Simone Biles is probably a little busy, but if ever there was the perfect spokesperson for Laughter On Call, it would be this gymnastics GOAT. Not just for her unmatched talent and skill, but also for being a beaming example of what is possible if you put your mental health first. On top of all of this, she’s a dedicated fan of laughter! Here’s a delightful edited clip of her doing just that. Despite the critics and all she has experienced, in an interview for Sportskeeda, when asked by her mother why she laughs so much, Simone responded, "Because life is fun and you should build memories and I build memories by laughing."
As we say at Laughter On Call, yes…and.
I love the idea of using laughter to build memories. Given that the genesis of what we do was helping people who are memory challenged to laugh, I hadn’t thought about using laughter in this way. And yet when I remember both my mother and my father, the moments that leap out are those where we laughed ‘till we cried together. None of us in my family will forget sitting at the dinner table, my father in a wheelchair in the late stage of his cancer battle. Forever having the need to break tension with jokes, I started recounting the story of trying to hang up on my mother after a fight - back in the days of landlines. Slamming it down and then picking the phone back up only to find her still talking. I was doing both our voices, the two of us yelling at each other until the phone hit the receiver with me slamming it again. But every time I picked it up, there she was. Reliving the whole experience for them, me against my mother, the voice that would not stop. When I finished, everyone was in tears - including my mother - but for once not the sad kind. Then I confessed that in my fury I had broken my phone into pieces during that call. Which made everyone laugh even harder.
It was comic relief and a memory. This is what I love about the shape-shifting nature of laughter. How it can bring people together, or lodge moments in our minds to revisit and touch our hearts. At its worst it is used to bludgeon people. As with everything powerful and during a time when passions are running high, I am sincere in my hope that people will use humor responsibly. A decidedly unfunny sentence, but one I feel worth saying. “Life is fun” is probably not a quote you’d ever get from me, or given her public struggles, from Ms. Biles either. Which is what makes it that much more inspiring to read.
I have never played most of the sports competing in the Olympics. I am embarrassed to admit that yesterday was the first time I had ever seen a Rugby game played. I know, I should be. As a person with a dance background where holding your space is part of the art, at first glance Rugby looked insane! Like WWE with a ball. Until I got used to it. Very quickly I saw the grace in moving the ball down the field and the remarkable degree of teamwork necessary to win. And the joy in scoring! I love witnessing the thrill of victory. I’m special that way.
In the last five years I find myself talking a lot about team building. However, there are no balls involved. Having my own business I’ve come to appreciate the “team-building” analogy as something real. We go in talking about laughter, but what we’re really encouraging is people expressing themselves and being recognized for their unique contribution to the greater good. We’re pitching a culture of levity to achieve this goal. There it is again, the goal. Sports analogies abound in business - much humor has been mined from this. Pulling down the parody mask though, it is very cool to see an actual sports team engaging in teamwork. A literal illustration of what happens when people work together. And when they don’t. Team sports made for group dynamics, the sum being greater than its parts, etc. It’s hard not to fall into cliches so ripe for parody when talking about this.
The problem with parody as a comedy tool is that to do it effectively, you have to stand outside the experience. It actually undermines success. When a ball is passed to you, you can’t move it down the field, responding ironically. “Oh, thanks so much for deigning to “pass” me the ball. I guess now I’ll kick it to another person in short shorts.” You’re not scoring any goals this way.
Which is consistent on and off the field. When trying to achieve something, there’s just not a lot of space for sarcasm, cynicism, or irony in the moment. Which means there’s a lot more room for the kind of humor that makes people feel good, building them up! And there’s plenty of opportunity for celebration and joy when all the hard work pays off.
No one exemplifies embracing joy more than America’s favorite 4’8” heroine Simone Biles. Although gymnastics is not a traditional team sport, it’s clear how connected she is with her teammates. And she’s a known laugher!
Realizing the explosive nature of many of the headlines in the news these days, not to mention just the challenges of everyday life, I’m going to take Biles’ words to heart. I am going to look for fun. And follow my own advice to find laughter where I least expect it. And if laughter ever becomes a team sport, I’ll be the captain.
Thank you Simone for reminding us sometimes a laugh is just a laugh…and sometimes it’s a lot more.
