Finding Humor in a Not-So-Funny Year

If 2020 were a drink, it would be a colonoscopy prep.

Thank you. I will be here all week.

I can't actually take credit for that saying. I found it online. In this troublesome year, one of the things that saved my sanity is humor.

For many of us, 2020 has been, to say the least, challenging. Between economic uncertainty, a contentious election, and the loss or potential loss of those we care about due to a horrendous virus that some choose to treat as a joke, 2020 has been devastating for many.

My brother, sister-in-law, and aunt all survived COVID-19. My childhood ballet teacher, who at 72 was still teaching and directing the Johnstown Concert Ballet, did not.

This past year did have its good moments. Cliff and I were able to take a vacation just as the pandemic started. In fact, we were on a gigantic cruise ship with about 5,000 other people in the Caribbean when it all hit the fan. 

We were able to finish the cruise, but it is a little hard to completely enjoy a beach in Belize when people are being quarantined on a cruise ship that just docked in California.

Obviously, we made it home without issue and not a single case of the virus was confirmed on that ship. Thank God for small blessings.

Being stuck at home, however boring and claustrophobic it can be for some, had its advantages. My gardens never looked better. I have organized, sorted, and donated things I have not been able to get to in the 20-plus years we have been in this house.

Although the holidays this year are different, they are not without merit. Without the usual parties, dinners, plays, movies we want to see, and concerts we want to attend, our little family is more relaxed and actually enjoying the holiday season more.

Like the rest of you, however, we have learned there is such a thing as too much togetherness. In the moments when I cannot stand one more second of these people--and you ALL know where I am coming from--I turn to humor.

This entire year I have generated toward the lighthearted and the funny. I seek them out in television series, books, and movies. The holidays have been no different. I rewatched many reruns of The Office.  I have seen National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation at least six times because it makes any holiday at your own house look like an episode of The Waltons. The holiday book I am listening to right now is called Spending the Holidays with People I Want to Punch in the Throat. No, it is not about my own family.

I have so appreciated the humor that the witty people of the world have shared online in the form of sayings and memes. Here are some of my favorites: 

• Being cremated is my last hope for a smoking hot body.

• My doctor asked me if anyone from my family suffers from mental illness. I said, "No, we all seem to enjoy it."

• My body is a temple. Ancient and crumbling. Probably cursed or haunted.

• The officer said, "You drinking?" I said, "You buying?" We just laughed and laughed. I need bail money.

• At my funeral, take the bouquet off my coffin and throw it into the crowd to see who is next.

• I love sarcasm. It's like punching people in the face, but with words.

• Another wine bottle with no genie at the bottom. I'll keep looking.

• I was told to check my attitude. I did...it's still there. What's the problem?

• Scientists say the universe is made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. They forgot to mention morons.

• If at first, you don't succeed, skydiving isn't for you.

• If you're happy and you know it it's your meds.

• Mr. Rogers did not adequately prepare me for the people in my neighborhood.

• I didn't mean to push all your buttons. I was just looking for mute.

• There's a fine line between genius and crazy. I use that line as a jump rope.

• If history repeats itself, I am so getting a dinosaur.

• Sometimes I question my sanity, but the unicorn in the kitchen told me I'm fine.

• I don't have ducks. I don't have rows. I have squirrels and they're drunk.

• I am going to stop asking "How dumb can you get?" People seem to be taking it as a challenge.

• You think it's bad now? In 20 years our country will be run by people who were homeschooled by day drinkers.

• At this point, if a clown invited me into the woods I'd just go.

Author Steve Goodier once said, "A sense of humor helps us to get through the dull times, cope with the difficult times, and manage the scary times." Finding a reason to laugh, even in the most difficult of situations, helps us keep our humanity. I hope you were able to hang on to your sense of humor as well as your compassion in this trying year.

So in the waning days of 2020, here's to finding a little joy, hope, and laughter in a year that we all want to forget. And here's hoping we don't need to look too hard to find them in 2021.