#168 – Can we joke our way to inner peace?

"There is faith in humor*." Pope Francis

Like your mind's self-appointed Head of Risk Management and Loss Prevention, your Ego surveils your thoughts with the utmost severity. It disavows following Rule Number 6 ("Don't take yourself so damn seriously"), and when it sees that you are, it sends the Ghost of Misplaced Shame to rein you in.

Its job is too important to be fooling around: you should shut up and pay attention. Plus, it does it for you – so that you don't get hurt, rejected, laughed at, fired, or lose your lunch.

With the Ego, it's all the long faces of worry, the furrowed brow of concentration, the held breath and the pursed lips.

But humor destroys all that. Humor tells your Self that there's nothing to worry about, that "you've got this." With humor, you get to relax and enjoy life – even if/when it sucks the most.

Pope Francis's quote, then, seems apt. There is faith in humor: faith that everything will be all right, or at least, as it's supposed to be.

Where in your life could you joke your way to inner peace?

Love,

Carolina

*Pope Francis's guest essay, "There is faith in humor," was published by the New York Times on December 17, 2024.

PS: You can now read the first 91 essays in this series in my book, Unfolding Your Mind: Notes on Ghosts, Power, and the Self. If you’d like to buy it for you or someone else, you can get it on Kindle or paperback here. Thank you!