WS Chronicle

By Judie Holcomb-Pack

Humor is a human emotion that brings a smile to our faces, enjoyment, entertainment and amusement to our lives, and makes difficult situations more bearable. It can be a joke, a funny anecdote, an amusing memory retold that pokes fun at ourselves, or a movie that lifts our spirits. 

Humor has also been found to be medicinal. Whoever first said, “Laughter is the best medicine,” knew what they were talking about. Research shows that laughter triggers emotional and physical changes in the body and strengthens the immune system, boosts mood, diminishes pain, and relieves stress.

There is no time that laughter is more needed than right now, when we’re all feeling the stress of COVID-19, working from home or not working at all, home-schooling children, relating to our families 24/7, cooking that meatloaf recipe for the umpteenth time, searching for toilet paper, rice, yeast, or other staples, and trying to keep our sanity until this is over. It’s no wonder that humorous COVID-19 memes are all over social media. Even Baby Yoda and Baby Shark are giving us lessons on how to wash our hands. (Don’t know who Baby Shark is? Just search on YouTube and then try to get that tune out of your head.)

Here are some recent memes I’ve seen: 

*Cutting your own bangs – before and after pictures, reminiscent of photos from my childhood with my bangs cut haphazardly across my brow, bless my mother’s heart.

*How I pictured myself during the apocalypse (decked out in military gear) and now during coronavirus (staring at empty shelves in a grocery store wearing pajamas and a robe)

*A photo from the movie Groundhog Day and the caption, “It’s Quarantine Day again.”

*A moonshine still with the caption, “Moonshine? Heck no, we’re making hand sanitizer.”

*Day 10 without casinos: A picture of men around a poker table betting rolls of toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

I’m no doctor and I’ve never played one on television, but I’m prescribing some humor to lift your spirits, relieve a little stress and boost your immune system, while you continue to stay home as much as possible, wear a mask when you’re outdoors, and wash, wash, wash those hands!

I hope these humorous stories and poetry bring a smile to your face today