As an aside, I'll just mention here that my first Really Important Book for 2006 was The Sociopath Next Door. I know--the title sounds deceivingly paranoid--but honestly, it's a sensitive, powerful, practical, and enlightening study of conscience. Every time I picked it up (and I almost couldn't put it down) I found an answer to a chronic question, or a piece of comfort, or some clear strategy to help me with what and whom I am currently facing in my life. Read it. You'll probably thank me later for the recommendation.
Just as I felt "led" to the book on sociopathy when I was in the library, I felt compelled to buy the book on humor and healing and start on it right away. Last night, when stress seemed to be winning the contest with sleep, I turned on my little book light and began. What a gift. It's not as if I don't already know that there's a connection between humor and wellness--I wrote a paper on this subject once back in college days--and it's certainly not as if I don't already rely on my sense of humor to keep me afloat, yet it seems like a great shaft of light from heaven is blazing down on me and toasting my head with the idea that now is the time to really learn how to find healing humor in the events of my life and fully understand how best to use it. I know that when I find myself alone in a peaceful kitchen in the last quiet moments before my grandmother is due to get up and start her day, and I realize my hands are shaking so hard that I can't even take my morning cod liver oil(!), something's gotta give.
So this morning, I've been working on an extensive personal funny; I am making a top ten list a la Letterman, and I've let my mind run with it for hours. Will I post it here? I'm still debating. Probably not. But I have laughed out loud a few times already today, and that has been cathartic.
"Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion . . . . I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward." (Kurt Vonnegut)
11 comments:
Now you must post it; your public demands it!
Ah, I think I'd better not, for the sake of delicacy, but I will let it lapse long enough to reveal number one of this top ten countdown:
1. No grits in the afterlife.
And with no further explanation, I winkingly wish you a good night.
Hey, we had grits for breakfast, girlfriend....
And, re: the final quote here, as they say in Steel Mags, "Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion." --I must be really exhausted A LOT of the time! Love you!!!
I love you too, James . . . and on the subject of grits, here's an FYI from a recent Martha newsletter I received:
Comfort food, as a term, first appeared in print in 1977 in the Washington Post Magazine. It was used in reference to grits.
You're preachin' to the choir, Martha! Can I hear a hallelujah?
cheese and bacon grits with fresh ground pepper...gone to carolina in my mind...
My favorite way of eating it when I was growing up "down east" was: with my mom and with lots of chives and stretchy longhorn chedddar butter and a fried egg mixed in. Deadly wonderful. Now that I'm grown I can really get into grits and stinky cheese, or grits and a really good green olive oil and a generous shake of sea salt. I have to lay off grits for a while, but I shall return to them some day.
cheddar AND butter, not cheddar butter
You know, as a woman originally from South Carolina, the best thing about grits was that you could have them smothered with butter and maple syrup but they are utterly without calories. That's because they're "special". I'm with Jamie.
The more we talk about this, the more I want to indulge! To heck with candida! I need some soul food!
Hope I'm not intruding but I wanted to say "Thanks" for the recommendation for "Healing Power of Humor". I'll definitely check it out. It seems to be along the lines of what I'm trying to accomplish with my blog, though I won't know for certain until I read it! :)
~Douglas
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The Splintered Mind - Overcoming Neurological Disabilities With Lots Of Humor And Attitude
Doug: Intruding? Bah! You're an old friend, are you not? I mean a friend with roots, of course, certainly not OLD as in decrepit . . . ! I hope you like the book. It's a light read--as it should be, I guess--and I digest a little bit of it every day, in the hopes that I can put some of what I'm studying into practice. It helps. I also have a "prescription" from my doctor on my fridge that says I must do something fun every day, and that also helps. Thanks for the thanks . . . this makes us the Mutual Appreciation Society now, eh?
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