For those people that know me, they know I get immense pleasure on being goofy in public; my mantra: “I will never see these people again!” (NOTE: Not exactly true, but neither are most things labeled as “organic”.)
And through my very un-official, un-scientific experiments, in several countries: ranging from the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa to NE Asia (yes, even China); throughout Central America and the Caribbean, as well as all over the States, I have discovered that 95% of the time (yes, there is always THAT guy, or gal, who has no sense of humor and is REALLY that miserable) my goofy antics, not only give me a instant dose of joy, energy, and general warm-fuzzy feelings, but I also watch my “prey” literally transform right in front of me—and usually, even start spreading their own goofiness.
Simple example: Walking down the street, I pass a visibly stressed-out Mom with her unhappy child—so, I cross my eyes at the kid (with a goofy smile) and the kid instantly starts laughing. Mother says, “What is so funny?”
The child responds, “She just did this (and crosses her eyes and makes a goofy smile.)” Well, the mother laughs at her daughter. In this second, already 3 people are feeling better—myself, the child, and the mother…and who knows how this may have changed the entire tone of their day.
Laughing deeply is living deeply (stolen from Milan Kundera.) And laughter, next to math, is an international language. Therefore, I am hoping to start a Goofy Pandemic--changing the world, one chuckle, giggle, snort at a time.
Therefore, the mission of the Get Goofy Movement is to spread general goofiness, giggles, smiles, and laughter-- to EVERYONE we meet; everyone we pass by on the streets (just cross your eyes or pick your nose! It is that simple! (NOTE: In some cultures, nose picking is socially acceptable/normal, so this will not work) but everyone we sit next to on the metro; while sitting in traffic; and especially, when we are waiting in a long, long line or any other uncomfortable situation.
Besides being good for the heart, body, mind, and soul (do your homework, there has been several dozens of scientific studies to confirm this!), Humor has the ability to disarm people instantly, ignite conversations, and well, it is just fun.
In addition, as soon as we can laugh at something, we no longer fear it--and though we may not be able to achieve world peace and solve all of the world's issues in an instant (or even a few lifetimes)--we do have the power to make someone laugh, which is instant joy and therapy for all involved, and like Herpes, highly contagious (in a good way!)
So start today. Make someone laugh (or smile) and see how you feel afterwards, and then notice how they react, because people are taking things way too seriously for our own personal well-being, not to mention the well-being of the planet.
Just imagine if everyone, everywhere you went, were practicing Goofiness on a regular basis?!!! This would make running errands an adventure! This would make your morning commute to work more pleasant (perhaps, reducing Road Rage!) This would transform normally unpleasant experiences such as traffic, waiting in a long line at the Department of Motor Vehicles, sitting in a doctor’s office, poor customer service, or a car breakdown on the side of the road, during rush hour traffic, bearable! And if everyone got goofy, then on those days, when you are having a “rough” day, you could count on someone, a complete stranger, to make you chuckle.
Therefore, I have started a FaceBook Fanpage. I am hoping people will share ideas, plans, post photos and whatnot, inspiring others to GET GOOFY. And let’s just see what happens…I mean, historically, we have tried everything, right? Bloody revolutions, civil disobedience (thanks Gandhi and MLK, Jr!!!!), letter campaigns (a la Amnesty International), media propaganda (umm, the US is the MASTER of this!), graffiti (thanks Banksy!), martyrdom (ouch!), to mass prayer and whatnot…but have we ever tried by LAUGHTER?!!!!! I mean, why else would we have the ability to laugh if it did not serve some evolutionary or biological function?!!!
Anyway, start now. Start today. Visit the FaceBook page and share your experiences, share your brilliant goofy ideas…and most important of all, get goofy at home.
(Sorry, my inner-Hippie made me do this!!
Kelly N Patterson
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