Business Profile: Melody Fleming, Teacher delves into funny business

Public Record, The, Oct 12, 2004 by Kleinschmidt, Janice

Fleming also is writing her second book; her fast book about teen pregnancy - Pregnant, Pissed and Perplexed - was published in 1997. First, she says, she looked at self-help books in the bookstore and wondered what more she could say. But she decided her "laughter therapy plan" had value, and she has a publisher interested in the project.

Irony comes in the writing. "It has been hard to write because I get so serious when I go to write about the importance of laughter in your life," she says. "I have to put my [clown] nose on and look in the mirror." The working title of the book, which she expects to finish in December, is Laughter: Your Ultimate Survival Skill - A Grouch's Prevention Handbook.

Among the tips Fleming offers (besides having a clown nose in reserve to diffuse tense situations) is keeping a "funny diary." She recommends people log humorous events that have happened to them and then refer to the diary when they want a lift. "Even the memory of something funny your brain will respond to," she says.

In today's world where people are bombarded with negative news and situations on a daily basis, laughter is paramount to mental and physical well-being. Anyone, Fleming believes, can learn to apply that theory, "You have to work at keeping a positive attitude," she says. "It's not something you either have it or you don't."