Laughter

Close your eyes for a few seconds and think of a laugh that comes to mind. Surely, remembering it has drawn a smile on your lips and changed your mood a little. Laughter has power. Technically, laughter is: "A movement of the mouth and other parts of the face, which shows joy. It is the voice or sound that accompanies laughter." According to this official meaning, laughter is both the expression, the facial gesture, and a specific sound that, no matter where it is heard, is easily identifiable. The reflexive verb of laughing and laughter itself is extremely transformative; laughter protects you, takes care of you, saves you. There are many types of laughter, there is also hostile laughter, sarcastic and ironic laughter, but these do not interest us now.

Today I want to talk to you about the power of laughter. About the power of a good guffaw, of a fit of laughter… the power of a big, deep, wide, and free mouth that contracts, opens, closes, smiles, and releases unique and unrepeatable sounds. That explosion, that spontaneity of joy, of endorphins, of love, of complicity, of assent, of vitality, is infallible. You cannot provoke laughter; laughter jumps out and appears, it is defiant. Laughter explodes from your guts, from your brain, from your heart, from an emotion, from intellect, from humor, from fear and from anger too. Laughter makes you fall in love.

A therapy with philosophical undertones has even been developed from laughter, laughter therapy, where groups of people, guided by therapists, meet and provoke laughter to generate endorphins and obtain a feeling of well-being and happiness. Laughter unseats the interlocutor, it is a weapon that makes you gain time and change the tone of the conversation. Laughter brings human beings closer. The philosopher Aristotle already said in the 4th century BC that laughter is what differentiates human beings from animals.

Kamala Harris has opened the debate on laughter. She has put the variable on the table. The lawyer and Vice President of the United States is the Democratic party's candidate to preside over the country. She is a woman, Black, charismatic, smart, elegant, and brave. One of the ways she shows her bravery is when she laughs. She laughs without asking permission or forgiveness, and that bothers the adversary. It bothers half of the conservative, puritanical, repressed, conventional, and traditional country. Laughter has that touch of rogue, of transgression, of freedom, of bad boy, of mischievous, of gang leader, of schoolyard. And that is very difficult to transmit if it's not real.

Laughter is a very clear form of leadership. It is joyful leadership. And from that strong, brave, kind, negotiating, and brazen joy, companies, countries, brands, and societies can be built. We could say that, perhaps laughter, that laughter of Kamala, spontaneous, natural, and complicit, could also be a trait of inclusive and transversal feminism. A trait of that fifth wave of feminism that, like oil stains, is expanding across the globe. Laughter brings us closer and brings out the best in us. Laughter is sexy, charismatic, and winning.