I hate the news. I hate it’s scare tactics, the dramatic background music, the bullshit feel-good story at the end trying to say, “Hey, what we just showed you for the past hour is as awful as we could possibly make it, but here’s a story about sidewalk chalk drawings to make you feel better as you leave us and come back for more tomorrow.”

Or the even worse all-day news that so many have succumbed to in lockdown. No matter what station you’re watching – they’re ALL bad. No one needs to sit there the entire day and have that shit on. I’m not saying you should be in the dark about what’s going on, but find a reliable source, get an update, and then GO DO SOMETHING ELSE!!!!!!!!

Puzzles are great. And I love 1010 on my phone, but my latest obsession is Wordscapes. (Not trying to brag but I’m at 521 folks and it’s just getting a little difficult.)

Even Facebook, which PJ refers to as a cesspool, is fine if you’re not following gloom and doomers. I also like Instagram because it’s very light and those I follow are keeping it fun.

You know the song C.R.E.A.M. by The Wu-Tang Clan? It stands for “Cash Rules Everything Around Me”. If I had a song (which I totally should), it would be called Laughs Rule Everything Around Me (L.R.E.A.M). Wow that’s terrible. I swear it sounded much better before I typed it out. I’ll add an apostrophe so it sounds French – L’R.E.A.M.

Anyway, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If I didn’t laugh, I’d cry.

However, I’m also a big advocate for putting myself in other people’s shoes, and have a penchant for playing a horror-show game in my head where I picture the absolute worst case scenario and wonder, “Would I still laugh if it were me?”

I (thankfully) can’t say for certain, but I’m pretty sure I’d still have the bandwidth for some laughs. It’s my coping mechanism. And really, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. It’s my denial, but it works for me.

And I don’t WANT to be bogged down in misery at all times.

When my grandfather died, I remember sitting at the funeral home and we were reminiscing about how funny he was. We were getting a little loud and one of our family members asked us to keep it down. I’d never want to be disrespectful to others who don’t grieve the same way I do, so I was sorry for that; but I wasn’t sorry for remembering him with laughs. You hear the phrase, “It’s what he would’ve wanted.” That is DEFINITELY what he would’ve wanted.

Back to the stupid, awful, horrible, terrorist media. I highly recommend switching the station to FRIENDS, which is pretty much always on throughout the day.

PJ and I have had differing opinions in the past about this. We were watching an episode with some fairly heavy sexual innuendos and the kids came in the room, so he changed it to the news.

Yes, let’s keep them from watching a show where 99% of the jokes go over their heads like the movie Grease did for me when I was their age (read the lyrics to Greased Lightening, I had NO IDEA what I was listening to and I’m sure Lol didn’t either 😳), and instead expose them to a talking head who clearly and concisely tells them all about the latest school shooting or in current times, the latest death toll. So much better. We agreed to shut the TV off.

So the next time you’re feeling really depressed about the state of the world, ask yourself, do I need to be watching the news?

Go outside. Listen to the birds. Look up at the sky. Allow yourself to forget about what’s going on right now and just breathe.

I leave you with this joke I heard recently that you can use for a little laugh therapy:

“Knock knock”

“Who’s there?”

“Dishes”

“Dishes who?”

“Dishes Sean Connery”

Most of you won’t get it but trust me, it’s funny 😆

Laughs rule everything around me L’R.E.A.M! Get the funny, ha ha ha ha ha y’allllllllll….😆😆😆😆