Learning To Laugh

By: Rick London

There's a myriad of reasons why we laugh and use humor in our lives. Humor goes back to the prehistoric days, or so they say. Since that was a few years before my time (but unfortunately not too many years before my time), I will have to take archaeologists word for this phenomena. I remember loving to laugh as a child. My mom was the joke cracker of our family until I came along and tried in all earnestness to out-perform her. She was a natural and it was impossible. But and making her laugh, was especially fun, as she was a perfectionist in the field of humor.

Humor principles are the same as they once were, in a nutshell, one person's tragedy is another person's comedy, aka slipping on a banana peel, still holds true to a certain degree. But audiences have gotten tougher, savvier, and more demanding, and rightfully they should. We live in a different world than our ancestors. We suddenly woke up in a world that was not quite as predictable as we were taught it would be in grade school. A day doesn't go by that people don't warn us, "We live in dangerous times, ya know."

In the past fifty years we have experienced wars, terrorism, space shuttle tragedies and much more. When I say "our", I mean the fringe side of the baby boomer generation. We are survivors to a certain degree. We have seen more wars than any generation before us. Our response can be to do nothing, or to keep living. Crying is fine, when it is appropriate, and finally relief and maybe some laughter. We have to have laughter as well as tears. It is our soul's "checks and balances" system. Or stay ambivalent. Laughing does not mean we are endorsing negative world events. It is merely a coping mechanism after the tears.

It is easier to cry. And it is ok and healthy to cry. But to leave humor and laughter out of one's life can make it bleak and miserable. People go to therapy. Just because one has a sense of humor about life, does not make them immune from psychological services. But you can be rest assured it can be a deterrent for many. After all laughter, like running or walking is therapeutic. We release endorphins when we laugh, walk or run. Imagine doing all three at the same time.

In my early years as an adult, I worked in my father's real estate business. It was a thriving business, but not a happy one. I was the youngest there, and I felt my duty was to produce laughter, as, it was what I had done as a child. It was a kind, but very uptight group of co-workers. As in so many in most professional sales jobs, though there may be some altruism involved, money, or the bottom line is the focus. Don't get me wrong, I like money as much as the next guy. But I have keenly observed that, though there are plenty of very happy wealthy people, when people get into a business simply to make money, they end up highly disappointed. Hence I found myself surrounded by a lot of disappointed people who seemed to want to laugh, but could find nothing funny.

Finally, after many years of working, but hating the work I felt forced to do, I left the sales, and struck out on my own. I had read a biography on Walt Disney, and how he started DisneylandI loved cartoon humor, still do, am not a great artist, so recruited a team of excellent illustrators and launched my own cartoon. That was a decade ago. I still love doing it. Not only do I get to (occasionally) give myself a laugh, but sometimes others as well. When working at something you love, whether its making people laugh or not, will make you happier inside, and those around you seem happier. And I am better when when my soul feels happy and lighter.

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Rick London is the Internet's most popular offbeat cartoonists. To visit his megastore CLICK HERE

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