More times than I care to recall, I’ve been met with rolling eyeballs when I talk about my spiritual practices. Wasting time, sitting still, doing nothing, in meditation; striking those odd poses in T’ai Chi; and healing with my hands is quite “out there” for some folks-it all seems a bit funny at best.
In this article, we’ll roll with that funniness and explore why amusement is a potent spiritual force. Being silly is an antidote to the ego’s over-seriousness. And, practicing light-heartedness instantly releases fear, anger, and worry. While it may be funny to be spiritual-it’s also spiritual to be funny.
A Serious Lack of Amusement
As we witnessed in our recent U.S. election cycle, when we take ourselves too seriously, it’s no fun for anyone. When we vehemently defend our points of view, we create tension, fear, anxiety, stress, anger, and conflict.
That’s not to say that the issues we are so passionate about are not important. In the context of the quality of human life here on earth, they are significant. However, it’s the way we hold onto our points of view that makes all the difference.
When we think that “our way is the only way,” we not only miss out on the full truth, we also ensure suffering and conflict-for ourselves and others.
It’s A Matter of Perspective
The truth is that every point of view is partial. It’s a slice of reality. It’s a perspective that highlights certain details and neglects others. You can look at any situation from infinite viewpoints and arrive at infinitely different conclusions depending upon where you stand.
No point of view expresses the full truth. Each perspective shows us something and ignores other things.
This point came crystal clear in this latest U.S. election. Those who supported “The Donald” chose to highlight things he represented that reflected their own feelings, values, and experiences, while ignoring some obvious shortcomings. Those who supported Hillary did the same. That’s what we do in elections. We choose those who reflect our dominant viewpoints.
Yet, the primary mistake we make is when we think that our viewpoint is the “right one” instead of just the one we prefer-and we hold on so tightly that we can’t even listen to other perspectives. This is what leads to ugly wars of insults and an inability to work together. Because this was the way we approached our election, it escalated everyone’s fear, anger, and worry.
Once again, we have to remind ourselves of a simple truth–viewpoints are neither right nor wrong. They just highlight certain aspects of reality, while hiding others.
Now, what makes this truth so challenging to remember is that we are so embedded in our points of view that we can’t see them as such. We just think that “the way we see things is the way they are.” We forget that reality always exceeds our perceptions of it.
Reality offers an infinite number of points to focus on. And, what we focus on determines our experiences. Which brings us to the spiritual focus of this article-light-hearted amusement.
Lighthearted amusement is important because it frees us from hanging onto our perspectives so tightly. It frees us to take ourselves less seriously. It lifts us out of being so absorbed in our perspectives that we can’t see any other way. It opens us to other possibilities-to be more creative, cooperative, and innovative.
Light-hearted amusement elevates us to see life from a higher perspective-with more playfulness. In that spirit of levity, we see beyond our own little points of view to notice opportunities to work and play together to heal our world.
Amusement Heals
It’s well-documented that laughter is healing. One of the first to discover this was author Norman Cousins who described in “Anatomy of an Illness” how he cured himself of an extremely painful, rare, and life-threatening disease called “ankylosing spondylitis”-by watching funny movies!
How could that be?
It could be that laughter and amusement stimulate a healing response.
It appears that light-hearted amusement activates specific DNA potentials that heal, while fear, anger, and worry activate genes that make us more susceptible to disease. When we are lighthearted, we think positively, feel positively, act positively-and our cells respond by opening up and working well together.
When we let go and laugh, the body does what it is designed to do, which is heal itself. And, as we heal ourselves, we become more able to heal our relationships with others.
So, how can you use this insight to cure your own fear, anger, and worries? How can you include more light-hearted amusement in your life?
At our house, we like to watch Steve Harvey on Family Feud, Conan, and Fallon. We love comedy videos of Ellen, Jim Gaffigan, and Robin Williams. At family gatherings, we play games like charades and go bowling-which none of us have any great skill at.
All these activities break us out of our normal routines and help us feel a bit goofy. In these amusements, we experience the lighter sides of ourselves and let go of perspectives that keep us apart. We expand and refresh our minds, let go of our worries, and realize there’s so much more to life than being right.
Amusement heals.
Enjoy your practice!
