Laughter-Filled Tuesday

I ran two laughter sessions yesterday. The morning session was at a meeting of the Harlow Care Co-ordinators. There were 15 participants representing a wide variety of carers groups from disabled children to strokes and the Alzheimer's Society.

Before I ran my segment of the meeting, most of the participants were in a dour mood. The topic under discussion was the raw deal from the caring support services experienced both by themselves and the members of their groups. It seems that the care packages that are so glibly talked about in television dramas are the stuff of fantasy compared to the reality of what is available in Harlow. The issues under discussion are those that are so commonly highlighted by Carers UK: many of the health issues are those that I outlined in a previous post on the varying health costs of caring.

Such experiences and stories are run of the mill for carers. Nonetheless, I do believe that it is worth cultivating a Happystance and learning how to harness the power of positive emotion in our lives. Despite the mood of the participants before the session, our time together was a success, and we tried out a range of laughs. People found that they were able to put aside their present concerns. Everybody joined in the laughtercises after the usual reticence to share positive emotions with strangers in public. The co-ordinators went away with a better understanding of what I am offering with the Happystance workshops.

Taking to heart my recent realisation that I don't spend enough time on promotion, I left the meeting with three more bookings to run information events and samplers for interested groups (including Women 2000 and the local Women's Institute). Other co-ordinators have said that they will be in touch with me about booking workshops for their groups.

In the evening, I ran an event with the Fun Federation. This was a two hour slot and therefore the longest laughter event that I've put together. We played a variety of games, performed a number of laughtercises and sang parodies. I had the opportunity to try out techniques that I've used in different contexts and they worked very well.

In many ways, this was a very different community to the morning group. Fun Federation was created to provide an opportunity for adults to have an enjoyable night out, without the friction of alcohol, competition etc. It's an interesting project that the organisers are looking to turn into a self-sustaining enterprise. The people who run the events are unpaid and participants are asked for a donation to cover the venue hire and administration costs.

It's an education to learn what people are willing to donate. Many people think nothing of spending between 30 to 70 pounds on a night out. Dinner bills run between 15 to 30 pounds a head around London. Cinema tickets cost between 5 and 10 pounds depending on the time of the showing. Yet events like these, that will leave your brain cells intact, contribute to your well-being, and leave you clear-headed for work the next day, seem to bring out the small change in people.

In my experience of this and similar events, it seems as if people's criteria for value for money involves consumption. Whether it is imbibing alcohol or excess calories that most of us don't need, or consuming a performance that is provided by others, such as football. I wonder if the participative nature of fun events somehow subtly convinces people that they have already made a significant contribution. Albeit, not the sort of contribution that can be used to cover room hire. My argument fails to explain why people are willing to pay substantial fees for gym memberships that they hardly ever use. But I think that the drive for fitness is typically an exercise in self-flagellation rather than enjoyment.

I enjoyed the Fun Federation event and so did the participants. I look forward to running more such events like these and the Happystance workshops in the near future. Alongside the need for promotion, I also recognise that I have to start thinking about ways in which these events can become self-financing.

Copyright 2006, Tony Plant Happystance Project