We can all agree that recovery is no joke, but laughing along the way can help the process. When I take a step back and look at the insanity that my eating disorder brought I can’t help but laugh. I am the girl who would use Whole Food’s reusable bags for the binge foods I would buy at 7-11. I am the girl who would order enough take-out for at least three people and pretend I am on the phone getting everyone’s orders when placing said take-out order. The list goes on.
Right before I entered treatment I was depressed and constantly having suicidal thoughts. I look back at that period of time and realize how my eating disorder completely removed me from everything that made me happy which included trying to develop my comedy career.
I decided to try something I had never done and I began to put my experience with recovery in my stand-up comedy. I started to look at my behaviors from a different angle and it was cathartic. I have always been someone who laughs at everything, I was that kid in school who would break out in giggle fits because one of my friends made a dumb face at me during school mass. (I went to Catholic school.) Finding the funny in the most random of situations has been one of my greatest strengths during recovery.
Laughing releases endorphins, it takes the edge off and laughter happens in the moment. Think about it, you can’t fake laughter. Well, you can but true laughter is something we can’t control. Going to see a live comedy show, watching a funny movie or a stand-up comedian require us to be fully present. Something I never realized until I got into recovery, is that laughter is a form of mindfulness. In order to understand a joke or catch the one liner, you have to pay attention to the journey that the comedian or performer is taking you on. It is like being in a car and letting someone else take the wheel. Trusting that they will get you to the destination of laughter and giddiness. Laughter is a medicine no doctor can subscribe yet it is extremely recommended.
Try it! You may find it to be the cure for a lot of anxiety!
