Therapists

I wanted to take some time to write here yesterday, and I could have, but my hectic weekend schedule of screwing around got in the way. I usually will sit down after I am done with my Saturday gym beatdown, because my fingers are the only thing not in pain. Yesterday when I turned to computer on, I saw the Sean Connery had died, at age 90, of natural causes at his home in the Bahamas. That diverted my attention. Not like it’s hard.

He was a great actor, and that Scottish accent was fabulous. You know women and accents. So I thought about his glorious career, and immediately went down a rabbit hole. Not of him, actually, but of those SNL skits of Celebrity Jeopardy. The absolute ridiculous portrayal of Connery by Darrell Hammond is probably one of the funniest things they ever aired. The skits are so funny. Like pee your pants, I can’t breathe funny. I spent about 45 minutes watching them, and I laughed so hard. It felt so good to laugh like that. It made me very aware that it has been a while since I laughed like that, and I bet since a lot of us have laughed good and hard at something so silly.

It’s not that there aren’t things that strike me as humorous. I have brothers and a sister that crack me up. I make myself giggle regularly, so much so I can’t even get out what is making me laugh to share with others. Life is funny, when you get down to the brass tacks of it, but we just have been distracted so much this year, we are only seeing the stuff frowns and grumpiness are made of. We really should knock that off.

Laughter is the best medicine. Indeed it is. I felt great after laughing at those skits. I read part of an interview this morning with Darrell Hammond, and how that gig was the most popular thing he has done, ever. He touches on how he developed it, and he didn’t think it would go over with the writers at SNL. And I laughed thinking of him coming up with it, and the silliness of it. That an accomplished actor like Connery would be so bad at Jeopardy, and have a hatred of Trebek, doing things to his mom, and mis-reading the categories. Even now I am giggling thinking about it!! It’s so funny! Almost 25 years have passed, and that is still hilarious.

As stupid of a place that the Internet can be some days, the constant assault to our political fears, news stories, pandemic fear mongering, etc. it is still a treasure trove of ridiculously funny things that people have done over the years. If you need a chuckle, you can find it with a simple Google search or cruising YouTube or whatever your preferred spot is to search things. I think we are going to need some laughs over the next few days, because this election isn’t funny. For the next few months while we sit and wait for what the ‘Rona is going to do for the winter, some giggles might just get us through.

Now, to circle it back to Sean Connery, as I was kind of wanting to be respectful of his actual work, I know he is best known for his work as 007. He was James Bond a little before my time, I remember Roger Moore as Bond and the Bonds after him. Connery was great in many of his roles. I haven’t seen everything he did, but one of my favorites was his part in “The Untouchables” with Kevin Costner. When his character gets shot, and he is dying, with his last gasps he says “What are you prepared to do?” and I cry like a baby. Not the biggest role he ever played, but he hit that one just right, in my eyes. He was fantastic.

As we make our way through the election, the holidays, the ‘Rona and more, ask yourself “What are you prepared to do?” I think we are in for a long haul, I am prepared to make it through this. And I am prepared to use laughter as a tool of survival. I hope you can find something ridiculous and hysterical that you love, and I hope you can laugh so hard you tinkle just a little. We have had a lot taken from us for 8 months. What are you prepared to do to keep moving ahead? Be safe, take care of yourself, wash your hands, and please wear that mask when it is appropriate.