Growing Edges
alexa lopezArchive for health
To Laugh at (with) Oneself
I don’t know what I would do without a sense of humor about myself.
Oh, wait. Yes I do. I would do things like…well, like take everything personally.
I would probably also second guess everyone else’s motives for laughing around me. I would assume that people are laughing at me. I would believe that everyone thinks I’m a fool and a loser. I would convince myself that people — friends included — make it their purpose to crap on my day.
I would get along with nobody.
Because if I don’t laugh at myself, then nobody else is allowed to laugh at me. That’s how it goes, right?
I don’t know whether it is possible to “learn” a sense of humor about onself. I just know that if I couldn’t laugh at myself — including laughing with others when I’ve accidentally done something funny — I’d be friendless.
Because I’d be sour.
A party pooper.
This I know about me: I am a goofball, and sometimes clueless; I make careless mistakes and I sometimes don’t get the obvious jokes. For instance, I wore camouflage pants to work one day, and as he walked toward me, the Head Dude (they don’t like to be called our “bosses”) said, “Oh no! I can’t see anything but a torso!”
“What?” I asked, totally confused about what he was talking about.
“You’re wearing camouflage pants,” he said in passing.
Oh…Duh! Laughter. I shook my head as I walked on. How’d I miss that?
I wish I were funnier, quick-witted like my husband or my daughters, or like my sister Jole’, or my friend Cathy at church; I do a lot of funny things accidentally, but on purpose — not so much.
Instead, I am funny in my head.
A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done. – Dwight D. Eisenhower
© Alexa Lopez, 2009
Health vs. Creative Process
Back in high school and college I studied best in the very late hours of night. For years and years I lived a life of sleep deprivation, staying up as late as 4:00 AM. It was during those late night hours that I seemed to function best; with everyone else asleep, I could concentrate better.
I operated that way for so long that I thought it worked for me. And it did. I earned exceptional grades in school.
Motherhood did not change this. I continued that habit after our babies were born; while everyone slept, I could accomplish tasks uninterrupted and nap with the kids during the day. Then when I began writing again after having put it aside for 15 years, I could let the creative process flow without interruption.
There have been pros and cons to this change I’ve made. On the positive side, I no longer need to get back into bed after the kids leave for school. Also, I am actually pleasant in the mornings when I cook breakfast for my family since sleep deprivation is out of the equation. Another plus: awaking without late-night anything in my stomach helps me feel wonderful in the morning. Yet another plus: I have lost five pounds.
I guess the only con is that my creative processes seem to be stalled. This can’t be!
I feel too good physically to revert to my old habits, but I don’t know what to do. Writing is breathing for me. I must write, or I shall suffocate from stagnancy.
