Laughter truly is the best medicine

“A joyful heart is good medicine” Proverbs 17:22

Humor holds the power to heal. Humor that is genuine comes from a sense of security, and joy. It flows from the ability to laugh at oneself, with others, and to find a joyful perspective in the struggles and inconsistencies of life.

Humor is defined as “the quality of being amusing, a state of mind”. Science supports the truth of this verse from Proverbs and states that laughter is indeed good medicine. Some of the documented health benefits of laughter include: it stimulates your organs with oxygen, relieves stress, improves the immune system, elevates mood and even serves as a natural pain reliever(http:// www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/stress-management/ in-depth/stress-relief/art-20044456).

The truth of this Proverb came to the forefront of my mind this week as we continued to support Johanna in healing from this most recent surgery. We also experienced first hand this science in action as laughter helped to heal our family.

I share these heavy, hopefully inspiring stories in this column and I sometimes forget that unless you really know me or follow my posts, you could be left shaking your head and wondering how the hell I was going to get through this one. I wonder that myself — every day.

While I was reading the kind comments and well wishers and viewing the “shares” of last week’s column on Facebook, I was held up in bed with a virulent flu that knocked me out for 24 hours and kept me low for most of this week. In the midst of this shut-down, my young adult kids rose up to welcome their sister back into life on the North Fork. They are such a great help with Johanna. My daughters are trained to assist in caring for Johanna’s medical and personal needs. They also keep her up to date on her social media and serve as her personal fashion consultants. Then there is the unique gift of my son, David. Dave works as one of the managers of Love Lane Kitchen in Mattituck. When she is feeling well, Dave takes Johanna to the Kitchen to fold napkins, wash windows and enjoy lunch or her favorite breakfast order of pancakes. He is also a professional photographer and I love his work. As a writer, I see his work as poetry. He speaks volumes with a single picture.

In addition, David has a great sense of humor. Now sometimes, I don’t like his sense of humor or his word choice. But we work it out. After discovering that yelling at a 26-year-old works even less than it did when he was 12, I decided to choose my words wisely. When I am unimpressed with his sense of humor or choice of words, I just make the Sign of the Cross. This gesture usually brings a smile and an apologetic nod and the negative humor and language come to abrupt halt. However, David’s true and authentic humor, like his photography, springs from his unique perspective on the world. He is a deep and thoughtful person and when he shares his humorous view of life, I just have to laugh.

Johanna has gleaned much from all of my kids’ perspectives on life. From David in particular, she has learned to laugh at the inconsistencies of life. As I shared last week, this past surgery and the open wound on Johanna’s head was a tough one to deal with. As everyone pitched in, Dave offered his gift of humor.

It all began on Monday morning while Johanna was sitting at the breakfast table having her morning coffee. David looked at Johanna and said, “Jo, you’re wearing that bandage quite well.” She gave him the tilted eyebrow and half smile as she took another sip. Then I saw the wheels turning in Dave’s eyes as he left the room. The next thing I knew he came to the kitchen with a Q-tip and his camera. When he handed the Q-tip to Johanna, they both started laughing and then we all started laughing as we realized that it bore a striking resemblance to Jo’s head. The laughter and the chatty conversations at the kitchen table continued long after I crawled back to bed with my tea to heal in the quiet of my bed. As I drifted back to sleep, peals of laughter echoed from kitchen.

Later that day, Johanna bounded into my room with a cell phone and a bright smile across her face. Jo showed me the first of many Facebook posts that she and David created, entitled “Who Wore It Better?” The humorous posts compared Johanna to famous movie characters who had some type of large head gear. The pictures were shared on Facebook and on a photo blog that David created for Johanna. They worked on it for days, setting up poses amidst many laughs. David came up with an idea and then he would show the picture to Johanna to see if she agreed. Then they would take the pictures and post them.

On Thursday, I took Jo back to the surgeon and he removed the dressing. The wound was healing but still requires more grafting to be scheduled in a few weeks. The surgeon placed a light piece of coated gauze on the wound with some antibiotic ointment, encouraging me to let the air help it to heal.

When we came home later that evening, Johanna and I were exhausted. David and my husband greeted us. When Johanna came in the door, David gave her a big hug as she showed him her crazy matted hair and the deep wound in her head that peeked out from beneath the gauze. As they hugged, David told Jo that her crazy hair reminded him of another picture and the two of them set to work, laughing as they planned their next shoot. The stress and pain of a long day and the apprehension of the next steps melted into healing laughter.

Laughter is good medicine. It keeps life in perspective. Joy and laughter offer us the hope of healing, whether or not our circumstances change. Laughter brings a smile to our faces, a glisten in our eyes and it lightens the heart. If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s Dave and Jo’s project: http://johannainthemovies.tumblr.com/ I hope you have a good laugh. It’s the best medicine for our body and our soul.


Eileen Benthal is a writer, speaker and wellness coach with a B.A. in Theology from Franciscan University. She and her husband Steve live in Jamesport and have four young adult children. Their youngest, Johanna, is a teenager with special needs. Eileen can be reached at FreeIndeedFreelance.com.