Is it possible to find laughter under this gloom and doom cloud of Covid 19?
Laughter and COVID-19?
We cannot deny nor can we change what is happening in the world today. Covid 19 is ravaging our families, our communities, our country and around the globe. People are frightened, filled with fear, uncertainty, economic and financial devastation, isolation and thousands of people are dying. How can anyone find anything to laugh under these circumstances?
I say that we have to maintain a sense of self.
A sense of compassion. A sense of humour in order to survive and thrive and make it through the epidemic.
Everyone is different, not everyone has a sense of humor, not everyone likes to laugh or giggle. And that’s fine. For me humour has been part of my life since I was a child and has quite literally saved my life on many occasions. I grew up watching Carol Burnett reruns, Get Smart reruns and many other shows today that are comedies.
Finding something to laugh about when I am afraid, sad or depressed has helped in finding the way back to a sense of inner peace. It doesn’t mean everything’s fine and there was no pain, there was no sadness or I’m not depressed, merely a different perspective. A more positive perspective, one of hope.
Here’s an example. A few years ago I was flying back from France on a huge 777 plane, sitting in row 55 with over two hundred passengers.
I am not the greatest flyer, I don’t like turbulence, the ups and downs freak me out!My husband had flown back to Canada the day before due to work. On a side note,
something we teased each other about was who is going to live the
longest, who is going to die first because some of my relatives lived past 100. It was a joke between the two of us.
Like I said as a nervous flyer, hate turbulence, never liked rides, roller coasters, things that twirl.
About an hour into the flight over the ocean and suddenly the plane seemed to drop in the air, lots of turbulence. It was unexpected, and then over the loudspeaker the captain said we are experiencing some turbulence and service of supper would be delayed.
The stewards and stewardesses tried two more times to serve dinner and finally stopped, unable to risk the dangers of spilling while serving coffee.
The plane was eerily quiet except for the sounds of the huge engines.
People were looking around at each other with fear in their eyes.
Looking along the aisle from row 55 it looked like the front of the plane was moving left in one direction and the back of the plane was moving right in another direction. My mind went immediately to the plane is breaking up! Gripping the armrests filled with fear and suddenly the thought “David is going to be mad because I am going to die first”
The thought was so crazy, incredibly ridiculous and I started to laugh and laugh and laugh. Have you ever found something so funny that you couldn’t stop laughing no matter how hard you tried?
Well that was me. Suddenly I wasn’t gripping the armrest in sheer terror my stomach wasn’t in a knot and the fear has vanished. I was laughing! What was interesting is the people around me, the rows in front the rows behind those sitting across from me, looked at me as if I was drunk or crazy. But then slowly, each of them begin to smile and begin to laugh as well.
At that moment these passengers were no longer filled with fear.
Laughter is spontaneous it is also contagious.
We can survive some of the darkest days, we can thrive under the stress of life events. Using self care tools, having a sense of humor, positive attitude and being aware of our own ability to find happiness..
We are experiencing global grief of life that is no longer a reality. It is okay to feel sad, angry, scared, vulnerable and confused. Let yourself feel it in order to move forward. We have a choice, you have a choice in how to move through to the other side of COVID 19. During these demanding and traumatic times, laughter, having a giggle, having a sense of humor, is going to help you get through today and tomorrow.