Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-07
Laugh and Grow Sane.

Good humor Is q therapeutic meas
urc, which means helpful to health.
It's Q mental health food or tonic It
takes tts place with occupational ther-
apy, getting well by doing pleasant
things in q pleasant way; doing things
with interest Is q food and tonic to
the mind. Besides there's some kind
of devil who finds nervous mischief
for idle brains. II you don't turn your
mind outward to useful tasks, you are
likely to develop an tngrowing mind.
Next to occupation is relaxation, and
the saving sense of humor. Now this
Is not the yapid philosophy OF smile,
smile, whether there's anything to
smile at or not, nor Is it an optimistic
call to cheer, nor yet a reminder that
laugh and the world laughs with you,
weep and you weep alone"-on the
contrary. it Is in point to remind the
incorrigible, sunshiny cheer-leader that
q common association Of the adjective
cheerful Is with idiot. A sense of
humor Is not the joker in the deck of
human traits, but has definite value.
Nor Is 1t the knave nor the king, but
when rightly played 1t Is trump card
For the most part life is serious and
sober, and responsible people carry
cares, often quite load Of them.
Hence the need Of the offset of relaxa-
b1OHs AS USUAL, OllSIS d CIutt
and what children do beyond all else
Is to play. If you forget how to play,
you are in danger. 1t isn't only that
'all work and no play makes Jack
dull boy" but that 1t makes him, when
he becomes q grown-up John, a nervous
man.
The young Of many animals play,
but none, not even the Chimpanzee
rises to the full mental level Of laugh
1r1aA Sf boil or1u sin ~ 3,fa
gence Is that first infant smile. And
what q great and glorious thing is the
uproariouS laugh Of a small boy when
everybody Is tumbled over in a scram-
BILE in the screen comedy. For the
moment we are not interested In what
he laughs at, but only in his large,
wholesome capacity to laugh. just as
we OF maturer years can't sleep as we
did when we were children. so like
wise we can't laugh; We can't let our
selves go. Without knowing it or
meaning TO we have practiced mirth
control
Now and then one meets man,
who remains great overgroWn boy.
have in mind one who is at the
head Of prosperous organization, just
coming money, for whom life is joke
As well as a responsible enterprise. He
is living fund of fun; he Just can't
help playing all the time. He is over
flowing with happiness and delights in
making others happy. But he does a
lot OF thinking, too. Few of us can be
built like that. So We have to cultivate
the tovial mood of relaxation. There
y no one recipe for your fun diet, but
fun enters into every balanced ration.
Lord Chesterfield, who made good
manners the center of life, said no one
had heard him laugh since he had at
tained years OF maturity: laughing was
beneath his dignity Pity the man who
can't laugh. Mr.. Mencken doesn't like
RotarianS; he thinks they act fooliShly.
But they use their getting together TO
let themselves go. Their relaxation is
in the interests of sanity; their pur-
pose is sound. The after-dinner speech
uses the technique of laughter to arouse
o mood hospitable TO the reception OF
an idea. We don't eat for nutrition
alone. There must be something in the
meal TO tickle the palate; equally some
thing IN speech to tickle the mind.
1t is sometimes said that women
haven't as we'll a developed sense Of