Welcome to The VERB!

When I first moved away from the South, back in the 90s, I of course found it difficult to leave my family and friends. And I so looked forward to going home for visits. I loved flying into Nashville (we couldn't take a direct flight to Chattanooga), greeting my family at the gate, breathing in the Tennessee air and then gagging on the humidity that dropped like a wet blanket. We usually stayed a couple of weeks and during that time we visited other relatives and old haunts, cooked and ate oodles of homemade Southern dishes and in general enjoyed, as my dad would say, "good fellowship all around." But there was always a down side to these visits: heading back to the airport and saying goodbye.

On one of these trips, as I was packing to leave, my sister Lynn suggested we watch a movie. Neither the title nor the actor rang a bell with me, but she said she'd rented it at the local video store because she heard it was funny. I wasn't really in the mood to watch a movie, but I thought, What the hay? Let's give it a looksee.

Well, we sat down with our glasses of Chablis and before long we were howling so loud, the kids came in to see what the racket was about. By the time the credits rolled, our jaws ached. I can't remember anything, before or after, that made me laugh that much. But here's the best part: I was able to leave my hometown without shedding a tear.

The movie? Ace Ventura, Pet Detective. The actor? Jim Carrey. Even now, I have a special place in my heart for the man, and his movies, because of that day in Tennessee. 

I'll never forget it.

And this is why I make sure, everyday, to nurture my sense of humor. Especially now, when news from every direction proclaims doom and gloom. This constant negativity wreaks havoc on the psyche, and can cause even the most positive perspective to become a bit skewed.

Why bother to write? some ask. No one's going to buy my work or anything else, even if they like it, because of this lousy economy.

This simply isn't true. We will always have readers, and we will always buy books. A storyteller must focus on the story. And when he crawls out of his soothing fictional world and comes face-to-face with the harsh nonfictional one, he must, difficult as it may seem at times, stiffen his resolve and... laugh.

Did you know that laughter reduces your level of stress hormones and increases your level of happy ones? Did you know a good belly laugh exercises the diaphragm, contracts the abs and even works out the heart, leaving muscles more relaxed? Did you know that laughter is contagious? When you crack up, you fill the air with positive energy that lifts your neighbors' mood, thereby reducing their stress level. (We recently caught comedian Jim Gaffigan at the Fox, and the laughter grew so thick in the theater, it probably staved off several heart attacks.)

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