Anyone Who Has Friends Has Giggles
Anyone who has friends has fits of giggles, unexpected and explosive, one that attracts attention, blushes our cheeks and draws tears to us while immediately healing us from the daily sorrows of the heart.
Friendship has many side effects, but one of the most cathartic ones is undoubtedly the pleasure of laughing in company. In fact, it is curious to know that on the emotional relief scale, just as tears will always be preferable to tears in silence, the burst of laughter is far more virtuous than a simple laugh.
In reality, there is no pain more pleasant than that which sets in our stomach, and which is produced by so many shared bursts of laughter. Because this feeling is a reflection of social cohesion and well-being, and because friendship is also a way of recycling tears and disappointments to allow laughter to transform into a true architect of wisdom.
The bursts of laughter that soften adversity
The most admirable humor is that which arises from adversity and which we have the pleasure of sharing with people who matter to us. For women, friendship is arguably the best day-to-day support through which emotional relief and catharsis can be encouraged.
In fact, according to a study published in the journal Psychology Today , we know that friendship between men is more instrumental and less emotional, and while the connection can be so close and meaningful, it fails to reach that depth. so complicit, so intimate and intuitive, where one finds genuine moral support.
During difficult times, it is common for a group of friends to make a sudden comment that sparkles in the dark and brings down the ambient tension. Then, we increase the price, we ironize, we say absurd words, to provoke and reveal the real healers of the soul, the real remedies for everyday sorrows: bursts of laughter.
Laughter, glue for the brain
Laughter can seem a little trivial to us, sometimes fleeting, a little chaotic, explosive and without much meaning, but it nevertheless acts as an authentic “glue” for the brain. Something meaningful is always hiding, and few emotions have such a high impact and social transcendence as laughter.
Greg Bryant, professor at the University of California (UCLA) carried out a curious study where he was able to demonstrate that it is enough to listen to a laugh for a few seconds to know what is shared between the two people, namely if they are in a relationship, friends and what is the quality of this friendship or this love. This work carried out in several countries and cultures demonstrated something that anthropologists already knew.
Laughter is part of our evolutionary development and is also an instinctive mechanism that promotes cooperation between human beings. Our brains remind us that social alliances are good, that they are necessary to survive, and laughter acts as a prodigious emotional magnet. If we are able to listen to its intensity, musicality, or cadence, we can know what phase of the relationship the two people are laughing at.
The bursts and fits of laughter triggered by the intimate complicity of two looks that are read and felt in the heart are the key ingredient of the magic potion to build lasting friendships. It is these bonds that lift us from the ground, this sugar that digests the bitterness of the day and this masterful formula that shows us that the world will always be worth it thanks to these exceptional people.
Bursts of laughter therefore help us survive and unite us. It’s something the brain pleases and rewards us with endorphins to help alleviate stress, relieve the labyrinth of our tensions and the abyss of our fears.
Now, as we pointed out to you at the beginning of this article, simple smiles do not heal, just like contained or hidden tears. What heals is accepted tears and what makes the heart happy is the loudest laughter.
To end this article, we are going to share with you a short text by Richard Wiseman, psychologist and British researcher of the “Laughlab” project (the laboratory of laughter). He often used it in his tests to highlight the sense of humor of his participants. As he gave them these lines, he reminded them of something essential that we should never forget. The best time to laugh is always now.
“Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson are going camping. They pitch their tent under the stars and go to sleep. At one point in the night, Holmes wakes up his friend Watson and says to him:
– Watson, look at the stars and tell me what you see.
– I see millions and millions of stars – answers Watson.
– Excellent, and what do you deduce? – Holmes asks.
–If there are millions of stars and only a few have planets, it is possible that there are planets like Earth there. And if there are planets like Earth, it is also possible that there is life.
– Watson, don’t be stupid – replies Holmes – It means that the tent has been stolen from us ”.
