Laughter is the best therapy. Laughter
works all your facial muscles. Laughter makes you look beautiful. Oft heard
statements by all of us, and from most of us. I don’t disagree at all. I feel
laughter is one of the key outputs from the energy of love. As the water drops
from a height to a turbine to convert mechanical energy which then gets
converted into electrical energy by the generator; the feelings run through the
heart which converts it into love energy, and this love energy is then
converted into laughter energy by the brain. This is what our first instinctive
reaction will make us feel, isn’t it? You feel good, you feel loving and loved,
and you laugh. Is that really so? Or is the brain tricking you here too?
Laughter is a product of brain. The brain
knows what’s good for the body, and creates those actions, those hormones that
work for the benefit of rest of the body, and for the brain itself. Meditation
and laughter are the two best nourishers for the brain. One cleans it, and the
other flushes it with positivity. First make a blank canvass, and then paint it
with vibrant colours. But what makes the brain laugh? That is the question in
current consideration. And it’s not the “lovey-dovey positive energy feel”
always. I have my 10 likely catalysts for the chemicals in the brain to ignite
into the powerful explosion of a laughter. They are:
1. Me Better: This works when a brain
realises that the other brain / s is not as smart as it is, and enjoys that
feeling when it creates a situation that the other brain is not able to fully
comprehend immediately, or the other brain gets confused. Or it talks about a
situation where the notional characters in the situation have a slower or a
confused brain. This is a great source of temporary joy to the temporarily
superior brain.
2 2. Me Same: Here, a brain tries to be at same wavelength as the other brains
in the room. And so when one brain starts laughing, the other brain quickly
responds by laughing back. This strategy is often deployed in absence of
another brain, which becomes the subject of laughter. Or is seen frequently in
people sharing common memories too, or in strong friendly bonding sessions. Me
Same brain catalyst is an infectious catalyst.
3 3. Me Not in That
Situation: How often have you seen people
laugh when somebody slips on a banana peel, or has got a very bad haircut, or
disgustingly sometimes just at plain fat people. Or sometimes just when the
brain realises its escaped from a difficult situation. The brain is relieved at
not being in that awkward or difficult situation, and expresses this vicarious
sense of happiness through laughter.
4. 4. Me Making Me Attractive: This is the classical case of a brain trying to flirt with or
seduce another brain, or make it itself more loving and attractive (people in
love often are seen laughing sheepishly, remember?). The brain knows laughing
will release the much needed chemicals to make them more attractive in those
situations.
5 5. Me Inspired: When somebody comes with a very witty or smart observation,
comment, comparison etc, then laughter is a form of flattery, a form of
appreciation for the smarter brain. The brain gets inspired, gets ready to
improve itself in the fight of survival for the fittest, and in that moment of
inspiration it cannot hide that laughter erupting.
6 6. Me Talking Stupid or
Being Stupid: Not all brains have this
ability. But there are many who adopt this catalyst. It helps to disarm the
other person, to excite the “Me Better” catalyst in the other person, and when
the other person laughs, the originator’s temporarily dumb brain excretes the
“Me Same” catalyst and correspondingly starts laughing.
7 7. Me Complimented: This is a very sophisticated way of accepting compliments. You
don’t look boastful or proud or conceited; you simply look like a good bloke
having a laugh! But make no mistake, no brain does not feel all gleeful and
joyous when hearing compliments, and so this catalyst “kills two birds with one
stone”.
8 8. Me Showing Closeness /
Forgiveness: Often the best of friends play
the worst of pranks on each other. And then both laugh it away. The prankster
friend’s brain wants to test its closeness with the other brain, and the victimised
brain wants to test its scale of forgiveness. And for both the tests, the
decibel of laughter is often the best measure. Often deployed in moments of
confrontation also to diffuse the situation.
9 9. Me Powerful: This is a dangerous catalyst driven by centuries of human evolution:
the desire to be more powerful. So here the brains conspire, and target some
innocent, and bully him and make fun of him, and feel powerful and demonstrate
that sense of alpha male bonding amply visible in the cavemen perhaps when they
went out for hunting. This feeling of power and control and bonding of the
strong, creates a sense of security and well-being that eventually translate
into laughter.
10. Me Innocent / Seeing
Innocence: This is a very beautiful and
probably the purest catalyst deployed by the brain to convert into the laughter
energy. When one realises that he has been very innocent, gullible, vulnerable
in any situation or when he sees the same traits in another person (including a
child), then the brain realises where it originated from, the purest form of
energy – the Cosmic Superpower – and it cannot hide its joy remembering that.
Whatever might be the reason, the motive,
the catalyst - if we can all laugh a bit more, the world will surely be a much
happier place! So keep laughing, and let the brains do what it does best!
