Joy and Laughter

Laughter is the best medicine.  That's the saying.  Well, if that is the case then after last night I should be completely cured!  I had been hoping to have one last "Hurrah" before I started chemo.  The opportunity presented itself last night.  I had planned with my sister's a week or so ago that we would go out to Yaletown while they were here visiting.  We could have a swanky night on the town.  So fun!  Well, situations happened, of which I will not speak, and the sister's weren't feeling too up to dolling themselves up to head to the big city.  All the plans I had made were falling through.  Disappointment.  BUT....with a bit of compromise, we were able to salvage the evening and decided last minute to not go into Yaletown, but to go to a more relaxed pub instead on Granville Street.

There weren't as many friends out as I had originally hoped due to the last minute nature of the night, but we had a nice even number of 6 which worked quite well.  Three of my dearest friends from my university days came out to celebrate my last night on the town before my treatments.  I don't get out very often, and I'm not exactly drinking much alcohol at the moment, but having my 2 older sisters and 3 of my honorary brothers with me was enough of a high to keep me going all night.  We shared some pub grub, sipped some beer, took some pictures and posted them on Facebook (of course! haha).  We soon decided to move onto a different venue.  We decided to do KARAOKE.

We went to a karaoke bar where we rented a private room and promptly began to sing our hearts out.  There is something to be said about a room full of 6 adults singing out with wild abandon.  The fact that 4 out of the 6 of us are actors probably helped in the inhibitions (or lack thereof) department.  Katie put it well when she said, "It's refreshing to see men, masculine men, singing and dancing".  It's true gentlemen, if you want to impress a lady, dance and sing without caring how you look or sound.  It's quite freeing!  As a group, there really wasn't very much alcohol consumed.  We were all quite sober (especially me) at the end of the night.  We all marvelled at how much fun we had with the simple 'high' of laughter and fun.

I was reflecting on the way home about how important laughter and joy are in the battle against cancer.  I haven't had a lot of really joyful moments in the past couple months and I've got to wonder what the positive health effects are of having so much fun.  The hormones released from laughing have got to count for something.  I don't think it would matter how well I ate or how much rest I got if I was miserable the whole time.  I've been told that negativity is a killer when it comes to cancer.  Stay away from it at all costs.  We kept negativity at bay last night, and I can look back on that evening of fun as a perfect way to start the next chapter of my journey.  I do believe that laughter could possibly be the best medicine.  Whoever coined that phrase was a very wise person.