Making It Through The Day

The war in the Ukraine rages on.
 
The photojournalist Heidi Levine is witness to the horrors in Bucha – a town of around 36,000 people, roughly 16 miles from Kyiv.
 
Her photos report:
     Bodies torn from bikes and then shot 
     Others, with arms tied behind their backs, mercilessly gunned down. 
     Civilians, living under bombardment for weeks, posing no threats, deliberately targeted and then slaughtered 
    The “more fortunate,” surviving by hiding in basements, with no cell phone connections, living in complete isolation and fear.
 
We wring our hands. We watch with horror. We know not what to do.
 
My friend Leslie forwarded to me the video below last Sunday morning. 
 
VIDEO
 
I laughed out loud when the video concluded. 
It’s been a long time since I have laughed out loud. 
 
It’s soooo funny. 
   A little girl is left out of the boys’ game.
   She makes the best of the situation by being helpful, pleasant and nurturing.
   The little boys take her subservience in stride, acknowledging her good deed – without too much enthusiasm – and with a little sprinkle of entitlement. 
   The little girl, with the utmost of discretion, delivers revenge. 
  
This short little video sports all the elements of great drama encapsulated in mere seconds: pathos, cultural bias, revenge, resolution and HUMOR.
 
I posted it immediately on Facebook and Instagram. I was shocked by the lack of response. My Facebook posting of the video got 11 likes and my Instagram posting garnered a mere 6 likes.
 
Why?  Are we so enmeshed in the gruesome news that we can’t enjoy a little humor? We aren’t minimizing the horror of the fighting in Europe because we laugh a little.
 
Once again, I am reminded of the power of HUMOR.
 

Humor has been found to increase camaraderie. When I tell you a joke that I have found funny, and you laugh at it too, that creates a sense of group intimacy – a “we’re in this together” attitude – a joining of feeling.

Humor elevates the spirit. Study after study show that humor creates a sense of well-being. Humor reduces stress, puts things in proper perspective, takes the edge off and helps us concentrate less on our disappointments, frustrations and woes. Humor boosts the immune system and can lower our blood pressure.

Developing our own sense of humor helps us weather instability and change – helps us find balance in very strange environments and situations that life inevitably creates. It will help us evolve and find a comfortable place for ourselves. 

Think of gallows humor. Gallows humor is humor that treats serious, frightening or painful subject matter in a light or satirical way. 

The late Joan Rivers once said, “If you can laugh at it, you can deal with it,” in regard to her husband’s suicide.

Gallows humor grows during times of unrest. “Ghoulish banter serves as a common psychological weapon…that’s what people do in situations of extremis when they feel profoundly unnerved,” Judith Matloff wrote in an article titled “In Praise of Gallows Humor.” 

So many of us look for positive ways to cope with the unknown, the frightening, the threats to our very civilization and existence. 
       We tune into mindfulness – living in the moment.
       We do yoga in the park at sunset.
       We do zoom wine chats.
       We learn to breathe calmly when we feel frazzled 

But how many of us read the comics daily?
Pass on jokes?
Deliberately hunt for humorous anecdotes and videos? 

Let’s start now. 

As Viktor Frankl said in his 1946 memoir about his internment in Auschwitz, humor is one of the “soul’s weapons” to transcend despair. 

Keep Preserving Your Bloom,

Iris Ruth Pastor