Follow Me on My Journey to the ‘New Normal’
When Life Gives you Lemons, You Watch Dave Chappelle
https://play.ht/articles/d9683f630bf1
We needed to laugh today. He started his morning with a shot to take the edge off. He needed a laugh.
I didn’t realize this till today, but laughter makes everything so light. The act of pushing out the muscles on the side of the mouth, while squeezing the abs, makes even the thickest of airs, thin. It is as if showing all of our teeth, and shedding a tear from laughing, humbles us enough to realize our sadness, is not permanent. The laughter made it temporary.
I’ve noticed depression is like a game of roulette, not the one with gun and bullet, but the one in a casino. You don’t know which number you’ll get, on any day, at any time. Its a mixture of luck, odds, and consistency that may give you the winning number or the crappy one. Each day is different. Hell, each hour is different.
Laughing helps a lot. Seeing his teeth and cheeks push up against the corner of his eyes, makes me smile again, and it makes me light too. Because we are okay again.
“It’s a good thing we didn’t watch Ozark,” he told me as the credits rolled.
“Yes, it’s a very good thing.”
I tend to pick gritty, sad, troubling, overthinking shows, or documentaries. The dark and realistic side of humanity attracts me because it fuels my anger toward the world. It validates my opinions, and being right and angry is addictive.
He told me once, after binge-watching The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez, “You like to watch drama because you don’t have any.”
He is right.
He has a lot, so he avoids watching it on TV. He’d rather laugh silly or watch a bunch of unrealistic explosions and car chases.
We are so different, yet so alike. It’s love beyond the lust phase, where we get it and accept it.
I remember he couldn’t watch the show with me, because it would give him nightmares, about his two youngest living thousands of miles away. Me without the burdened of a far-away child, can watch it from my couch, and shake my head, in self-righteous anger.
I’m glad I nodded when he highlighted the Mark Twain Prize with Dave Chappelle’s face.
We sat four inches apart on the couch and laughed. Even when the subjects were sensitive to either him or me, we still laughed. It was the most effective equilibrium — laughter.
Forbes.com wrote in an article that research showed, laughing has anti-inflammatory benefits, which could help with one’s cardiovascular health.
Comedians may be onto something.
I thought the saying, ‘laughter is the best medicine’ was just a myth told to make someone smile.
I was wrong.
Although I didn’t get a six-pack from cackling for over a minute, it’s nice to know my heart got a workout.
I get it. More laughter. More often.
I was starting to worry, I would have to take out the clown nose, and shoes, soon. Instead, I’ll turn on a comedy special.
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