Why Laughter is the Best Medicine: Approaching Life with Levity
Tag Headings: Humor, Levity, Life, Wisdom

Life can be a serious matter, and it’s easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day struggles and stresses. We often forget to take a step back and appreciate the absurdity and humor of the world around us. As writer and teacher Jordan Bates writes in Refine The Mind, “It’s time to laugh at ourselves!”

In his article, Bates pulls together a collection of quotes from famous thinkers and writers on the importance of approaching life with levity. From Fyodor Dostoevsky’s advice to call oneself a fool once a month, to Dr. Seuss’s belief in the power of nonsense to wake up the brain cells, each quote offers a fresh perspective on the value of humor and playfulness.

One of the most striking quotes in the collection comes from Joseph Campbell, who writes, “As you proceed through life, following your own path, birds will shit on you. Don’t bother to brush it off. Getting a comedic view of your situation gives you spiritual distance. Having a sense of humor saves you.” This image of being shat upon by birds is both humorous and poignant, a reminder that life is messy and unpredictable, and that sometimes the best response is simply to laugh.

Another quote, from Alan Watts, suggests that we suffer because we take life too seriously. He writes, “Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the Gods made for fun.” This idea that life is fundamentally absurd and playful can be both liberating and terrifying. If nothing truly matters, then why bother trying? But as Bates points out, there is a certain freedom in recognizing that we are all just playing a game, and that the stakes are ultimately low.

Kurt Vonnegut, in his novel Breakfast of Champions, explores the idea of whether life is serious or not. His protagonist muses, “It’s dangerous, I know, and it can hurt a lot. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s serious, too.” This quote highlights the fact that we often conflate seriousness with pain, when in fact they do not always go hand in hand. Just because something hurts does not mean it is weighty or significant.

Charles Bukowski’s quote, “Sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think, I’m not going to make it, but you laugh inside–remembering all the times you’ve felt that way,” is a reminder that even when things seem bleak or insurmountable, we can find solace in our past struggles and the resilience we have shown in the face of adversity.

Friedrich Nietzsche, ever the iconoclast, argues that the prospect of death should be a source of levity, not fear. He writes, “The certain prospect of death could sweeten every life with a precious and fragrant drop of levity; and now you strange apothecary souls have turned it into an ill-tasting drop of poison that makes the whole of life repulsive.” This quote challenges our cultural obsession with prolonging life at all costs, and invites us to consider how our fear of death may be robbing us of a more joyful existence.

In his article, Bates concludes that, “Approaching life with levity isn’t about turning a blind eye to the struggles and suffering that are inevitable in every life. It’s about finding a way to hold both the lightness and the heaviness of life in our hearts and minds at the same time.” By tapping into the power of humor and playfulness, we can learn to navigate life’s challenges with more grace and ease.

So, the next time you find yourself getting bogged down in the seriousness of life, remember the wisdom of these thinkers and take a step back to appreciate the absurdity and humor of it all. As William Shakespeare wrote, “Frame your mind to mirth and merriment which bars a thousand harms and lengthens life.”