It is said that young children laugh as much as 100 to 200 times a day, compared to a large majority of adults who only get zero to several daily laughs. Yet laughter is good not only for the body but also for the soul and Spirit. It's interesting to me how people get serious when talking about spirituality or religion forgetting how good it is to laugh. It's all too often that humor is put out to pasture during "spiritual" discussion time. I believe that humor is a gift of Spirit. The physical act of laughter opens us up by bringing down our walls, allowing us to receive. I often find myself being overtly humorous around my spiritual community just as I would anywhere. I don't use humor that diminishes anyone but there are things that come out of my mouth that get some serious eyebrow raising going on! I'm sure some folks think me irreverent when I'm sharing some off-color observations. I often find that the folks I'm talking with recognize the truth in the observational humor though but choose not to deliver it themselves. Perhaps I am unconsciously elected to be the deliverer! Now, there's something to muse over. Anyhow, here's a favorite observation joke of mine:
HOW ENLIGHTENED ARE YOU?
IF....
If you can live without caffeine,
If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining,
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can ignore a friend's limited education and never correct him or her,
If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend,
If you can face the world without lies and deceit,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
If you can honestly say that deep in your heart you have no prejudice against creed, color, religion, gender preference, or politics,
--Then you have almost reached the same level of spiritual development as your dog!
Years ago, about 1993, I met a very funny lady named Vanda Mikoloski. I had been doing a theatre show with her brother Pavel and met her out one night after one of the shows. Pavel and I had become fast friends and he insisted I needed to meet her. I had a great time hanging with Vanda that night. I just hung on and rode her wave of energy. It was a blast! Well...fast forward to 2008. Vanda had gone back to doing stand up comedy but now focusing on spirituality and religion. The Center of Spiritual Living in Seattle invited her to perform her show in the new Celebration Hall in the fall of 2008. Now, I had seen the posters for the show around the campus but it wasn't until I saw her that I realized I knew her! What a great night and a hilarious show it was! Vanda illustrates so perfectly for me how humor and spirituality are a team. She is living proof of the law of attraction and reminds me that some of the most spiritual people I know are indeed the funniest!
I've attached a video link below of an interview with Vanda and parts of her "Enlighten Up" show. This is not from her show I saw in Seattle but nonetheless you can see how she blends humor and spirituality.
Hopefully this will remind all of us to be our "funny" selves more often!
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