Laughing Till I Cry: Why Comedy is the Best Medicine
The last few weeks have been a hell storm of anger, passive aggressive tendencies, and lots of tears. I have discovered that I am deathly allergic to mosquito bites, as I spent two hours in the ER being told that my 14 bites were severely swollen and infected. I broke someone’s heart by being honest with their best interest in mind, and that is life. I have dealt with difficult teachers and assignments that pushed me to the edge. I have gotten into strange arguments with people I am forced to be around. I have had to set boundaries with 4th graders about how to respect their teacher. I could really go on, but realistically, who is that helping?
What I found through this shit storm of a month is that I am really funny when I am at the breaking point. While I sat in the emergency room, waiting to be seen by one of the many doctors dealing with the flu, strokes, heart attacks, etc., all I could think is that I am sitting here with cankles while other people are worried about the flu epidemic. Perspective helped. My mom did not find me nearly as funny; however, the nursing staff thought I was a riot.
My entire week has been spent thinking of the best ways to respond to peoples comments about my ankles and their swollen, bruised, discolored mess. Not a single person made a comment, but I was quick to tell them my cankles joke. Needless to say, it killed every time.
I get a weird high from making other people laugh at my misery. It makes me feel a little less alone when everything the world is throwing at me would usually make me feel isolated. I get to invite people into my trail mix life, and I get to enjoy their laughter and looks of “Oh my god, you cannot be serious”. I have always been dramatic, but I am finally living in a body and mind that allow me to see the humor. For a little while, I was concerned that the people around me only found me funny because I was pretty, but leave it to my fourth graders to bring me back to reality where they tell me how my hair is straight trash. It is nice to have 9 year olds bring me back to reality, I am funny and it has nothing to do with my appearance.
Comedy is the best medicine. Laughter regulates your breathing, makes you take deeper breaths, and also distracts your mind from the terrible parts of the world. I am beyond thankful that I have friends who let me drag them up a mountain and back down, a cool and casual 5 miles. I am grateful for my friends who will make weird innuendo jokes with me and help me study for exams. I am so so so thankful for my friends who answer their phones and respond to my texts with support and love and laughter. Without my friends and family, I would be nothing, and without my comedy, I would be less.
This is something that I told my therapist.