The other day, I came across a meme that lists different bears from pop culture. This meme includes a description of each iconic character and encourages you to choose the bear that best describes your current mental and physical states amid the ongoing pandemic. One of the options is “Yogi Bear,” and that option is associated with your life having fallen apart to the point that you now find yourself wearing only a top hat and necktie and stealing all of your meals. I lost it. Even as I write this, I’m laughing, thinking about it. For some reason, the image it conjures is absolutely hilarious to me!

A big laugh like that was cathartic, too. However, as is usually the case, I couldn’t help but to start overanalyzing the idea of laughing at something so absurd, and that led me down a rabbit hole, in which, among other things, I discovered an article (https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/emotions/5-types-of-laughter.htm) that maintains there are 10 types of laughter: belly, canned, contagious, cruel, etiquette, nervous, pigeon, silent, snorting and stress-relieving (Now known as “Yogi Bear?”).

The names are pretty self-explanatory, with the possible exception of “pigeon,” which is also the only type of laughter listed that I don’t think I’ve experienced. According to the article, pigeon laughing is a type of closed mouth laughter that, apparently, has a place in therapy and yoga. Who knew?

I wish I could say that all of this is leading to something conclusive, but, for me, it’s really just been a reminder of the importance of laughter. In researching this wonderful physical reaction, I was also reminded of the fact that we, as humans, are able to laugh before we can speak, which, I suppose, makes laughter inherently human, and maybe that’s why it can so effortlessly leave us grounded and in the moment–regardless of what we happen to find ourselves not wearing.

By Bannon Backhus