How are you doing?  Do you have a case of Pandemic Fatigue?  Many people understandably do.  What do we do about it?  The remedy is not to quit on all the precautions and do whatever we want.  Now that a second wave and in some places a third has caught us up, we actually need to be more vigilant about wearing masks, distancing, sanitizing. 
 
One thing that could relieve some of the stress and anxiety is humor. 
As we start paying attention to moments and events that will yield a funny story, we give ourselves a temporary mental break.  We shine the spotlight of our attention away from the moments of anxiety and worry that accompany these uncertain times.
 
From the Mayo Clinic:
 
When it comes to relieving stress, whether you're guffawing at a sitcom on TV or quietly giggling at a newspaper cartoon, laughing does you good. Laughter is a great form of stress relief, and that's no joke.

Stress relief from laughter
A good sense of humor can't cure all ailments, but data is mounting about the positive things laughter can do.

Short-term benefits
A good laugh has great short-term effects. When you start to laugh, it doesn't just lighten your load mentally, it actually induces physical changes in your body. Laughter can:
        Stimulate many organs. Laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain.
·         Activate and relieve your stress response. A rollicking laugh fires up and then cools down your stress response, and it can increase and then decrease your heart rate and blood pressure. The result? A good, relaxed feeling.
·         Soothe tension. Laughter can also stimulate circulation and aid muscle relaxation, both of which can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress.

Long-term effects
Laughter isn't just a quick pick-me-up, though. It's also good for you over the long term. Laughter may:
        Improve your immune system. Negative thoughts manifest into chemical reactions that can affect your body by bringing more stress into your system and decreasing your immunity. By contrast, positive thoughts can actually release neuropeptides that help fight stress and potentially more-serious illnesses.
         Relieve pain. Laughter may ease pain by causing the body to produce its own natural painkillers.
        Increase personal satisfaction. Laughter can also make it easier to cope with difficult situations. It also helps you connect with other people.
       Improve your mood. Many people experience depression, sometimes due to chronic illnesses. Laughter can help lessen your depression and anxiety and may make you feel happier.

Improve your sense of humor
Are you afraid you have an underdeveloped — or nonexistent — sense of humor? No problem. Humor can be learned. In fact, developing or refining your sense of humor may be easier than you think.
         Put humor on your horizon. Find a few simple items, such as photos, greeting cards or comic strips, that make you chuckle. Then hang them up at home or in your office. Keep funny movies, books, magazines or comedy videos on hand for when you need an added humor boost. Look online at joke websites. Go to a comedy club.
        Laugh and the world laughs with you. Find a way to laugh about your own situations and watch your stress begin to fade away. Even if it feels forced at first, practice laughing. It does your body good.
Consider trying laughter yoga. In laughter yoga, people practice laughter as a group. Laughter is forced at first, but it can soon turn into spontaneous laughter.
        Share a laugh. Make it a habit to spend time with friends who make you laugh. And then return the favor by sharing funny stories or jokes with those around you.
        Knock, knock. Browse through your local bookstore or library's selection of joke books and add a few jokes to your list that you can share with friends.
        Know what isn't funny. Don't laugh at the expense of others. Some forms of humor aren't appropriate. Use your best judgment to discern a good joke from a bad or hurtful one.”
 
All of us have daily trials large and small so why not actively seek out gentle joy and humor so that we laugh more often both for the fun of it and the health of it.

Comments are welcomed.

Our choices can powerfully impact those around us.  We get to choose how we want to show up when we walk into the coffee shop, take our seat on public transit, or call customer service. We have the option to acknowledge our shared humanity, and be present to one another.   How do we want to show up?  Who do we want to be?  
 
Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness.  Research has shown that kindness can lower blood pressure, improve heart health, reduce stress and anxiety, even lessen pain.  Who wouldn’t want some of that?
 
 
Small Kindnesses
By Danusha Laméris
 
I’ve been thinking about the way, when you walk
down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs
to let you by. Or how strangers still say “bless you”
when someone sneezes, a leftover
from the Bubonic plague. “Don’t die,” we are saying.
And sometimes, when you spill lemons
from your grocery bag, someone else will help you
pick them up. Mostly, we don’t want to harm each other.
We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot,
and to say thank you to the person handing it. To smile
at them and for them to smile back. For the waitress
to call us honey when she sets down the bowl of clam chowder,
and for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass.
We have so little of each other, now. So far
from tribe and fire. Only these brief moments of exchange.
What if they are the true dwelling of the holy, these
fleeting temples we make together when we say, “Here,
have my seat,” “Go ahead — you first,” “I like your hat.”
 
Here is a lovely example of humanity and a kind heart:  As the bus slowed down at a crowded bus stop, the Pakistani bus conductor leaned from the platform and called out, "Six only!" The bus stopped. He counted on six passengers, rang the bell, and then, as the bus moved off, called to those left behind: "So sorry, plenty of room in my heart — but the bus is full." He left behind a row of smiling faces. It's not always what we do, it's the way we do it.

Comments are welcomed.

Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada.  Happy Thanksgiving all.  I was born in the U.S. and raised in a small town in New England.  After moving to Canada we celebrated both Thanksgivings for the first few years.  I am finally all in on this Thanksgiving day.
 
For the past few years I would query my grandkids about what Thanksgiving meant to them, what was important about this holiday.  I was always so impressed with their thoughtful, insightful answers.
 
Recently I was recalling some fun pre-holiday activities from grade school  Our art activities included making Pilgrim hats, pumpkins, fabulous hand turkeys out of construction paper.  Construction paper was a grade school staple.  We made the appropriate symbols of all the holidays from construction paper – chains and tree decorations at Christmas, hearts and decorated shoe boxes to collect Valentines from classmates  on Valentine’s Day, shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day and so on.
 
Sometimes we even acted out the first Thanksgiving as we learned about the early days of the New World settlers.  These things were so exciting to 8 year-olds. The main thing that has been rattling around in my head was a song we learned during music time.  The song is Over the River and Through the Woods.  Perhaps you’ve heard it some time?  I’ve provided the lyrics below.    For the melody there are several versions on You Tube.  BTW, the inclement weather described is likely due to U.S. Thanksgiving being celebrated the end of November.
 
Over the river and through the woods,
To grandmother's house we go;
The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh,
Through the white and drifted snow!
 
Over the river and through the woods,
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes and bites the nose,
As over the ground we go.
 
Over the river and through the woods,
To have a first-rate play;
Oh, hear the bells ring, "Ting-a-ling-ling!"
Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!
 
Over the river and through the woods,
And straight through the barnyard gate.
We seem to go extremely slow
It is so hard to wait!
 
Over the river and through the woods,
Now Grandmother's cap I spy!
Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!
 
Canadian Thanksgiving has had many iterations since the 16th century.  It was declared a national holiday in 1879.

In 1957, the government designated the second Monday in October to be the official Thanksgiving Day as it most closely coincided with the end of harvest.  Following is the first record of a Thanksgiving celebration in Canada
 
English explorer Martin Frobisher and his crew had the first Canadian Thanksgiving in 1578.  (LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA  )
As the story goes, in 1578, English explorer Martin Frobisher and his crew gave thanks and communion was observed, either on land at Frobisher Bay, in present day Nunavut, or onboard a ship anchored there. The explorers dined on salt beef, biscuits, and mushy peas and gave thanks through Communion for their safe arrival in then Newfoundland. This is now accepted as the first “Canadian” Thanksgiving.

Comments are welcome.