The Villages - January 2018 - 8

EnrichmEnt OppOrtunitiEs

Add Humor To Your Life and
How To Live Happily Ever After

Instructor: Lindsay Collier

f laughter is medicine, Lindsay Collier is a physician.
He is a 12-time author and keynote speaker whose
books offer creative tips on living longer and growing
younger through humor - heavy doses of humor.
After serving as a captain in the Army, Collier worked as
an engineer for Kodak. But his fascination with creativity
in the workplace led to other things.
"I realized creativity had a lot to do with humor," he
said. "I continued to research it."
Collier became Kodak's expert in creativity and innovation, starting one of the first corporate humor rooms.
"It was a place people could go to get out of their thinking boxes," he said. "When you get people laughing and
smiling, creativity comes out more powerfully."
Collier began writing books on creativity in business. He
spoke at events internationally and attended seminars to
inspire his new venture.
"I went to a conference in Saratoga Springs, New York
- The Humor Project," he said.
It has been 35 years, but he still remembers one presenter's powerful message.
The woman was a psychologist, but she
never said a word. She simply walked up
to the stage, at first appearing angry. She
scowled at the crowd. Then, she cracked
a smile. Soon she was chuckling and, ultimately, she burst into laughter.
"There she was, just belly laughing at
the audience," Collier said. "And suddenly, all 350 people erupted in
laughter. That's the infectious
nature of humor. It's a contagion you want to catch,
and laughter is the same in
every language."
Collier continued to
write on humor in the
workplace. Soon after,
he penned other books
on humor and happiness
outside of the office. He
took an early retirement to

JANUARY 2018

write and pursue his inspirational projects.
"When I moved to The Villages I spoke with neighborhood groups and started writing books on topics that are
relevant here - how to survive loss, for example," he said.
Much of that content was personal, complete with lessons he learned as he coped with his wife's death when she
lost her battle with cancer in 2000.
To the Enrichment Academy curriculum, Collier brings
two of his most popular talks - "Add Humor to Your Life"
and "How to Live Happily Ever After." The latter comes
with a money-back guarantee, he said jokingly.
Collier's simple strategies challenge students to smile
more and think about the things that make them happy.
"It's a matter of supercharging your sense of humor
and creating a smile mindset," he said.
Collier admits some of his tactics are zany - making
faces at yourself in the mirror, for example.
"When you give it a shot, you'll find that it works," he
said.
His one-hour classes teach the process of writing your
own story, starting with compiling folders marked for various life eras and then filling them with related memories
and facts.
"You continue to toss in ideas and soon you have
enough to begin writing a story," he said. "You can search
different websites to remind yourself how much gas cost in
those days and what happened in the news. Those kinds of
facts help jog your memory and make interesting tidbits to include in your story."
Collier would like everyone who attends his classes to enjoy the brief lessons and indulge in some laughter.
"If you're naturally a pessimist,
you can become an optimist," he
said. "It just takes some training."

When you get people
laughing and smiling,
creativity comes out
more powerfully.
- Lindsay Collier

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Villages - January 2018