Died in the year I was born, Charlie Chaplin was my favorite comic actor in my childhood. Watched his movies in black and white screen, I was astonished by his funny acting, his jokes, his gestures, his mimics, and his funny look even though his movies are silent films. Charlie Chaplin not only affected the art world by making motion pictures the art form of 20th century, but also affected my childhood and my personality. While laughing at him, I’ve realized the power of laughing, its effect on me and on the people around me, its stress relieving and calming effects as well. Laughing has become one of my weapons to influence people with whom I have interaction, to make news friends, to develop camaraderie among friends and so on.

In time, laughing and laughter have gained more power and penetrated more into my inner life. It has been my secret tool to deal with stress and difficult situations. Even during high school, when I was preparing for the university exams, the tough times has been eased with the help of laughing. Now, I remember myself laughing for hours with my classmates, making jokes and having stomache at the end.

Many years later, when I look back into my childhood and teenage years; I realized that I’ve copied and adapted many behaviors, gestures and mimics of Charlie Chaplin’s famous, childlike character Charlotte to my daily life interactions. I still use some of Charlotte’s funny gestures to entertain my children.

Thank you short, but big and funny man. Thank you for making my life more colorful. Thank yor for helping me make many friendships.