I was listening to an episode of RadioLab about Laughter recently. As usual, they did a fascinating job of covering the topic from multiple angles. One item stood out for me, though.
They said laughter is a social thing, and that people don’t laugh alone. They don’t mean when you’re home alone watching Letterman, or goofy YouTube videos. In those cases, there’s still an external source involved. Their point was that without that, people don’t laugh alone — it’s a social thing, and we laugh in the company of others.
But that’s where they’re wrong. Or maybe I’m weird. Because I DO laugh alone. Do you?
Here’s a good example: The other day, it was a beautiful morning outside, and I was driving through the desert. I had the roof down, tunes on, sun was shining, weather was perfect, and I had the winding back road to myself. It was so gorgeous, and so free, that a wave of incredible happiness came over me, and I had to laugh out loud. It wasn’t social (I didn’t bring imaginary friends that morning). It wasn’t something on the radio. It was internal — joy at a beautiful day that came bubbling to the surface as a laugh.
So that’s my question, and it seems important — do you laugh alone?
I’d hate to think there’s a segment of people who don’t get this same bubbling happiness, because surely everyone deserves to feel that wonderful sometimes — so happy you just have to burst out laughing, even if you’re alone!
I’d love to hear from anybody out there, so feel free to comment. Please, say you do too, say it’s not true…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Surely it’s not just me, right? Or is it one of those things that happens but you’re not supposed to admit it, like drinking alone? Maybe I’ll go have a glass of wine, too.
When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever, and now that I am fifty-eight, perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing else has worked.”
~ John Steinbeck
I know what he means! That urge to be someplace else strikes me often.
No, not THAT change! I’m just changing back into my alter ego, “tour leader”. Though I run a travel company, most of my time is not spent personally leading trips. Most of the time, I’m working on product development, marketing and promotion, processes, finances, systems, etc. — everything that’s involved with running Adventurous Wench. But a few times a year, I get to go out and lead a tour myself!
This American Heritage Dictionary definition of metamorphosis seems to fit:
A marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function.”
It’s time to don some logo wear (appearance), put on my best smiling host attitude (character), get a good workout hiking trails and hefting bags (condition), and show and tell our guests all about the wonders of Arizona (function).
Sure warning signs “the change” is coming include:
Talking to imaginary people. Not out loud, just in my head. Instead of just seeing something for myself, I mentally start telling other people about it, which is a very different way of processing the world.
Remembering various tidbits of buried knowledge about people and places.
Feeling a need to go double check the years certain events occurred.
Alternating between “yay — I get to go on a trip and meet some cool people“, and “geez, I have so much work to do, how can I afford to leave my desk that long?“
Once I’m in “the season”, then it’s not a big deal. Switching back & forth frequently doesn’t seem like anything, since both roles are still fairly near the surface. But tomorrow is our first trip of the season that I’m personally leading, so the “tour leader” has been dormant for awhile. She’s been awakening the past couple of days, and tomorrow morning she’ll be ready to go!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We do Sedona tours for women a few times a year, and I frequently lead these myself, since it’s practically my own back yard. The weather looks perfect, and it should be a wonderful weekend!
In case you haven’t discovered Radiolab, it’s a fascinating podcast, exploring a variety of subjects (like memory, time, or life) from different angles. Very well done, always intriguing and surprising, and one of my favorites. Highly recommended.
My all-time favorite (if the concept of “all-time” even makes sense, but that’s a different episode!) is Greatest hits of ancient garbage. Very cool!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The good news is I have a lot of very safe memories! Now what was I going to say?
On arrival at Atlanta’s airport, I was pleased to find signs telling me the walk to baggage claim was 4000 feet, or about 3/4 mile. After sitting cooped up on a plane, a brisk walk was a great way to get the blood moving. Why not start with exercise in the airport? (Don’t worry — there’s a train if you don’t feel the same!)
It was late by the time I checked in to the hotel, so I decided to have room service and get a little work done before turning in. (I admit — I adore room service! It dates back to when I used to be a room service waitress, and SO envied those people getting breakfast delivered.) Times have changed though, and it’s amazing now that one chef salad, no drink, adds up to $25 by the time all the extra charges are added! So the Atlanta diet plan = raiding the minibar in the morning, since I balk at paying another $25 for a continental breakfast.
Tip: When you’re planning a trip, it pays to check the price of add-ons too, when you’re comparing hotel prices. Adding $17 parking + $15 internet + $20 breakfast makes a big difference in the price.
For this trip, I’m here for a conference with special rates, so it makes sense to stay at this hotel. In many other circumstances, I’d look elsewhere. Lots of other hotels have free internet and breakfast included, and you’d avoid that little “ouch” I always feel when I have to pay $15 to use the internet!
My trip back from Belize took about 24 hours longer than expected, but that wasn’t such a bad thing. In fact, in a way it made me feel good about people.
The trip started out great — even ahead of schedule! For a 9am puddle-jumper from Ambergris Caye to Belize City, I showed up an hour early. (These travel habits are pretty ingrained.) So I was a bit surprised when I arrived at 8am, and they said the flight was boarding in 3 minutes! Yes, this teeny tiny plane boarded an hour ahead of time. Turns out on Easter Sunday they were running multiple planes as fast as they could get them loaded. So we were off for the 17-minute flight to Belize City. So far, so good…
The problem appeared a few hours later, when it was time for the international flight to leave for the US. That’s when we discovered there was a fuel shortage in Belize. First, they said it was just the international airport. Later they said it was the entire region, including both Belize and Guatemala.
Since there wasn’t enough fuel for them to gas up our plane, we had to make a detour on the way back, and stop in Cancun for a fill-up. What with one thing and another, we got to Charlotte so late that even though I’d planned a 2.5 hour layover, I was just clearing customs when my connecting flight pulled away from the gate.
What made me happy was how well the passengers took it. A very high percentage of people on the plane missed connections, and because of the late hour, most of them (including me) were stranded for the night. Yet, people didn’t get too upset. Nobody freaking out, getting angry, or yelling at the airline staff. Everyone took it in stride, even joking about it.
It certainly helped that US Airways provided hotels and meals for stranded passengers. It might have been a bit different if everyone was looking at sleeping on the airport floor.
But I’m wondering how much was due to the fact we were coming back from a relaxing tropical trip. Did that mellow everybody out? How different would it have been if this was a flight from New York to LA that was diverted and delayed overnight? Something tells me the stress level would have been a bit higher!
That mellow tropical feel sure was more pleasant.
And why not? Stressing over it would have done no good at all. Sometimes you’ve just got to let go, and go with the flow. They’ll get you there as soon as they can. That’s life, and it’s all part of the adventure.
Americans are now deciding whether the wife of an ex-president should become our country’s next president. Perhaps we should ask Argentina, where they have a long history of powerful presidents’ wives.
#1 - Eva Peron (Evita) was the 2nd wife of Argentine President Juan Peron. She went from rural poverty, to life as an actress in Buenos Aires, to wife of the president. As first lady, she was hugely poplar and influential. She founded the Eva Peron Foundation, that built homes for the poor and provided free health care. She was a vocal proponent of women’s rights to vote, and helped make that happen. She founded the first large female political party in Argentina, with 500,000 members. She never took the presidency herself, but she was officially named “Spiritual leader of the nation”. When Evita died of cancer in 1952, at the young age of 33, the country went into mourning, and many people around the country still remember her with love.
Power ****, Popularity = *****, Goodness = *****
#2 - Isabel Peron was Juan Peron’s 3rd wife. In between wives, he had been deposed in a coup and exiled. Isabel was a nightclub dancer (Juan was obviously a fan of the arts), who met him in Panama. They returned to Argentina in 1973, and Juan Peron was re-elected President, with Isabel as his Vice-President. When Juan died in 1974, she succeeded him, and became Argentina’s first woman president. Unlike Evita, Isabel was neither good nor popular. She invested a lot of power in an associate Lopez Riga– a fortune teller, and founder of the Triple A death squads, and the economy faltered during her time in office. Soon the military removed her in another coup, and exiled her to Spain. In 2007 she was arrested in Spain, charged with the “disappearance” of people in Argentina during her presidency. It is now believed that the Triple A alone murdered at least 600 people.
Power = ***, Popularity = *, Goodness = *
#3 - Cristina Fenandez de Kirchner is the current Argentine President, elected in late 2007 to succeed her husband Nestor Kirchner. He came to power during an economic crisis in Argentina, vowing to bring “a cold wind of change”. He restructured the country’s debts, revalued the currency, and realigned their policies, rejecting Free Trade. Though many were skeptical, the country had an economic turnaround. When he decided not to run for re-election, his approval ratings were 60%. His wife Cristina won the election, and Nestor is now First Gentleman in Argentina. How will she do? It’s too early to say, but we do know that just days into her term, investigations began into a potential scandal involving a suitcase full of $800,000 in Venezuelan oil money intended for her campaign. We will be watching with interest.
We’ll be back in Argentina in early 2009 for our women’s trip to Patagonia. Hopefully their latest woman president will be doing a great job. Who knows what will be happening here in the US?
They said laughter is a social thing, and that people don’t laugh alone. They don’t mean when you’re home alone watching Letterman, or goofy YouTube videos. In those cases, there’s still an external source involved. Their point was that without that, people don’t laugh alone — it’s a social thing, and we laugh in the company of others.
On arrival at Atlanta’s airport, I was pleased to find signs telling me the walk to baggage claim was 4000 feet, or about 3/4 mile. After sitting cooped up on a plane, a brisk walk was a great way to get the blood moving. Why not start with exercise in the airport? (Don’t worry — there’s a train if you don’t feel the same!) 
