*Quick Update* I am currently working on a series, so in the meantime, I will be uploading shorter posts to maintain my pace and productivity.
The other day, one of my friends remarked that I laugh at the smallest things. For a moment, I felt a bit self-conscious. Are people not taking me seriously? Am I not taking life seriously?
However, I brushed her statement off lightheartedly and was only reminded of it after I watched a TED talk by two professors, Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, who teach humor as a skill.
Humor brings people together when we can chuckle at something we’ve all clearly done with a slightly guilty conscience. When it’s #relatable. When a friend or a comedian voices a thought you’ve briefly entertained in the shower. When it unexpectedly brightens a heavy morning lecture. But, you see, humor is a funny thing (do you see what I did there? anyway) It can also divide people when it’s applied in inappropriate situations. When the joke cuts down on a quality of someone that cannot be controlled, such as intelligence or physicality. When it’s funny to me but not to you.
As an answer to my questions from earlier, Aaker and Bagdonas suggest, “The balance of gravity and levity gives power to both.” They cited the psychological principle of the priming effect, which states that our behavior and thoughts are influenced by a certain prior stimulus, even without any conscious awareness. In the simplest terms, we see the way we expect. Being humorous and laughing (with discretion) does not take weight from your presence. Rather, approaching life with a smile presents you as more welcoming, and makes the good moments feel more precious and the tough times worth bearing.
Even if your smile doesn’t quite reach your eyes at first, I hope we begin to greet each day with a little bit more positivity. Next time – and I assure you, this will happen – someone swerves into your lane without signal or when you make a mistake on an assignment, think about this. Pause before resorting to directing anger at them or yourself, and laugh it off. It’s part of appreciating the little things, and this is a step towards making the wonderful little things into large, impactful catalysts of growth.
Watch the TED talk:
As Written by Lois 