Laughing Through 2020
When our youngest, Joseph, first went to Bennington College (VT), he went as an international student and as such went a week early to be oriented. He loves telling the story of being a part of five international students with one upper class student from California as the host. The international students would tell awful stories of horrid things from their schools and they would all laugh while the Californian would be appalled.Living in day-to-day horror or poverty or harshness tends to lead to dark humor.
When we ran shelters in North Carolina, we joked and laugh about the realities we saw that made many gasp. Here in Nicaragua, dark humor sometimes reaches such a level of excellence that if you have a comfortable life you would be shocked.
Nicaraguans give each other nicknames that call out whatever disability one might have. And they are not mean, but simply an acknowledgement of their struggle. Laughter is shared.
Laughing is spitting into the darkness.
Laughing is giving the hard life a middle finger.
Laughter is coping.
Laughter is also clarity.
As we move into 2020, let us not despair but laugh, make fun of the hardness, and work for change.
-Kathleen
