I wonder when the phrase “making light of a situation” began to take on a mostly negative connotation. I try to find the positive in most things. Making light of them induces, in me at least, the idea that all is not always dark. That there is always a light at the end of a tunnel… that nothing is absolute. But then it’s so much easier to see darkness, isn’t it?
Light can blind us. Imagine being so happy that you can’t see any possibility of misery in the future. But then misery hits and things are never darker. Does it mean that we should look for darkness in the light as well as light in the darkness? Perhaps.
But back to my first thought – I have to wonder if the coming of our politically correct society caused the increase in seeing “making light” a bad thing rather than good. Everywhere I go these days, people are getting up in arms about this or that. Finding insult in everything under the sun. I sometimes wish we could just all “be,” without constantly being criticized for what we are and things we do and say. We’ll never please everyone, but what happened to Thumper’s old line, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all”? “Nice” is such a rarity these days, isn’t it? In society in general I mean.
And so it’s become the norm for me to make light of situations only when I’m at home, where the people I know and love know me, and know that I mean no harm. Occasionally I’ll take a chance when I’m commenting on a blog or on other social media, but I’m always nervous that there’s someone out there who will take offense and make me feel like an awful person.
People need to lighten up.
This post is part of SoCS: https://lindaghill.com/2015/09/04/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-515/ Anyone can join in the fun – click the link to find out how!
September 8, 2015 at 12:13 am
Oh, totally agree. Lighten up, world! There’s enough truly serious problems out there without us trying to make more of them. Some things are just funny, y’know? 🙂
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September 11, 2015 at 12:37 pm
Exactly! Some people do tend to compound problems, don’t they? Thanks for commenting, Kelli. 🙂
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September 6, 2015 at 9:14 am
You can pick on me anytime in your comments Linda. If we can’t laugh at ourselves, we’re missing something special.
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September 11, 2015 at 12:35 pm
I totally agree, Dan. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
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September 6, 2015 at 3:20 am
Time was all you had to light a match …… 😉
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September 11, 2015 at 12:34 pm
Ha! 😉
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September 5, 2015 at 11:42 pm
Hi Linda, I very much agree, people have become so politically correct so much of the fun of life has disappeared…..we shouldn’t ever take ourselves so seriously that we lose sight of reality and that reality is none of us are perfect, we all make mistakes and we all like to reflect on those mistakes and when brave enough see the funny side of them.
It’s like an uncle recently had a test for dementia and when asked how the test went and what were the results he said he couldn’t for the life of him remember.
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September 5, 2015 at 11:49 pm
Haha! I can’t imagine how frustrating life would be if I couldn’t laugh at myself. I recently had a similar funny situation – I was on the phone with my mother’s doctor’s office to make her an appointment. When the secretary asked why I was making the arrangements I couldn’t remember; when I did I laughed. It was a follow-up for the pills to help my mother’s memory. I told the secretary the joke but she didn’t think it was funny.
Thanks for sharing your story, Michael. 🙂
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September 5, 2015 at 11:59 pm
Some people have no sense of humour Linda…hope your weekend is going well, mine is all but over….
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September 6, 2015 at 12:00 am
I can’t wait for mine to be over – the kids go back to school on Tuesday! Yay!!
Hope you had a good one, Michael. 🙂
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September 6, 2015 at 12:04 am
Yes I remember that feeling of school going back trouble was I had to go with them….lol….my weekend has been good, brunch with the kids and they looked after me very well..
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September 6, 2015 at 12:10 am
Haha! That’s right, you were a teacher, weren’t you. 🙂 Glad you had what sounds like a perfectly delightful weekend my dear. 🙂
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September 5, 2015 at 9:09 pm
My skin is as thick as a cinder block wall, Linda. So when you’re commenting on my blog, go ahead and hit me with your best shot. Warning: I do fire back. 😉
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September 5, 2015 at 11:50 pm
Hehe. Duly noted. I would expect nothing less, actually. 🙂
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September 5, 2015 at 7:16 pm
I am blinded by the light all the time.
🙂
Just taking a page from the previous commenter’s book
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September 5, 2015 at 11:51 pm
Thanks – now I’ve got the song stuck in my head. 😉
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September 5, 2015 at 6:54 pm
I agree. I think people are so afraid these days of upsetting or offending others that we’ve forgotten how to laugh at ourselves. Paul’s dialysis comment about lightening himself via treatment almost made me spit my coffee out I guffawed so hard. We are an enlightened species and yet we are so dense sometimes that we cannot enjoy the humor of situations that would appear to be unfunny. Being able to poke fun and make light of things that are distressing can often help us cope and help others cope as well. 🙂
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September 5, 2015 at 11:52 pm
Indeed. As far as I’m concerned, if I can’t laugh at myself I may as well be dead. Thank you for your comment, my dear. 🙂
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September 5, 2015 at 6:29 pm
Typically I remove 2.5 kilos of fluid with each dialysis treatment – so don’t look at me: I lighten up three times a week. Bwahahaha!
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September 5, 2015 at 6:32 pm
On a less light vein, I too have noticed the increased sensitivity to insult in general. I suspect it is a side effect of the”me” generation – where everything has to be related to me to have meaning. People who take everything to heart assume that lightening up is being disrespectful to them personally.
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September 5, 2015 at 6:40 pm
By the way Linda- remember a few weeks ago you did a piece on the cost of a railing for your steps? In reply I did some research and in the process was checking a rental company called Battlefield who does contractor tool rentals in Kingston. They are a huge company with a huge advertising budget. Anyway, I don’t usually bother searching incognito and now I get a Battlefield ad before every second Youtube video I play. Ha! This is all you fault, Ha!
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September 5, 2015 at 11:57 pm
I feel your pain. Okay, not really. But you really should rent some power tools, Paul. 😉
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September 6, 2015 at 12:17 am
Bwahaha! I was looking for a ramset for you – but for some reason, no one rents ramsets, maybe because they aren’t very expensive. Have you ever used a ramset? So cool and so much fun.
Looks like this:
And that red strip is actually a line of explosive shells – like bullets shells, without the bullet attached, just the explosive part. So you load a special nail in the front end, put the shells in the back end and pull the trigger. Ha! The shell explodes and fires the nail into the concrete – just like shooting a nail gin but using explosives. Anyway, I’m sure you can see why I would be so excited. 😀
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September 6, 2015 at 12:37 am
That’s downright scary!! You guys and your power tools. 🙄 😉
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September 6, 2015 at 12:40 am
I was so excited that I repeated my comment – thanks for editing it out. 😀 MORE POWER!! oo, oo!
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September 6, 2015 at 12:53 am
Hahaha!
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September 5, 2015 at 11:55 pm
I do believe you’re right. It must be exhausting though, thinking everything’s about “me.”
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September 5, 2015 at 11:54 pm
Ba dum dum! 😀
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