When I first started this blog some years ago, as a memoir of my adventures in Los Angeles, it leaned toward comical. I am a massive believer in laughter and not taking life too seriously wherever possible. Sadly, it transpires that I may have lost my sense of witty writing, somewhere over the Atlantic ocean.
Sure, these days, my life is on a different path, and with it, my blog. As I’m slowly working out that path, mostly without the aid of a map, never mind a GPS, I am and want to approach a series of important issues, such as sustainability, equality, leadership, wellbeing. The question is, can you remain witty and light-hearted covering such significant, challenging, and often controversial issues? If you ask my current brain to answer, the answer is undoubtedly, ‘no, we cannot.’ And perhaps my mind is correct. Yet, at the same time, I am personally more engaged by humour.
‘I take everything very seriously, but I also take it lighthearted to recognize that you can’t control it.’
Guy Fieri
At a recent march for the Black Lives Matter movement, one of the black guys who took to the stage was damned well hysterical. He held the audience’s attention and got a greater acknowledgement of the critical points he raised amongst the humour. People gravitated toward him energetically, and what he had to say. I hasten to add, that these were his experience’s he made light of, his story. It would not be funny to create jovial stories about someone else’s story or experience.
Some might argue that utilising wit undermines serious issues, but I can’t entirely agree. The below extract from the ever wise Maya Angelou is thought provoking. I know very few people who don’t like to smile, laugh or be happy. If you can communicate on a topic and make people feel good, then you have an audience who are willing to listen.
‘People will never forget how you made them feel’
Maya Angelou
We choose as individuals whether to listen actively or passively. The genre of delivery is not what defines whether we do this or not; our mindset determines whether we take that message on board for what it is. We all gravitate toward different genres of film or communication so that some people won’t enjoy humour so much; they prefer a more earnest approach. Some people deal with facts, some deal in intuition, some prefer to read, some prefer to listen. We are all different, and each has a unique combination of ways that we seek to take information on board. So, for each critical issue that exists, the more different ways it is talked about, the better.
I have no idea how to talk about serious issues and combined with a jocular tone but I hope it is something I can introduce. It is, of course, a balance. You can’t create droll output on the serious facts themselves. Still, it can be possible to introduce some light-heartedness to the experimentation that exists in trying to live a more healthy, fair, and sustainable life. All of this said I would very much value other people’s thoughts on the matter too, so feel free to leave comments!
To clarify I would only write jovially about my own experiences and experiments, not about others.
‘You can diffuse fear with humour’
Colin Baker
Hyblyg 
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