The Tennessee Vacation industry website has reported, in my opinion, a brilliant remarkable idea. Here it is: (I think you’ll love it!)
“The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development partnered with attractions across the state to find out whether joy can actually be measured. And if so, is it possible to identify the places and activities that generate the greatest joy among school-aged children? To answer these questions, the state introduced a special, wearable technology called the Laugh Tracker to scientifically prove where kids have the most fun.”
The results will make you smile, I promise!
Of course, we’re not always kids on vacation…and you may loathe amusement parks, for instance, and would certainly not be laughing 80 times per hour if someone forced you to pound asphalt and stand in line for a whole day.
And granted, kids laugh at stuff we adults think isn’t especially funny (like my grandsons, who go full-on hysterical when they hear a little tune called The Poop Song, which makes us adults want to poke our eyes out with a fork).
And true, tourist attractions aren’t everyday life. However, they suggest that we could do the same as these families with kids, and intentionally put ourselves in the path of fun and laughter.
Listen in for a few ways to do exactly that in your own life!
NOTES:
Baughan, Jill. “Podcast Episode 11: Git After It.” Find Joy…No Matter What Podcast, May 18, 2020.
Gerloff, Pamela. “You’re Not Laughing Enough, and That’s No Joke.” Psychology Today, June 21, 2011.
Gott-Schoupinsky, Freda. “How to Laugh More.” Psyche, March 17, 2021.
“Kid Reviewed: The Science of Fun.” Tennessee Sounds Perfect.
“Reilly: Why Men Love the Stooges and Women Don’t.” The Sun Chronicle, April 29, 2000.
“The Three Stooges—Epic Pie Fight.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqUmdAaGq-4
“Ultimate Dog Tease.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGeKSiCQkPwb
