42 pages • 1-hour read
How to Giggle: A Guide to Taking Life Less Seriously
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Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes depictions of gender discrimination, emotional abuse, and mental illness.
Chapter 1 Summary and Analysis: “Giggly Squad Origin Story”
Using their individual and collaborative vocational stories as examples, Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo argue that happiness and success are more achievable for women than society suggests.
According to Berner, finding contentment and fulfillment in work can happen by chance. Berner worked a job she didn’t like after college because she was led to believe that she must withstand this boring work before she could realize her full potential. However, after leaving that job and being fired from another, she discovered her love for making comedy videos and found fulfillment from her work in entertainment. She recalls the day she got a direct message from a stranger on social media about a role in a reality television show, Summer House. She trusted her gut, took the call, and soon secured a new job. Her family was worried about the opportunity, but Berner didn’t let this anxiety stand in her way. Because she took chances and didn’t give up, she soon met DeSorbo, with whom she’s worked for almost 10 years.
According to DeSorbo, the journey to success and contentment is all about acknowledging and facing one’s fears. She uses her work to launch Front Paige News (her Instagram series) as an example. Everyone doubted her ability to make the series work, but she trusted herself, and the series did well. Through Front Paige News, she took even more chances, one day messaging another video creator and securing the interview that led her to Summer House and Berner. She argues that being fearless can lead to surprising success.
As collaborators, Berner and DeSorbo turned a bad experience with Summer House into a full-time, fulfilling career for themselves. One day, they were laughing and joking during a meeting, and their boss ridiculed them for it. Instead of cowering, the authors turned their boss’s verbal abuse into the inspiration for Giggly Squad, recording their amusing conversations and posting them online. They emphasized sharing jokes to withstand difficult circumstances—particularly during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. Their work (which has become their passion) has helped people find levity amid anxiety. They hold that believing in oneself and facing one’s fears can put one on a happier path. Simply learning to laugh at their circumstances helped Berner and DeSorbo find their passions.
Like many personal development texts, How to Giggle weaves together elements of self-help and memoir. This grounds the authors’ advice in real-world examples, demonstrating its potential efficacy. However, Berner and DeSorbo’s heavy emphasis on personal biography risks alienating readers coming from different backgrounds. For example, Berner and DeSorbo’s discussion of career fulfillment implicitly presumes an upper-middle-class context, including a college education and networking opportunities, that may not be accessible to everyone.
Chapter Lessons
- Trusting one’s instincts is important, even in the face of others’ doubt.
- It’s vital to be open to life’s surprises, even amid discouragement or disappointment.
- Doing scary things is worthwhile, as overcoming one’s fears can lead to happiness.
- The individual, not society, should decide who they are and the kind of future they want.
Reflection Questions
- Berner describes her setbacks and anxiety at her first jobs. How have disappointment and fear influenced your job experiences? How does Berner’s work to overcome these emotional setbacks offer insight into facing your own fears?
- Berner and DeSorbo took a risk when launching Giggly Squad. What risks do you feel hesitant to take on your own path to success and happiness? Identify the fears that might be holding you back and consider the possible benefits of facing these fears.
Chapter 2 Summary and Analysis: “Bits We Are Committed To”
Berner and DeSorbo argue that life is a joke, a mindset they believe can not only help one feel more relaxed and capable but also help realize one’s dreams. The authors have embraced this way of thinking throughout their careers by committing to a series of bits they invented together. These comedy bits have helped them to take seemingly overwhelming situations less seriously.
The authors offer examples of their bits to show how laughing at themselves and at life in general has made their daily experiences more enjoyable. Embracing this mindset has helped them to overcome obstacles great and small, from dying their hair the wrong color to applying to jobs they knew they were underqualified for. In each of these scenarios, Berner and DeSorbo reminded themselves that life is just one long bit, which helped them deemphasize their fears of “failure, embarrassment, or judgment” (18).
Berner’s relationship with her now husband Des offers the most extreme example of how treating life like a joke can lead to surprising outcomes. Berner started sending Des engagement ring pictures when they first started dating. She was only doing a bit, but Des played along, and six months later, he proposed. This is an example of how laughing at life can help manifest one’s desires, or happiness in general. The authors hold that people who laugh more often will feel less stressed while opening themselves to life’s surprises.
While the book is largely anecdotal rather than research-based, science does back its contentions about the utility of humor. For example, laughter has been shown to have both psychological and physical benefits, boosting mood while altering pain perception and stress hormones (Powell, Alvin. “A Laugh a Day Keeps the Doctor Away?” The Harvard Gazette, 25 Jan. 2023).
Chapter Lessons
- Laughing more often can combat stress and anxiety.
- Changing one’s mindset about mistakes or fears can make one’s goals more achievable.
- Embracing a carefree spirit can make the journey toward realizing one’s dreams enjoyable.
Reflection Questions
- Berner and DeSorbo describe the bits they’ve come up with to laugh at their lives. What “bits” might you invent and use to withstand potential anxiety-inducing situations?
- Identify the roadblocks to your own dreams. How might approaching these roadblocks with a more carefree mindset help you overcome these obstacles?
Chapter 3 Summary and Analysis: “The Power of Being Delulu”
When feeling stuck or discouraged, Berner and DeSorbo stress the importance of being “delusional”—a mindset that allows the individual to believe in impossible opportunities. They argue that any goal is achievable if one allows oneself to dream. Dreaming is a form of delusion that Berner and DeSorbo have embraced in their own lives. They use their journeys from childhood toward adult success as examples of using delusion as a tool for manifestation.
Berner notes that believing in herself even when she was down led her from a career in tennis to a career in television and podcasting. Berner’s “delusions” began in childhood: She was told she couldn’t play tennis but went on to play professionally. After college, she saw a YouTube video that convinced her she wanted to be “a comedy video producer” (27). She found a job doing this work just a few days later, even though she wasn’t qualified. Being delusional helped her believe in herself, pushed her to take risks, and compelled others to see her value. This mindset is particularly important for women in the arts, as they have been culturally disregarded in the workforce. She provides examples of celebrities who, like herself, embraced their delusions to achieve what they wanted.
For DeSorbo, embracing delusion helped her realize her dream of moving to New York City and establishing herself in the entertainment world. She was an anxious child who disliked school. However, once she realized her passion for entertainment, she felt more motivated, and her delusion to prove herself in the field ushered her toward success.
Berner and DeSorbo acknowledge that being “delusional” doesn’t mean the absence of fears or insecurities. Descriptions of their own experiences of nervousness and self-doubt reframe their advice to accommodate the anxiety that often accompanies setting high goals for oneself. This is particularly important given the work’s target audience, as women are more likely to experience feelings of inadequacy in their professional lives (Cox, Daniel A., Kelsey Eyre Hammond, and Jessie Wall. “Despite Professional Successes Many Women Still Experience Imposter Syndrome.” Survey Center on American Life, 15 Mar. 2023). In this sense, “delusions” serve as a corrective to imposter syndrome, encouraging women to embrace dreams and roles that may feel uncomfortable at first.
Chapter Lessons
- Delusion is a form of dreaming that can help one realize one’s goals.
- Refusing to let others’ negative opinions dictate one’s life can free one from anxiety and self-doubt.
- “Delusion” is a mindset that imparts confidence, fearlessness, and humor.
Reflection Questions
- Berner and DeSorbo use their own experiences to show the positive aspects of being “delusional.” Are there barriers to your own success that delusion could help you overcome?
- Do you consider yourself sensitive to others’ opinions? What is one area of your life where letting go of that sensitivity might help you embrace your potential?
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