Hot Fun in the Summertime: Friends, Laughter and a Rooftop

Think of one of the funniest moments you’ve experienced. OK, don’t make it so hard, just a funny memory. Did you just smile or laugh out loud at the memory? That’s the question, if you remember something funny, do you laugh out loud or does that memory required a shared experience with someone else to laugh out loud? You know, when you’re with a group of people and the sentence starts with, “remember when…” and everyone cracks up.

We’ve heard laughter is the best medicine. Science shows laughing is stress relief. We can watch a funny video along and laugh aloud; maybe even read something and laugh. Lately, I’ve been curious about shared experiences and laughter. Do memories make you laugh out loud or do you need someone else with that memory or someone to tell the anecdote to in order to laugh out loud.

From an evolutionary perspective, laughter is said to socially show it’s safe. You can most likely recall a a time when people laughed at something you didn’t find funny…at all. With reference to social cues, laughter is a way to find “your people.” Science still can’t explain laughter. Just what is it that makes a baby laugh, that full laugh where they kick their legs, get their arms involved. What makes adults laugh so hard they cry.

It’s summer and the quintessential summer experience for me is a balmy evening on a city rooftop. That’s just what I got this week with a group of friends old and new. Two people, a mother and son, told their version of a capsized boat and it was the funniest thing. A couple of days later, two of us laughed hard again about the episode, but at that point, it was a shared experience we both had. It’s the importance of friends and friendship, the shared experience that makes us laugh and reap all the benefits like stress relief, improve immune system, stimulated organs, improved mood and so on. This week, for the northern hemisphere, enjoy the start of summer, appreciate your friends and take note of laughter. Create your soundtrack of summer and may laughter be a part of it.