Using Humor to Maximize Living: Connecting With Humor

Humor gets very little respect! While references to the importance of having a sense of humor are liberally sprinkled throughout the popular media, and it is usually mentioned as one of the qualities of effective employees, it is rare to find purposeful humor practice. Humor is without a doubt the one quality that most of us agree is needed in life. However, it is rare to find serious applications on the benefits of applying humor in everyday life and in our world of work. When the federal government tried to incorporate humor into a staff development program of a federal agency, there was an outcry. It seems that humor was thought to be a waste of taxpayer money, and the program was axed.

The purpose of Using Humor to Maximize Living is to affirm, sustain, and encourage people in the practice of humor not only as a personal tool to optimize a healthy life style, but also to maximize the benefits of humor in everyday life. Check out the research that includes a review on the use of humor to nurture creativity, to increase the capacity for memory retention, to support an optimal work environment, and to build safe communities that reflect the relational trust necessary for maximizing living.

Author, Mary Kay Morrison teaches a 3 hour grad course in Humor Studies through the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor (AATH) at the annual conference each year: http: //www.aath.org/humor-academy

Mary Kay Morrison, founder and director of Humor Quest, is enthusiastic about exploring the links between cognitive research and humor. She is an educator who has taught at virtually every level of the educational spectrum, presenting keynote and workshop sessions for international audiences. She serves on the board of directors for AATH (Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humor), and is founder and director of the AATH Humor Academy graduate and certificate programs.