What’s Guaranteed to Raise Your Spirits?
I’ll give you a few hints.
It’s available,
cheap,
accessible
and effective.
It’s HUMOR.
Take the following joke as an example:
My wife and I were sitting at a table at her high school reunion, and she kept staring at a drunken man swigging his drink as he sat alone at a nearby table.
I asked her, “Do you know him?”
“Yes”, she sighed,
“He’s my old boyfriend. I understand he took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear he hasn’t been sober since.”
“My God!” I said, “Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?”
Now don’t you feel better already?
One thing that consistently helps us deal with obstacles,
road blocks and bumps in the road
is humor.
Developing our own sense of humor,
and looking for the humor in the daily doings of life
helps us weather instability and change
helps us find balance in very strange environments
helps us evolve and find a comfortable place for ourselves.
Humor reduces stress,
put things in proper perspective,
takes the edge off
and helps us concentrate less
on our disappointments, frustrations and woes.
I recently came across a book titled
Love Poems (for Married People)
by John Kenney.
This is the type of poem
I expected would be included:
Feeling
by Gary R. Hess
Feeling your love caress my heart
Feeling your light touch my soul
Feeling like the golden sun
Feeling the way you move me
Feeling your mind touch my life
Knowing I can’t lose you
For you are my life, heart, and soul
Forever I am yours
That is NOT what I got in
Love Poems (for Married People)
Instead, I read about a guy
who misses the birth of his baby.
Why?
Because he was hungry
and went across the street from the hospital
for a burger and beer
and kinda lost track of time –
Another poem simply titled “Orgy”
ends with the following lines:
Did I say orgy?
Sorry, my mind wandered.
I meant yard work.
Check out your books at home.
The information page at the beginning of the volume
most likely will say the following:
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form …failure to comply with these terms may expose you to legal action and damages for copyright infringement.
Not exactly a warm and fuzzy beginning.
This is how
author John Kenney
starts his book:
Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copywrite laws by not reproducing, scanning or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.
Most books have a dedication page
that reads something like:
To Charlie and Brenda
Who make it all possible
Or:
In loving memory of my mother,
who guided me throughout
Not John Kenney.
He simply lists a bunch of first names,
crosses each name out except the last
(his wife’s)
leading the reader to believe
there were many before her!
(There weren’t.)
Love Poems (for Married People)
is the perfect holiday gift.
Inexpensive.
Personal.
Relatable:
And guaranteed to dispel
the “Covid Gloom.”
Happy reading!
Keep Preserving Your Bloom,
Iris Ruth Pastor