Blogs–Creative Thinking and Innovation

Posted on

Laughter from China to Japan

[Photo credit: Tumisu/Pixabay]

Maybe laughter is the best medicine. 

Norman Cousins, a best-selling author who espoused the importance of emotions in health, was one of them.

His self-prescribed spontaneous humor sessions offered a powerful anesthetic effect that helped with arthritis in his spine.  “I made the joyous discovery that 10 minutes of genuine belly laughter…would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep,” he wrote in 1976.   

Subsequent research has associated laughter and humor with a host of benefits, including higher pain tolerance and overall well-being.  A 2023 meta-analysis found that a laughter intervention was related to a significant reduction in cortisol, the “stress hormone” made by the adrenal glands.

The research extends beyond North America.  In a recent global survey, about 73 percent of participants indicated that they smiled/laughed during much of the previous day. 

And, while comedy bars dot most US cities, the concept of purposeful places of laughter are also found in Japan and China.  Both places are seeing a surge in stand-up comedy. According to the China Association of Performing Arts, ticket sales for comedy shows there jumped 135 percent in 2025. 

The comedy theme in places such Beijing and Shanghai is stress.  Well, at least stress relief.  Young comics delve into topics such as unemployment, the property crisis, and parenting with a humorous lens.    

Whether it is the economy or parenting, “stand-up can offer the comfort of knowing others are experiencing similar struggles,” according to Sarah Wu in The Economist. 

Stand-up has made comedians out of unlikely candidates from food delivery drivers to flight attendants.  While many comedians tend to be young adults, one rural 50-year-old woman found stand-up success in talking about her journey of exiting a challenging marriage.  “A stressed-out society,” Wu wrote, “is finding humour, and solace, in their shared hopes and frustrations.”       

Meanwhile, curiosity is drawing crowds to a Tokyo stand-up bar, opened in April 2022 by a British expat fluent in Japanese.  Most audience members are tourists coming to hear stand-up comedy in English. 

“If you’re on vacation in Tokyo, you’ve done karaoke…you’ve done everything, so you’re like, ‘Now what can we do tonight?’” Katharine Rowan, Operations Manager of the Tokyo Comedy Bar, told me.   

“Nobody thinks to go to Tokyo to see comedy,” she admitted.  Rowan also believes that social media has played a role in the recent upsurge in stand-up popularity. 

Customer expectations may be lower upon entry, but Rowan said that people generally exit being impressed. “We don’t want people to leave saying, ‘Well, that was pretty good for Japan.’  We want people to leave saying, ‘That was pretty good.’”   

Stand-up comedy has been around in Japan for about 15 years, living in the shadows of restaurants and bars without a dedicated space. The Tokyo bar addressed that deficiency, offering 15-20 shows per week by an array of 75 stand-ups, many of whom are from the West. The gig is part-time for most comics, as Rowan estimated that 90 percent have daytime positions. 

The bar has also attracted notable comedians.  Atsuko Okatsuka, a US comedian who spent part of her childhood in Japan, and Melissa Villaseñor, a former “Saturday Night Live” cast member, took the stage at the bar in the past year.

A common mistake for some stand-ups visiting Japan is incorrectly assuming that their material will resonate with audiences.  A bit about politics in the US, for instance, won’t necessarily land with customers from Mumbai or Hong Kong. 

“Because our audience is mostly tourists, we found that they are more interested in hearing about stuff about Japan,” Rowan said. “A lot of the material our comedians do is talking about the lighter side of Japan,” such as the absence of public garbage cans, crowded trains, and washlet toilets.    

Rowan envisions a continued interest in stand-up in the future.  “I think you’ll definitely see more Japanese stand-up than English,” she said.  Those “poorly attended” shows in Japanese from years ago are “now sold out every single week.” 

“I think the general Japanese public is starting to recognize stand-up as a form of comedy,” she said, “whereas before there was just no knowledge of it.” 

Whether Tokyo or Tallahassee, Beijing or Boston, people want to laugh.  Norman Cousins would be smiling at the thought. 

References

Cousins N. (1976). Anatomy of an illness (as perceived by the patient). New England Journal of Medicine, 295(26), 1458–63. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM197612232952605 PMID: 995143

Gallup/World Health Summit. (2025). State of the World’s Emotional Health 2025.  Author.

Kramer C.K., & Leitao C.B. (2023). Laughter as medicine: A systematic review and meta-analysis of interventional studies evaluating the impact of spontaneous laughter on cortisol levels. PLoS ONE, 18(5), e0286260. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0286260

Wu, S. (2025, Nov 15-21). Funny ha-ha. The Economist, pp. 48-49.

Posted on

The “R” in alarm clock sleeping

Photo credit: PIRO/Pixabay

The acronym SCAMPER has been used for decades to generate creative ideas. 

The last letter, “R,” takes reversing the order of something that commonly occurs as a way to develop something new.  Examples include placing the trunk of a car in the front, not the rear, of the vehicle as well as a restaurant that serves dessert at the beginning of the meal.  (Such a place must exist somewhere?) 

I recently read about an “R” example of wellness in a BBC article. 

Eric Verdin, MD, and president and chief executive of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, is a physician specializing in the aging process and related diseases.  In his work, he knows about the importance of sleep, particularly as people get older. 

Yes, genes can affect sleep patterns, as can factors such as work schedules, lighting, and internet use.  Social jet lag takes place when an individual’s internal clocks become mis-synced with their social clock, which is frequently controlled by external influences of daily life (Straub, 2023).

Many articles about sleep hygiene suggest going to bed at the same time each evening. 

“The reason for this is we’re circadian beings,” Dr. Verdin said in a recent BBC article. “Our whole biology, from gene expression to metabolism is in synchrony with the 24-hour cycle, and so I tell people, going to bed at the same time each day helps your body to stay really well synchronised to all of this.”

However, translating that idea into reality can be difficult.  Too many outside obstacles can interfere.  

Enter the creative “R” idea from Dr. Verdin.  Instead of considering an alarm clock for waking up, use it for going to bed instead.  That is, set the alarm as an audible mark for preparing to sleep. 

“The idea came front the fact that I wanted to be able to wake up when my body was ready, not when the alarm rang,” Dr. Verdin told me via email.  “I worked on finding out how many hours I needed by setting an alarm in the evening at different times, going to bed, and finding out when I woke up.” 

He eventually decided on a 10pm alarm with a sleeptime around 10:30pm and then waking up spontaneously around 6am.

This alarm clock reminder is an excellent example of reverse ideation…. and probably healthier than eating dessert first.

References:

Cox, D. (2025, November 19). Things you can do in your 30s to improve your health in your 70s.  BBC.com.  https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251118-things-you-can-do-in-your-30s-to-improve-your-health-in-your-70s

Straub, R.O. (2023). Health psychology: A biopsychosocial approach (seventh ed.). Worth Publishers.

Posted on

Wellness idea for the Day: Sleeping better?

I wanted to pass along an idea that came from Sanjay Gupta’s recent (2025) book, It Doesn’t Have to Hurt. Though the book is about pain, it also offers an overview of many wellness topics, including sleep, movement, and nutrition.

Dr. Gupta discussed being a “world-class sleeper,” but admits that this hasn’t always been the case.

His tip? Keeping a notepad by the side of the bed and jotting down items from your day and plans for tomorrow. The idea is designed to alleviate all of those things from the day that interferes with falling asleep. In his words, “The simple act of writing them down–not typing them on my phone but physically writing–allowed me to outsource them from my brain to the paper.”

One thing that he added: “And every person I’ve recommended this to has thanked me, even my teenage daughters!”

Posted on

Giving a hand to creativity and innovation

[Photo credit: ajcespedes/Pixabay]

A football quarterback gets paid for “handing off” the ball.  We “give a hand” to show appreciation at an event. “Hands up” is common when seeking volunteers.  Old clothes may become “hand-me-downs.”   Needing help equals “give me a hand.”  Don’t touch means “hands off.”  A bank robber’s go-to lines are “hands up” and “hand it over.”

“Hand-y” references are plentiful in the English language. 

To fully appreciate the beauty of hands, it might be helpful to know some facts.  First, each hand consists of 29 joints, 123 ligaments, and 27 bones (not including the sesamoid bone that can vary in number to each person).  The tips of fingers are vital to the sensations of pressure, pain, and temperature and are critical in transmitting information to the brain to operate in the world.  Fingers don’t even have muscles. In essence, they are “pseudo puppets” that are moved by muscles in bottom of the hand and arm. 

Technically thumbs are not fingers, though the digit is extremely important.  About half of the hand functioning is due to thumbs, which in fact does have nine muscles in all.

I have recently become intrigued with the “hands-on” aspect of creativity.  I remember a visit to a visit to a museum in Santiago, Chile.  Artifacts dating back hundreds of years reflected creative thinking and innovation in clothing, art, and household goods. I marveled at the ideas.  Just how did people living in the 1100s, for instance, devise these items that added innovation to their cultures?

To go back even further, a handprint was recently found in an Egyptian clay dating back about 4000 years.  

This finding along with my museum visit brought a deepened appreciation of the importance of hands in turning creative ideas into tangible products.  Ideas start in our brains, yet it is the hands that frequently implement them. (Note: I do not mean to imply that hands are essential in creativity.  They aren’t.)   As Jacob Bronkowski said, “The hand is the cutting edge of the mind.”

Ever since Greek times, the hand has been seen as having creative powers.  With its agility and tactility, it can move, change, and create things.  In addition, consider the importance of hand gestures in non-verbal communication.  Simply watch a soccer match or basketball game to see how quickly messages can be sent by hand. 

Hands have truly helped humans adapt to the world, having offered people an openness to the world for millenia.  In the words of Gebauer, “…we construct a world starting with our hands, an incorporated and manipulated world.”

I sought the insight of a hand surgeon, who also echoed these points.

“The hand is a unique organ that allows us to intimately interact with our environment to create art, harvest the field, communicate with sign language, hold hands. or to caress a loved one,” said Dr. Robert Goitz, Chief of the Division of Hand, Upper Extremity and Microsurgery in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. 

“The hand can effectively allow us to interact with our environment with speed, force, and sensitivity that have allowed humans to creatively evolve above all other animals,” he told me.

This body part deserves recognition in the world of innovation.  After all, the future is in our hands.     

References:

BBC. (2025, July 28). Rare 4,000-year-old Egyptian handprint found. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpqvzevep2eo

Gebauer, G. (2019) The creativity of the hand.  Journal of Aesthetics and Phenomenology, 6(2), 185-193, DOI: 10.1080/20539320.2019.1672308

Lloyd, J., & Mitchinson, J. (2008). If ignorance is bliss, why aren’t there more happy people?  Smart quotes for dumb times.  Harmony Books.

University Orthopaedic Associates. (n.d.).  5 incredible things you didn’t know about your hands.  https://uoanj.com/5-incredible-things-you-didnt-know-about-your-hands/

Posted on

Retirement success=E+R?

[Photo credit: Anastasia Shuraeva/Pexels]

I have witnessed many people move into retirement. Some situations were voluntary, others mandatory.  Some people flourished.  Others declined.  To better understand these differences, I frequently ask people, “What advice would you have for a successful retirement?” 

After all, retirement may not bode well for the brain.  Heightened risks for cognitive decline and depression can loom for some entering this life chapter (Ravindranath, 2025).  In the older adult population, those individuals who are retired face higher levels of depression (Dang et al., 2022). 

My conclusion at the moment: Successful retirement equals E+R.  That is, “exercise” plus “relationships.” Perhaps the two things can even go hand in hand.  It is a simplified formula, of course, and a preliminary thought about well-being at this juncture.

Exercise (“E”) represents one of the pillars of lifestyle psychiatry.  However, many people fall short of the CDC recommendations for physical activity.  The National Council on Aging related that less than one-third of older Americans meet the suggested mark in this category. 

Viswanathan (2024) outlined the advantages of exercise at any age, including the release of brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF), improved cognitive functioning, and an increased volume of the hippocampus.  It can also help with the reduction in the prevalence of depressive symptoms.

Another upside of exercise is its positive effect on chronic inflammation, which is a concern in both a cause and in signs of disease.  People with sedentary lifestyles tend to have higher levels of inflammation, and consistent movement often has beneficial effects (Friedman, 2025).

“R” (relationships), another pillar in lifestyle psychiatry, are equally important.  Beebe (2022) pointed to research finding that nearly 25% of people aged 65 or over are socially isolated.  “This circumstance,” she added, “is often terrible for your health, including your heart.”

The link to mental health and other areas of physical health is also clear.  Social isolation poses  health risks equal to smoking, hypertension, and obesity.  Social connections may even affect neurobiological circuitry in our brains and psychological resilience (Noordsy, Abbott-Frey, & Chawla, 2024).

Combining the “E” and “R” is one idea: Exercising with others could be a healthy option.  According to the National Council on Aging, some programs offered by community organizations have evidence-based benefits in health for older individuals. 

Another possibility—which holds for people of any age—is green space.  Walking in nature has multiple benefits from improved overall mental health and cognition to decreased mortality and cardiovascular disease, according to Peter James at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Moran, 2023). 

The hypothesis for this effect, James said, goes back to our roots: “We like being in nature because we are nature, we evolved in nature.  This is the setting we were meant to be in”  (Moran, 2023).    

Admittedly, the E+R equation is basic.  Other factors, such as diet, could be added, yet it seems to me that the exercise and relationship components are fundamental to success in retirement. 

References

Beebe, J. (2024, November 7). 10 worst habits for your heart.  AARP.  https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/avoiding-unhealthy-heart-habits/

Dang, L., Ananthasubramaniam, A., & Mezuk, B. (2022). Spotlight on the challenges of depression following retirement and opportunities for interventions.  Clinical Interventions in Aging, 17, 1037–1056. doi: 10.2147/CIA.S336301

Friedman, D. (2025, March 19). Here’s one more reason to try to exercise. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/19/well/move/inflammation-exercise.html

Moran, M. (2023, November). Movement emerges to include green space as a social determinant of mental health.  Psychiatric News, pp. 16, 37.

National Council on Aging. (2023, December 1). Exercise programs that promote senior fitness. https://www.ncoa.org/article/exercise-programs-that-promote-senior-fitness/

Noordsy, D., Abbott-Frey, A., & Chawla, V. (2024, March). Lifestyle psychiatry emphasizes behaviors supporting mental health. Psychiatric News, 29-32.

Viswanathan, R. (2024, July 19).  Exercise is neuroplastic medicine.  Psychiatric News.  https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.pn.2024.08.8.45