Looking inwards and reflecting on personal choices made is a lot like falling down that wondrous Rabbit Hole: a spicy mix of pride for risks taken, self-doubt and regret for actions and words said (or unsaid), fear for doors closing, and excitement for doors opening. Once the dust has settled and you’ve escaped with each limb intact, you are able to reflect without guilt, pick yourself up, and take a step forward (preferably on stable ground).
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Through this blog, I have had the chance to reflect on life, work, and play. So far, I have chosen to do most of my reflecting through humour. At the risk of being cheeky, self-degrading, and narcissistic, I’ve thrown foresight to the canines.
Some say, “behind every joke there is an underlying truth”…
Freud said “Sometimes a joke is just a joke”…
While Shaftebury’s explanation of laughter is that “it releases animal spirits that have built up pressure inside the nerves…”
The natural free spirits of ingenious men, if imprisoned or controlled, will find out other ways of motion to relieve themselves in their constraint; and whether it be in burlesque, mimicry, or buffoonery, they will be glad at any rate to vent themselves, and be revenged upon their constrainers.
For myself, I will say this, I use humour to build connections, to relate to other humans, and to make sense of this saucy tin we find ourselves in 40 hours a week.
William Hazlitt contrasted the tragic and comic this way in his essay “On Wit and Humor”:
Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps: for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are, and what they ought to be. We weep at what thwarts or exceeds our desires in serious matters; we laugh at what only disappoints our expectations in trifles… . To explain the nature of laughter and tears, is to account for the condition of human life; for it is in a manner compounded of the two! It is a tragedy or a comedy—sad or merry, as it happens… . Tears may be considered as the natural and involuntary resource of the mind overcome by some sudden and violent emotion, before it has had time to reconcile its feelings to the change of circumstances: while laughter may be defined to be the same sort of convulsive and involuntary movement, occasioned by mere surprise or contrast (in the absence of any more serious emotion), before it has time to reconcile its belief to contrary appearances. (Hazlitt 1907 [1819], 1)
Yes, there is some truth in my gifs but I can laugh because I am in love with the life I have created for myself.
- Having the freedom to leave the office at 4:00pm (on the dot!) to coach, train and compete…
- Sharing savvy exasperation with coworkers I respect and enjoy…
- Learning new skills, gleaning knowledge from experts, building confidence…
These priceless opportunities cannot be portrayed in gifs and pics. Give it a try, I dare you! Here’s my attempt:
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