It’s no joke that we don’t laugh enough!
The average four-year-old laughs 300 times a day. The average 40-year-old? Only four.
Laughter is a good thing. Research shows that laughter reduces levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, epinephrine, and dopamine; increases health-enhancing hormones (such as endorphins), neurotransmitters, and infection-fighting antibodies; and improves blood flow to the heart—all resulting in greater relaxation and resistance to disease, as well as improved mood and a positive outlook.
For me, the hallmark of an incredibly effective brainstorming is an abundance of genuine and gut-busting laughter. (I love it when random people pop their head into the session to find out why everyone is laughing so hard!).
There’s a reason why creative thinking and laughter should always go hand in hand. Laughter can help people solve problems that demand creative solutions, by making it easier to think more broadly and associate ideas/relationships more freely.
Check out my recent blog inspired by Chuck Jones, animator, filmmaker, cartoonist, author, and screenwriter, best known for his work on Looney Tunes.
David Ogilvy, the founder of Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency, had it right when he said,
“The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.”
So here is my question … What would you feel like if you laughed like a 4-year-old today, and tomorrow, and the next? What would we all feel like? What would the world be like if laughter became, once again, our natural state?
“You don’t stop laughing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop laughing.” – Michael Pritchard
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