This Could Be a Celebration

Put Your Positive Pants On!

“Laughter connects you with people. It’s almost impossible to maintain any kind of distance or any sense of social hierarchy when you’re just howling with laughter.” ― John Cleese

Whenever the Orange One or one of his cronies criticizes Kamala Harris for laughing too much a part of me cringes because I know that hopefulness and joy are often seen as signs of weakness. To quote

Sophie Gilbert

, staff writer at The Atlantic, who explored the topic in a piece entitled, Kamala Harris and the Threat of a Woman’s Laugh, “Criticism of emotional expression has long been a weapon of choice for those wanting to cut down women in political power.”

But then I did a little research into the power of positive emotions and came away smiling and laughing myself. According to the Mayo Clinic, “Laughter can stimulate circulation and aid muscle relaxation, both of which can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress.

Laughter is also a key component of play. Trauma and the stress it produces tell us it’s not safe to play - to let our guard down, to be open, vulnerable, and receptive to new experiences.* But play, as it turns out, is critical to stress reduction as well as the effective functioning of our brains at any age - to regulating emotions, making plans, and solving problems.

One of my first impressions of Harris was formed when I watched her dancing with a bunch of kids at a Des Moines Steak Fry in 2019 (click image below). It remains one of my favorites because it proves that Kamala Harris knows that laughter is good for what ails you and a wonderful way to open hearts, take down walls, and make her work for and with us a celebration.

P.S.“Progress is nothing more than the victory of laughter over dogma.” - B. DeCasseres

P.P.S.S. Many thanks to

Diane K24

, author of Diane’s Blue Notes, for introducing me to this terrific David Mallet song. If you aren’t subsribing to her stack, be sure to.

Copyright 2024 by Jena Ball. All Rights Reserved.

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Resources

I. *Three Benefits of Play:

A) Play helps lower Cortisol (the stress hormone), increases Dopamine (the pleasure/reward chemical), Oxytocin (the bonding hormone) and GABA (the calmer of the nervous system).

B) Play causes changes in the Prefrontal Cortex that help wire the brain’s executive control system, which has a critical role in regulating emotions, making plans, solving problems, and supporting whole brain integration. A well integrated brain is considered a healthy brain – where all the various parts can pass messages to each other and can work as a united whole.

C) Play increases whole brain integration through physical movement, creative self-expression and the practice of self-regulation.

II. Lyrics “Celebration” by David Mallet

“Sometimes you just don’t feel like tryin,
Too many politicians lyin,
Too many hungry babies cryin,
Too many random bullets flyin,
Too much time spent in struggle,
Too many little kids in trouble,
Too many cities gone to rubble,
Too many people talkin double.

This can’t be our destination.
This could be a better nation.
Time to set the big horse racin.
We can change the situation.
Trains a leavin from the station.
Need a brand new generation.
This could be a celebration now - now.

Situations changin fast
Too much plastic too much trash,
Too many smoke stacks spewing ash,
Too many people with no cash,
Too much waste not enough water,
Too many abandoned sons and daughters,
Too many lost and hopeless feelings,
Too many lowdown shady dealings.

This can't be our destination.
This could be a better nation.
Time to set the big horse racin
Need a brand new generation.
Trains a leavin from the station
Me I got no reservation.
This could be a celebration now - now.

All this time I hear this roaring pavement,
steel and iron ore and people shouting all so sure,
that their side is the right side more and more,
I see abandoned stores and floors,
Weary tired and poorer,
All the time folks they're just buried in the wine,
Because they're all so bored,
And it's become unnatural,
The way we need the things without a reason,
Feed the greed the weeds grow from the roots
And we're all runnin from the truth
We choose to fight instead of prove ourselves,
Leave love and hope upon the shelf,
Divided they're just free to sell us anything

This cant be our destination.
This could be a better nation.
Time to set the big horse racin.
Need a brand new generation.
Time to change the conversation.
Trains a leavin from the station.
This could be a celebration, NOW.

Too many people loooking down,
Too many closed up factory towns,
Too much high priced propaganda,
Too much sadness in this land of dreams,
That once could all come true,
Now it’s down to me and you.

Tell me what you gonna do,
Tell me what you gonna do.
This cant be our destination.
This could be a better nation.
Time to set the big horse racin.
Need a brand new generation.
Trains a leavin from the station.
This could be a celebration.
Me I got no reservations.
This could be a celebration.
This could be a celebration.
This could be a celebration.
This could be a celebration now - NOW - NOW.”

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