Is it okay to laugh when you're living with Parkinson's? You know, some people think that laughing makes it seem like you're not taking things seriously, but I believe it's the exact opposite. So sometimes laughing is the only thing that gets me through. Today, we're diving deep into humor matters, how laughter saved my sanity more times than I can count, and why it's not enough to just laugh. It's essential. So stick around. There's one. You know, I'm making myself laugh already. Stick around. This one's for every stubborn, hopeful fighter who still knows how to smile. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Living with Parkinson's, the good, the bad, and the reality. And if you're new here, my name's Bryce, and this podcast is all about real talk, real hope, and real life with Parkinson's. We cover the messy moments, the funny fails, the small victories, and everything in between. And if you enjoy these types of honest conversations, feel free to hit the subscribe button. No pressure, just an invitation. And if you want to dive deeper into connection, come check out The Inner Circle. It's a private membership where we go meet live on Zoom once a month. We laugh, we cry, we share what's really going on. You'll find the link in the description if you're watching on YouTube, and there's a join button actually right below this video. You can hit join and make sure you click on The Inner Circle, the next Zoom meeting where we're just going to hang out together is the first week of May. So click on now. No pressure again, but would love to see you there. But today I want to talk about laughter. Laughter is survival. So Parkinson's is heavy, right? Like the day you hear the words, you have Parkinson's, it feels like the floor disappears beneath you. There's grief, there's fear, there's loss. But somewhere along the way, I realized something really crucial. If I didn't find a way to laugh, even a little, this disease was going to break me from the inside out. It really was, and I'm sure you felt that way or are feeling that way. I want to be really clear about something. Laughing isn't ignoring reality, it's surviving. Okay. I'll tell you a story. Apparently, and I got a lot of comments from that last video about my story. So I guess I'm a bit of a storyteller. As a matter of fact, my friends when I was growing up, they used to say that Bryce lived in a cartoon world. And what does that mean? I never quite understood it, but it's kind of like they said, I'm the type of person that if anything's going to happen to somebody, it's going to happen to Bryce. And number two, they also said, some people have said, it was sort of like the Bugs Bunny and the Roadrunner. They said, I'd be running or getting into some mischief. And I had one of those little circle things I could just throw in front of me and it turned into a hole and I could just disappear. And somehow I was okay. I don't know. But anyway, let me tell you this story. And I'll never forget this. This is crazy. So I was walking through the airport and this wasn't that long ago and I was trying to act normal. And it was one of those things that was a long day. I was stressed out. I was tired. I was probably a little bit off. Not sure. Kind of probably messed up my pill schedule. I'm not, I can't quite remember exactly where I was at, but okay. So I'm walking through the airport, but suddenly, like suddenly bam, my right arm, it swings out just like Parkinson's, right? Swings out, smacks this night, my carry-on bag, right? I had my carry-on bags in there, smacks the bag so hard that it knocked over this whole display of that overpriced water bottles. And everybody stops and stares. It was kind of like right on the edge of the terminal. You know, you're walking through the hallway and there's this, um, um, display of water, right? And it looked, I knew it. I mean, you know what? It was one of those ones I looked at. I'm like, why would someone do that? Someone's going to knock that over. So I set my stuff down anyway, all over the place. Everybody's staring at me, staring at me. It was just crazy. And the old me, I would have died inside. Like I literally would have been like so embarrassed, beet red, everything going crazy. Excuse me one second. I got hearing aids and now it's like, give me some feedback, but that's okay. But the new me, I kind of like shrugged and I just said like really loudly, apparently I've activated the self-destruct sequence and people around me started laughing and I laughed and it was just funny. And just like that, I broke the tension. Didn't have to say anything about Parkinson's, nothing. I just kind of broke the tension. And that's, that's why that is for me, why humor connects us. It connects people. Humor does something really powerful. It reminds people that you're still you. You're not just that person with Parkinson's. You're a human being who can find absurdity in the absurd circumstances. And when you lead with humor, you can invite connection. You take the power back from awkwardness. All right, here's another classic for me. So I might've told this before, but I'll tell it again because it's one of those ones that sticks with me, but I'm at this formal fundraising dinner and I'm cutting into my roast beef and suddenly, you know, like suddenly my hand slips, you know, go figure, right? Gravy everywhere, gravy everywhere, including the person besides me's dress shirt. I want to sink to the floor. I want to get out of the table. I'm so embarrassed. Instead, I lean over and I just said, well, clearly the cow, the cow had one final move plan and the table just erupted with laughter and there was no shame. There's no pity. It's just a human moment. It's a human moment. And I was having this discussion with my wife the other day and she, she was like, oh, you people of Parkinson's, like we were joking around, but she's like, you people of Parkinson's, like, you think it's always just, she says, how many times I've knocked over the water? And I'm like, really? Oh, you know, how many times have you knocked it over an entire, um, display of water everywhere? And Bryce, he's done it a few times. I've knocked, I've bumped with my, um, grocery carts a few times. I mean, I've done it a few times, but like she said, like I've spilled gravy on people. I've spilled wine on people. Like, so she said, don't be so hard on yourself. It happens to everybody. And I'm like, okay, yeah, I get that. I mean more to us though. Right. But anyway, I want to say this as clearly as I can, um, that, you know, you have permission to laugh, right? You're allowed to find joy. You're allowed to be happy. You're allowed to moments that are purely silly. Even if in, even if in the middle of these serious struggles, right? Laughing doesn't mean you're not struggling. And I want to be really clear. Laughing doesn't mean you're not struggling. It means you're human, right? It means you're human and laughing and putting a smile on your face or somebody else's, um, goes a long way. It really, really does. It really does. And, um, you know, if you're watching this, even this far, if you've made it through those two stories and maybe have put a little bit of a smile on your face, um, then I'm glad because that's what I want to do today. I want to get you to smile. Life's hard, right? Life's hard without Parkinson's, right? Add that in and it's hard. Um, and you know what? Maybe you don't have, maybe somebody might say, you know, easy for you. I don't have a sense of humor. I'm not funny or I'm not that quick, or I can't think of something on the fly. Well, then borrow mine, you know, think of some of the things I say and just repeat it. And I had an old friend of mine used to say that, you know, the first time you, you, um, quote somebody or, you know, quote somebody, you can say, you know, who said it? You can say, Hey, uh, Bryce Perry from the, you know, Bryce from this, uh, this podcast, Parkinson's podcast said this, right? The second time you use it, you just say, I heard this somewhere. And the third time it's all yours. So there you go. Anyway, um, I'm going to tell you this other thing. There's one time I froze at the bottom of an escalator. Okay. Like the full body freeze, like full body. Couldn't stop. Couldn't step forward. People were piling up behind me and getting irritated. Like I was just had come up the elevator, the escalator. So it was a few steps in front. So people are coming down and I'm like this barrier right in front of the escalator and they're having to go around me. And I could feel people like breathing on me. I can feel like the side here, the size, it was just crazy. They're irritated, complete nightmare. So finally the security guard comes over and he asked if I was okay. And I just looked at him dead serious. And I just said, yeah, um, I'm just buffering. Apparently you have bad wifi in here. So just give me a second. And he just looked at me like really puzzled. And then all of a sudden he just broke out laughing and I laughed as well. And it was, it was quite funny, but you know, somehow that made it easier to move on. And you know, there's a real science actually behind this too. Laughing releases endorphins, right? And it, it lowers your cortisol, um, which is your stress hormone and it helps your brain handle pain better. Laughter literally makes living with Parkinson's more bearable, not just emotionally but physically. So random comedy movie, watch a movie tonight, laugh, enjoy, enjoy. If you laugh, it's going to release things that honest to God helps. It really, really does. I'm going to tell you this one time, you know, we talked about the inner circle and if, if, uh, if you are part of the inner circle, you know, hi, if you're, if you're not, there's a, there's a link in the description below and that's a monthly zoom call just with me, me and like my, my, my, my inner circle, people that were doing life, we're doing it like together. Um, it's kind of like a, it's like my, it's like my private support group with my, my peeps, right? And we have some space available. So, uh, if you want, there's a join button below this video, you can just join, join us, right? There's one coming up right away within the next two weeks. Um, and you can come and enjoy it. It's a great time and I can help help you as well. Talk, we can chat. We just, we're going to do it together. We're going to live life together. But, um, there's one night there was this, um, zoom call, right? And someone made a joke about freezing like mid hug. And then it turned into this like ridiculous improv bit. I was laughing so hard that I had to turn my camera off because, um, for a second, because it's like crying. Like I was laughing so hard that it just turned into crying. And it was one of the best nights that I've ever had since my diagnosis, not because the Parkinson's went away, but because for that moment, it was, it wasn't the center of the universe. I realized in that moment that this had nothing to do with Parkinson's. Like it was like literally sitting there with my friends on the zoom call and sitting there and just laughing and not even thinking about it. And it was just this incredible moment. It was so deep. It was, it was amazing. So very healing, if that makes sense. Very, very clean. And, and listen, some days, some days you don't feel like laughing and that's okay too. Humor isn't a replacement for grief at all. It's a companion. It's a tool in the survival kit, not a mask you have to wear all the time. There are days when I cry, there's days when I rage, there's days I'm frustrated and there's days I laugh and there's days when I, I trip on my own foot and I laugh because what the heck else are you going to do? Both things can be true, can't they? One of the biggest fears with Parkinson's is losing yourself, losing the you that you recognize. Every time you laugh, every time you crack a joke or smile through the mess, you're proving that you're still in, you're still in there. That fire, that wit, that spark, it's not gone. It might flicker. It might hide sometimes, but it's still yours. It's still yours. And that's what I'm going to say. Smile, laugh. You have permission. And if this episode gave you permission to smile, laugh again, hit the like button and leave a comment below. How about you share a moment with me, share a moment in the comments when Parkinson's made you laugh, even if it wasn't funny at first, I, you know, I read and I reply to every single comment personally. Um, and I'll be honest, we get a lot of comments, so I might be a little behind, but trust me, I will get to it. I promise you I will. Everyone, every single one. And like I said earlier, you know what, if you want more, even more community, then check out the inner circle. Once a month, we hop on a zoom call, no filters, no pretending. It's one of the most encouraging things that I do. I love it. It's one of my favorite days of the entire month and the next call is coming soon. So there's a link in the description below, or you can click on join. If you're watching on YouTube, there's no pressure, honestly, no pressure, no expectations, just presence. So thank you. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for laughing with me. And remember you're still here and that is worth celebrating and I'll see you in the next one.