Sometimes we need a laugh. Sometimes it helps to have a list of the situations where laughter is more likely to happen. With this we can revisit those times of pure mirth or recreate those circumstances to give ourselves a new laugh. Your journal can help in this endeavor.
For one week, write a quick note about what has made you laugh. If you can remember to do it immediately, that would be great. If you have a mobile device or a pocket notebook on you all day, jot down the moment. Otherwise, try to recall at the end of the day what made you laugh.
Jot down the circumstances, location, who was there (if anyone), a certain type of film, a certain performer, a certain type of book. What seems to have triggered the laugh? Was it a joke? Was it a pratfall? Was it that other people in the room were laughing?
For example,
“The baby giggled when we played on the living room carpet today. I found myself laughing as well.”
OR
” I finished that autobiography from Mr. John Doe just now. It was largely sad, but when he referred to members of the invasive press not by their names but by types of insects, I chuckled a bit.”
OR
“After the water runs in the kitchen sink, turn off the faucet. There is still a bit of water in the faucet spray hose. Press it. A spritz comes out. I laughed every time I did that today.”
Over time, you will see a pattern of the types of places and spaces conducive to laughter for you. You can use this list for nostalgia or to recreate the patterns that made you laugh in the first place. However you decide to use your list of laughter, I wish you…
Peace,
Deborah