I get quite a few messages and/or comments about the way that I write about life and how funny these things are. I am glad for that. That is my honest goal. I enjoy working on my story-telling abilities as much as I enjoy reading other people's stories.
The reason why my life usually sounds like one joke after another is that I have found when I get frustrated, scared, irritated, angry, or sad it is therapeutic for me to spend my time thinking of the funniest way to relay the story to others. It helps me wrap my mind around what happened, I process it, and then I am already looking to put a positive spin on things.
My husband and I were just visiting tonight about how I try very hard to not be "poor me" because we don't have real problems. A car breaking down, a kid throwing up, pipes freezing taking away my ability to flush my toilet.... these things are obnoxious, but are not real problems. Real problems are sick kids (like, REALLY sick, like cancer-sick, not just a cold-sick), being homeless, losing someone you love, having no access to medical care, being tortured, being extremely sick with a serious illness yourself, etc. I never want to lose sight of how freaking lucky we are as a family to not have real problems. I never want to fall into a pit of negativity so that I cannot recognize the good times when we are having them. Into every life a little rain must fall, so I know that we will not always be so lucky. There will be a day coming when our problems are real problems and will be something too painful to joke away or laugh about.
It isn't that I am not able to be serious when it is needed; I am able to be very serious when it is the right emotion for the time and place. I just prefer for most of my thoughts to remain rather light hearted. Actually, I would invite any friends who are finding themselves getting overwhelmed with life to do this little exercise: next time something gets a strong emotion out of you..... let's say your child has PISSED you off by.... oh, I don't know.... dumping a gallon of real maple syrup into your carpet, before you start yelling and getting angry and thinking about how you are going to punish that child to the end of the Earth and back, spend some time thinking of the funniest way you can share this quirky story with a friend. By the time you get the wording just right, most of your anger will be gone and you will be able to cope with life once again.
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