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Kathy Horowitz co-facilitates a monthly women’s writer’s group at the Life Center in Huntington. Her work has appeared in The Long Islander, Long Island Woman, Calyx, Blue Unicorn, and Seventh Quarry. Kathy offers freelance writing, editing, and proofreading services. |
| The winter blues can be debilitating for many people, which is why laughter is the best medicine. Have you read Reader’s Digest lately? Each issue devotes an entire page to this time-worn maxim: “Laughter, the Best Medicine,” where readers send in their own jokes. Late last year, I found myself in a funk. After a few days of feeling this way, I became annoyed with myself, so I tried an experiment that I’d recently read about: Smile for as long as you can, even when you pass by a mirror, and before you know it, you’ll start smiling naturally. It will help to lift your mood and that feeling can help you stay positive for hours. Once you get used to doing this repeatedly, it will eventually lead to laughter. It’s always easier to laugh at oneself when no one is looking. Isn’t that an easy way to change your negative thoughts into positive ones? Remember the song, “When You’re Smiling,” made popular by Louis Armstrong among others? That’s exactly what happens: “The whole world smiles with you, When you’re laughin’, When you’re laughin’, the sun comes shining through.” Smiling becomes infectious, moods uplift, and everyone is momentarily happy until the next episode of sadness occurs. The winter months can trigger the onset of SAD (seasonal affective disorder). To shift my mood when these feelings arise, I try to take daily walks and look for whatever sliver of sunshine I can find. When I walk in my neighborhood, I always make sure to say hello to and smile at those I pass on the street (especially the dogs of dog owners), who always respond positively. I also listen to the sweet, two-syllable song of the white-throated sparrow, who is caught up in thinking that this mild winter is really an early spring. It makes me smile. When all else fails, watching a comedy on TV can also lift one’s spirits. Or, simply observing an infant smile at what seems like nothing. It may be a face they are beginning to recognize, a funny voice and intonation, or a particular object that causes them to smile, then laugh. It’s quite contagious. I remember a popular YouTube video where an eight-month old boy became hysterical each time his father ripped a piece of paper (“Baby Laughing Hysterically at Ripping Paper”). It went viral with over 104 million views amd his infectious laughter spread throughout the world. It doesn’t get better than that. So, keep on smiling and the whole world will smile with you. |
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20 lucky winners will win $500 each in prizes totaling $10,000. 