Saturday, November 16, 2019

Thanksgiving Thoughts


"Gratitudes"

Thanksgiving is often thought of as the "All American" Holiday, a time to pause with family and friends to reflect on those things and times that have given us the most joy. A list of "Gratitudes" such as:

Grateful are those who have enough to eat
Grateful are those with a safe place to sleep
Grateful are those who feel love in their hearts
Grateful are those who have others that help
Grateful are those who are able to help
Grateful for comfort when things are not easy
Grateful for laughter for health and for healing
Grateful if only for the end of a hard day
Grateful for the days filled with unbridled joy


These are my Gratitudes today, what are yours?




Thanksgiving Emotions and the Helpfulness of Sharing Laughter 


Thanksgiving can also be a time of self-reflection, nostalgia, and for some, heartache. The person who no longer shares our table - through  death, estrangement, or distance. The sharpening of hurts, disasters and tragedies experienced since last Thanksgiving. Personal and global anxiety. Mixed emotions of the history behind our celebration. Who knew that the sharing of a roasted bird, the bird that Benjamin Franklin wanted to declare America's official bird, would, so many years later, be marinated in so many feelings?

And while I might say that we all gather and laugh together for bonding, healing, and comfort, I know that even laughter, can, like that turkey, be stuffed with many sentiments.  And yet, I do encourage you to bond, heal, and find comfort during this time of year. In fact, it is my wish for you that you expand your laughter to other holidays, gatherings, conversations, social media posts, and work life. Laughter is the social bonding survival skill that has been with us since before humans had adequate language.
 

The very act of smiling helps pave the way to cooperation and understanding. In fact, the growing of America was helped tremendously by those of different origins and languages learning to smile at each other, even if they came from older traditions that discouraged smiles and laughter. Shared laughter over a shared meal can go a long way to create bonds of tolerance and understanding with strangers, and, yes, even with your opinionated relatives.With my family and friends, there are just some stories and memories that we can't help repeating during these gatherings because the still make us laugh until we cry.

And because the power of Laughter can both heal and hurt, I encourage you to use your powers for good. It is not always easy, and I have struggled with laughter in my life, at one time only seeing its weaponization. I've written about it several times, here is my recent essay from LinkedIn.

It's the Laughter, We Will Remember


Originally appeared in my Smile Side of Life Laughter & Happiness Club Newsletter. You can subscribe here

Friday, November 15, 2019

A Cautionary Tale About Baby Screen Time

Image by Nadine Doerlé from Pixabay


Everyone knows I am all about tech and new gadgets and social media. I am also aware that people have been scared and concerned about "new" ways to access info since the Gutenberg Bible was published and some clergy thought it was evil for the "rabble" to be able to read the bible on their own. Victorian women were told that too much reading was bad for their brains. The radio took families away from dinner table discussions. In the 50s, comic books and the boob tube were the enemy. And, it is true, that the human brain adapted to incorporate these things into daily life. 

Anyone born after 1995 has grown up with smartphones, and there have been social and behavioral changes resulting from that - much in the way that access to books, newspapers, radio and television created changes. However, in the wake the recent generation's early exposure to "screen time," the intensity and close proximity of small children to phones, tablets, and other electronic things, disturbing physical changes to the brain are being discovered.

 Screen Time Lowers Brain Development in Preschoolers