Laughter launches PTK charity drive
by Shannon Harrison, NE News Editor

    Lollipop the Clown brought healthy laughter to NE Campus last week.
    Laugh for the Health of It, a luncheon sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa, featured guest speaker Ann Norcross (aka Lollipop), director of student activities at North Central Texas College.
    Proceeds from the $3 tickets went to the Cancer Society.
    "In grade school you learned that you had five senses, but what you didn't learn is where your sense of humor comes from," she said. "Our humor comes from our funny bones."
     Norcross said there are two types of people: those who have a sense of humor and those who are humor impaired.
     "The basic foundation of a sense of humor lies in a spirit of playfulness," she said.
     "Being spontaneous can be risky because it is not prepared. As the saying goes, different jokes for different folks. When you die, will people say you died at 30 but were buried at 75?" she asked.
     Norcross said humor and attitude are vital.
     "The first thing to pack in the morning is a good attitude because it's the same thing as a good sense of humor," she said. "Joy, laughter and a good sense of humor are all choices."
     Laughter and crying are similar, Norcross told her audience.
     "People make the same facial expressions and sound the same. Tears shed from crying and laughing have the same health benefits. They have proteins, and they get rid of excess waste," she said.
     The two also are distinct emotions.
     "The difference between laughing and crying is when we laugh, we go beyond ourselves, but in tears of sorrow, we turn inwards," she said.
     "In any circumstance, if we find a little bit of humor, we can relieve a little bit of the pain," she said. Laughter has several healing effects on the body.
     Endorphins are released and cortazol decreases; a natural killer cell that attacks tumors is released.
    T-cells are activated, and infernongama, which fights viruses and regulates cell growth, is released, Norcross explained.
    "Laughter connects our whole brain," she said. "We hear a joke with the left side of our brain; it travels to our right side, and then we laugh."
     Norcross said finding humor is easy.
    "You must aggressively overstate problems, look for irony in stuff, learn to play with words and learn to appreciate surprise," she said.
    Norcross started her career as a co-director of puppet ministries in her church in 1978.
     She later stepped aside but wanted to continue to contribute something, but she was too shy to get up and speak in front of others.
     In 1980 she decided to become a clown for Christ, and Lollipop was born.
     She then moved to the metroplex where she learned more about clowning ways and graduated with a bachelor's degree.
     In May of 1990, she pursued her master's degree at UNT and clowning was her means of support.
     "Clowning gives you a good excuse to be a kid," she said. "People think that after a certain age you can't be silly, but clowning gives me that license to play and have fun," she said.
     PTK is also selling luminaries for $10 to support the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.
     "The night of the race, the candles will be lit and spell out Ôhope.' A luminary can be bought for someone with cancer, someone who had cancer and is in remission and someone who has passed away with cancer," Lynda Davis, PTK president, said.
     For more information on the luminaries, contact Davis at lyndadavis@sbc global.net.