Category Archives: Love

The Power of Nonsense – How Laughter Makes Life Better

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»Nonsense wakes up the brain cells. And it helps develop a sense of humor, which is awfully important in this day and age. Humor has a tremendous place in this sordid world. It’s more than just a matter of laughing. If you can see things out of whack, then you can see how things can be in whack.« ~ Dr. Seuss

Laughter as a Survival Instinct

This science of mirth is no laughing matter, but it is wonderfully amusing. We’ve studied laughter, it is its own science called gelotology. Laughter helps us socially, mentally and physically. It has evolved for good reason. Here’s why:

»It’s time to take humor seriously, and seriousness humorously.« ~ Swami Beyondananda

The philosopher John Morreall believes that people first laughed as a sign of relief after they were exposed to danger and then shared a collective sigh as that danger passed. Some researchers are trying to figure out if primates did their own form of stand-up. This subject has been scrutinized for centuries, with people trying to figure out just what makes something funny, and how the tickled fancy supports human beings in their evolutionary process. Many say it is an instinctual survival tool, and not the cursory response to a razor sharp wit. Surely, if children can deliver peels of laughter after hearing a soldier in worn-torn Afghanistan pass gas, it must serve some greater purpose.

»I wanna live. I don’t wanna die. That’s the whole meaning of life: not dying! I figured that shit out by myself in the third grade.« ~ George Carlin, Comedian

»A sense of humor – is a needed armor. Joy in one’s heart and some laughter on one’s lips is a sign that a person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life.« ~ Hugh Sidey, Journalist

Laughter as a Community Builder

Laughter is the way we bond with one another. Laughter is contagious, and so are the bonds that are formed among people who laugh. We usually feel closer to those we’ve shared a laugh or two with. It doesn’t even need to be expressed verbally. Charlie Chaplin made a whole career out of making people laugh with just his expressions. Surely the audiences who watched his black and white films felt closer to one another.

»I’ve always though that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, ain’t that the truth!« ~ Quincy Jones, Musician

Laughter Cures the Sick

When we feel a heart-felt chuckle, it can cure a panoply of ills. Laughter lowers cortisol levels (which are linked to all sorts of stress-related diseases including heart disease and high blood pressure.) Getting the giggles also increases the antibodies in your blood, which boosts the immune system so we can more easily evade bacteria, viruses and parasites.

In a recent study, laughter was found to boost the immune system by as much as 40 percent! In the study women watched funny films in one group and dull boring films in another. When the films were completed, researchers took samples of the women’s killer cells, our natural disease fighting cells, and mixed them with cancer cells to see what would happen. The women who had laughed out loud in the films had much healthier immune systems, capable of even destroying cancer cells, than the women who had watched some boring tourism films. Now that’s a powerful way to keep people from being sick without spending trillions in health care costs. Instead of pumping violence and anger into our media channels, how about a little more hilarity?

Laughter also makes us more physically beautiful as it brings increased blood flow to the skin through increased aerobic activity in the lungs and heart. Laughter even lessens depression.

»I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it’s the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It’s probably the most important thing in a person.« ~ Audrey Hepburn, Actress

Laughter Keeps us Going

Maybe the ridiculous or the nonsensical seem to have no place, with the endless photographs being circulated on Pinterest and Youtube of kittens and bonobo monkeys, or the late night comedians keeping our insomniac brains in a state of elevated hilarity, or the best friend who tells us a good joke when we are feeling a little down, but laughter keeps us going. It supports our mental and physical health and allows this mundane and chaotic world to keep turning.

»If we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane.« ~ Robert Frost, Author
 

Source: TheMindUnleashed.org

A Piece of Love: A Near-Death Experience Story

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We’d like to share with you this little video of a guy telling his story of a near-death experience.

I’m aware of the fact that many people describe “hell” differently, and I do not believe “hell” is this one, solid place. Also I won’t encourage you to believe every single word, especially when it becomes “too religious”. But the point is not whether or not he’s telling the truth. The point is what he has to tell.


Among other amazing videos on YouTube, this is one of the more fascinating or inspiring videos… And I realize, it actually is (or can be) an amazing time we live in.

For those of you who see the word “God” in a too religious way and thus have trouble to “get to know God”… Take the “Golden Ratio” 1.618(…) as example, which defines what we experience as beauty. It can be found in leafs, shells, flowers, the weather, planets, the DNA, the body (as a whole), the legs, the arms, in the face… just to name a few. This number is everywhere!

Or if you are more like the “facts guy” and less of a person who gets easily inspired by beauty in nature, you might want to take a look into the “Golden Rule” which is mentioned in several religions, in philosophy, as well as several ancient civilizations. Look for the dots you can connect between different religions, things which are mentioned in different places, in different ways. If you don’t get limited by one religion or belief, you will see the original message.

Or if you’re more like the “esotheric guy”, try to see God rather as “she” than “he”, and we’ll automatically have a picture of a loving God rather than a wrathful one. Let’s be honest: We have no idea what God exactly is. But let’s assume we’d know it, then I’d say God is everything, thus no male or female but rather… well… everything. But calling God “it” would be sort of weird. If we take a look at the genders, the male is rather the aggressive and fighting being, while the female is rather the emotional and life-giving being (with the help of the male, sure, but it’s still the female who bears life). So calling God “she” would actually make more sense. Therefore, if it helps you, just go for it.

Whatever you do, do whatever you like. Do it your way. As that man said… Get to know God “any way you want to get to know him“. Be creative, become inspired, enjoy the beauty… but most of all: Be yourself.