makes me feel good.  Laughter has always been a big part of my life . . . I like to laugh.  As a pastor I told every congregation I served, that it wasn’t worship unless we laughed at least once in every gathering.  Laughter is holy.  Laughter is important.  Consider these quotes:

 

“A day without laughter is a day wasted.” – Charlie Chaplin

 

“It is cheerful to God when you rejoice or laugh from the bottom of your heart.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

 

“There is little success where there is little laughter.” – Andrew Carnegie

 

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” – Victor Borge

 

“If you wish to glimpse inside a human soul and get to know someone, don’t bother analyzing his ways of being silent, of talking, of weeping, of seeing how much he is moved by noble ideas; you will get better results if you just watch him laugh. If he laughs well, he’s a good person.” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky

 

“The person who can bring the spirit of laughter into a room is indeed blessed.” – Bennett Cerf

 

“People who stop laughing are always the ones who get hurt.” – Josh Sundquist

 

“Laughter is carbonated holiness.” – Anne Lammott

 

“Carbonated holiness . . .” says Anne Lammott.  Who doesn’t want a little carbonated holiness in their life?  I know that I do and so do many others.  That is why I am confused at what I am seeing and hearing in the presidential campaign.  According to one party, laughter is a sign of mental illness or insanity.  The other party is proclaiming that it is a sign of a healthy and whole individual.  Whatever, laughter has become a hot topic in politics since there are no serious issues that the candidates should be focusing on . . . inflation, immigration, climate change, abortion, education, taxation.  No . . . the “hot” issue right now is “laughter”.  It seems that the Republicans find it strange, crazy, insulting, and weird that the Democrat candidate, Kamala Harris likes to laugh.  The Democrats are quick to point out that their candidate never laughs . . . even though he believes himself to be a “funny guy . . . the funniest . . . the best” . . . he doesn’t laugh.

 

Of course, all this posturing about laughter makes me laugh.  My gut reaction is to proclaim, “Come on, guys!  Laughter!  Really?”  When did laughter become political?

 

As I stated, I enjoy laughter.  It is a step into holiness and wholeness.  For me, it can be sacred.  It is just plain old fun.  Nothing beats a good belly laugh.  Shirley MacClain stated: “A person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.”  If you know me, you know that there is a lot to laugh about.  It is probably why the grandchildren and I laugh so much . . . Papa is a character!  Besides, I agree with Victor Borge when he says, “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.”  And, whatever you want to call your “higher power” calls us to connect, to love, and care for one another.  Laughter marks such holiness.

 

I guess if “laughter” is going political, then I vote in favor of laughter.  I like a person, political or not, who laughs.  Kamala Harris laughs.  She has been known to laugh at herself in the midst of a speech.  She will laugh during press conferences.  She laughs in interviews.  The woman loves to laugh and apparently, she sees much in life that is humorous.  And she comes by it naturally.  The women she grew up around—especially her mother—would sit around the kitchen, drinking coffee, telling big stories with big laughs.  They loved to laugh.  Laughter is a part of who she is.  I like that.

 

Kamala might be onto something.  Laughter is good for us.  It is the best medicine, and it doesn’t cost us anything.  The benefits of laughter:

       ·        It relaxes the whole body.

·        It boosts the immune system—it decreases stress hormones and increases immune and infection-fighting antibodies.

·        It triggers the release of endorphins—the body’s natural feel-good chemicals.

·        Protects the heart—increases the function of the heart, protects against heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems.

·        Laughter burns calories—10 to 15 minutes of laughing a day can burn approximately 40 calories—enough to lose three or four pound a year.

·        It lightens your anger’s load—diffuses anger and conflict.

·        It might even help you live longer—studies have shown that those who laugh live longer than those who don’t.

·        It keeps you more mentally healthy.

Norman Cousins said that was what got him through cancer . . . what kept him going: “Hearty laughter is a good way to jog internally without having to go outdoors.”  I think that is the kind of exercise we can all appreciate.  Apparently, the way Kalama likes to laugh, she is going to live a long, healthy life.

It is said that people who laugh are: optimistic and positive outlook on life; have a sense of humor that sees the lighter side of life; relaxed and easygoing—have less stress; social and outgoing; creative and imaginative; emotionally expressive—are comfortable expressing their emotions; able to see the absurd; and, have a healthy coping mechanism.  People who laugh seem to be more relaxed and accepting of life as it is . . . they are ready to be amazed . . . they are curious.  They have fewer prejudices and can laugh about themselves.  They are positive, live in the moment, and value spontaneity.  They are fun to be around.

 

I like that.

 

That is the sort of person I could see leading people . . . leading a nation.  I think one of the issues that Richard Nixon had when running for president against John F. Kennedy was his public image.  When he and Kennedy were scheduled to debate on television—which were mostly black-and-white, Nixon fretted and practically refused to debate.  He did not look like the happy-go-lucky, smiling Kennedy.  In comparison, Nixon looked like a gruff mean man.  He struggled with that his whole time in public service.  He saw that his image was a minus when it came to the public and who was more likeable . . . someone who smiled and laughed was more popular. 

 

Kamala likes to smile.  She likes to laugh.  She seems to see life as something to embrace, explore, and enjoy.  She looks like fun.  Her opponent, on the other hand, does not.  Her opponent rarely laughs, but more often than not, when he does laugh it is usually at someone or at someone else’s expense.  He comes across as always angry . . . always grumpy . . . always like he has a burr in his saddle.  He does not project a whole lot of positivity.  He comes across as a “downer” . . . sucks the life out of the party.   And I think he knows it.

 

That is why “laughter” has suddenly become a part of the campaign . . . a part of the strategy.  The grumpy one and his party have deemed laughter to be a “bad” thing.  They have proclaimed it to be a weakness . . . a sign of mental illness.  Because Kamala laughs, he has claimed that she is “crazy and nuts . . . a lunatic.”  Suddenly laughter is seen as a negative.  People who laugh cannot be taken seriously.  The arguments are silly.  It is enough to make one . . . wait a minute . . . LAUGH.

 

This is crazy stuff.

 

If the election is going to be based on “laughter” . . . damn the important stuff . . . I am going to lean towards the candidate that laughs.  Kamala is a good person . . . she laughs.  “If you wish to glimpse inside a human soul and get to know someone, don’t bother analyzing his ways of being silent, of talking, of weeping, of seeing how much he is moved by noble ideas; you will get better results if you just watch him laugh. If he laughs well, he’s a good person,” writes Fyodor Dostoyevsky.  I am leery of the candidate who can’t laugh.  Poet Robert Frost writes, “If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.”

 

All this political posturing over laughter makes me think . . . who is insane?  The one who laughs or the one who never laughs . . .

 

. . . the whole thing makes me laugh.  Besides, I side with joy every time.  It’s the holy way.