F is for Funny

I find the funny in just about everything. Not because life is always light, but because sometimes laughter is the only way through the heavy stuff. Humor has been my coping mechanism for as long as I can remember. It’s how I survive moments that might otherwise undo me. If you’ve ever been around my sister MaryJane and me together, you already know this. We laugh at everything. Once it starts, it’s nearly impossible to stop. It is absolutely not wise to seat us together in any places that require seriousness, reverence, or self control. Funerals, church, maybe a courtroom, a hospital waiting room, anywhere quiet really. Whatever you do, do not put us across from each other where we are bound to make eye contact, because once that happens, it’s all over, pretty much the point of no return. One subtle smirk, widened or squinted eyes or raised eyebrows and we are suddenly fighting for composure like our lives depended on it. Even when we aren’t together, but on the phone, the laughter will start and several minutes will go by with no spoken words, just silence because we are each on the other end of the phone laughing so hard, we can’t make a noise until one of us just gasps a deep breath, snorts or squeals, then we laugh some more to the point our stomachs feel like we did a million sit ups. We also have this gift, or maybe it’s a curse, of starting a conversation, finding the funny part and then continuously adding ridiculous, far fetched, overly exaggerated, yet hilarious scenarios. 

There’s something great about that kind of laughter, the kind that bubbles up without warning. The kind that reminds you that joy still can exist even when the circumstances say otherwise. 

We’ve laughed through tears, exhaustion, through moments that were anything but funny on the surface. I think at times like that, laughter is what kept us upright.

 I have always believed humor is a gift, not a dismissal of pain, but a companion to it. Humor doesn’t mean I don’t take life seriously, it means I refuse to let it crush my spirit. I can acknowledge heartbreak and still usually find something to laugh about. I can sit in grief and still crack a joke. Both can exist at the same time. 

More often than not, laughter opens up the door to healing, mine and sometimes, someone else’s too. A shared giggle, a perfectly timed joke, a quick witted comment., a moment of levity that reminds us that we are still human. 

Funny doesn’t mean shallow, it means resilient in my opinion. It means choosing joy when it would be easier to crawl under a rock. It means finding light in the cracks and letting it spill out however it can, even if that looks like uncontrollable laughter at the worst possible moment. So yes, F is for funny, for laughter that makes a connection, humor that lightens the room and a sister that can unravel me with a single look. Laughter isn’t just something I do when life is hard, it’s part of who I am. It’s how I celebrate the ordinary, how I savor the moment, how I turn everyday chaos into shared joy. 

Laughter is woven into my life like a familiar language, spoken fluently and often. As long as there is something to smile about or even something ridiculous to laugh at, I’ll keep choosing humor, simply because life is better when I do.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit, dries up the bones.” ~Proverbs 17:22

After watching Barb Higgin's & Gracie Banzoff's "Boomer" episode, I had to come back and add this quote to this post,  which Barb metioned: “Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing.” -Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest