If one is to survive well in this life, it helps to have a sense of the ridiculous. In a quote by Edward Albee, he says “I have a fine sense of the ridiculous, but no sense of humor.” I find this statement both ridiculous and humorous. To me, “a sense of the ridiculous” means finding humor in the ridiculous things of our daily lives.
As far as I am concerned, this “sense” helps to lighten the mood or the situation at hand, even when it is a serious matter. Seeing something through this lens, unbearable situations can be made more bearable. As with the emperor with no clothes, a sense of the ridiculous finally broke through as the little boy saw the scene before him and just stated the fact that was in front of him. In this way the people finally gave themselves the permission they needed to see the way things really were. And the emperor with no clothes was most certainly, ridiculous.
Life’s challenges and problems weigh us down if we never see the lighter side of a situation. Perhaps there is a different view just around the corner. But we must be looking for it. Attitude is everything. Without being able to see the ridiculous things around us, we are missing an opportunity to laugh at ourselves and our situations.
In my life, I have relished the times when others, especially my friends, have pointed out the ridiculousness of what we are experiencing. And as I have gotten older, I have become very forgetful about really simple things that should be at the top of my memory bank. When someone points out what I forgot, I can get a surge of joy just by laughing at myself.
So many of life’s scenarios have ridiculous aspects within them. If we begin to look for these things, we can live life more joyfully. So looking for the ridiculous is becoming a new hobby for me. You might want to think about doing it for yourself.
It is this attitude that sustains the verve in life, in living.
A friend of mine, psychologist; retired clinician and taught at IUSB, has recently gone through
a life changing diagnosis of testicular cancer but seems to be doing well after treatment. I hadn’t
seen him in a while so I was concerned and I called him up to meet me for a cocktail. When we met I asked
the usual queries; how are you doing? have you been able to get out and about?, etc. He said, ‘funny you should ask me that because the other day I took my self out for a celebratory meal and had bought a brand new shirt. Went to this restaurant and because I was alone they sat me at the bar in between these other elderly men. Needless to say the three elderly men their hands and arms would shake every time they picked up their drinks, coffee, beer, cocktail, etc. as if they had Parkinson’s and unfortunately they all
ordered soup. There went my new shirt….
This was of course an embellished humorous story because I had a previous conversation with him that
I would get these same shaking episodes, neurologic, and I think he was trying to make us both laugh.
We did!!!
My favorite saying to my wife when I try to be humorous and she doesn’t laugh at my jokes, I say ‘ honey, you’ve lost your sense of humor ‘, she responds with, ‘Yes I do, I’m still married to you’.
Thanks for responding and sharing your story Marco. I loved it! I think it is truly a necessity to find humor in our lives. The alternative is unacceptable. And besides, laughing releases endorphins. And how I love to laugh.