People have told me I’m funny, in good ways, and that makes me happy! Funny in bad ways, I’m not exactly sure all of what that entails but funny in Good Ways is bound to be much better, isn’t it? I’m funny in person, when chatting with someone, or when talking to an audience of many more than one.
And I’m funny in my writing, some of it anyway. And when I’m writing about serious things, like chronic illness, I try to bring some light-hearted moments into it too. – You should hear me on the subject of incontinence, I’m hilarious! Of course there are some subjects where there is no way to be funny, and I pay due respect to the importance of not playing down the seriousness of subjects such as rape and abuse. There are no laughs with this subject, and if you think these issues are funny, you are a sick person, and should seek help, before you hurt someone.
So, back to happier subjects. I have three books that I am confident are funny. They are written by me, and with the imaginary dog who lives inside my head. This dog is Buster, and he and I have written three books, as I mentioned. The first book was ‘Dig It! Gardening Tips for Dogs’. The next book was Doggone It, Mindfulness from a Dog’s Point of View. The third book is Dog Buddha’s Thoughts, exploring what Buddhism may be like for a dog. All of these subjects are ones of interest to me, from an amateur kind of viewpoint, and seeing them from a different species, the dog adds further interest (I love dogs).
I also have a book about Multiple Sclerosis, looking at the serious sides of this chronic illness, which is what I was diagnosed with in 2010. This is not something for laughing at, you’d think, but the memoir I wrote and had published, ‘Mick Jane and Me – Living Well with MS’ has some funny pieces in it along with the important serious stuff. If you can’t laugh at life sometimes, is it worth getting out of bed?
Being funny is something that appeals to me, a lot, and one fine day, I hope to be a stand up comedian, bring laughter to people, talking about my life, and the way I always look at the positive side of things, even those with a negative aspect. Incontinence, for instance, not a funny subject, that’s true, but if so, why on earth to people say, ‘It was so funny, I pissed myself laughing!?’ I’m well aware that ‘pissing yourself’ ie, wetting your pants, is not a funny thing, yes, lived experience there, damned MS! But seeing the funny side of this very serious issue helps a person live through the embarrassment of it, and also helps other people to feel better about themselves if this is an issue they deal with too.
Showing the funny side to life helps yourself, and it helps others too, and who wouldn’t want to do that?
