I REALLY REALLY REALLY LOVE TRUTH.
I love it so much.
It is tied for my love of beauty.
And when I think about it I can't think of one truly beautiful thing that isn't totally full of truth, and visa versa.;)
I also really struggle with being around negativity and sarcasm and mean spiritedness.
I grew up around some really sarcastic people who would joke really cruelly sometimes.
I grew up with relatives(mostly talking about the adult relatives I grew up with) that would be so unfeeling and truly selfish in their actions towards others.
I am not the most positive person always.
I get in a negative slump.
I have definitely said my share of hurtful and hateful and selfish things.
It is definitely easier and more natural feeling to be sarcastic because of how I grew up.
I ALSO know though in my heart this is not the way to be.
I do not glory in it.
It is not healthy or OK.
It affects others in horrible ways, for decades and even generations sometimes.
It DEFINITELY affects our families.
I remember when I met my future husband that his friends had this game they played called, "MO BJ."
The game went like this:
Find someone fatter than BJ and point them out and laugh really hard.
This was not funny to me, and I was shocked when BJ said he didn't really care.
How can it be OK to make fun of people like that?
And not just BJ, but the people that were larger than him?
We have a really powerful influence in the world to either build or tear down others.
I am not perfect. And I have a million clairillion flaws.
Like to the max.
BUT even with a million clairillion flaws to work on, isn't it better to try and work on them?
Shouldn't I and people in general try and change and build up people instead of tear them down?
Aren't there other ways to be funny?
Obviously we as a people also need to not be so sensitive, but sometimes I hear what people joke about, about dear friends and perfect strangers and I am just shocked! Out of all the millions of words to use and things to discuss, why do we choose to use that power of speech for negativity?
Literature and media in general is getting really dark and negative.
We have to be more careful than ever to make sure we aren't exposing our thoughts to such things on a constant basis.
And then I think about my kids!
I remember what it was like growing up with adults who thought sarcastic, mean spirited jokes were OK.
Do I really want to pass that on to my kids?
One of my very favorite people in the whole world is President Gordon B. Hinckley. I love him and his wife so much that Jane's middle name is Marjorie after his wife Marjorie Paye Hinckley.:)
I believe that this man is a prophet of God and when he talks about holy things he is using words for truth and good.
This is an AWESOME article about the importance of looking for truth and being a positive influence in the world. I know that the words in this talk are full of truth. I love President Hinckley and I really think he is one of the best examples of being positive and uplifting to others.
Let's build each other and others. Let's clean up the negativity in the world and focus more on being loving and encouraging. I don't always do this as best as I can, but I am always trying. Let's work together and make a positive change.:)
Mo BJ is funny because BJ is the fattest person in the universe, but because he is so fat he must distribute his weight to other people to prevent a black hole. This is funny because BJ is not fat. We are not mocking fat people, we are laughing at our own ridiculousness.
ReplyDeletePart of our sense of humour is to invent mythologies around people we know that have nothing to do with the truth, and then pretend they are true. For example, Jobarts is perpetually confused because he has too many teeth and doesn't know what to do about it. One of these teeth is composed entirely of Cheetos. This Cheeto tooth keeps the other teeth in check. It doesn't make sense, but it's funny.
Our friend Andrew Larson is nicknamed "Felty" because he is a jew. Andrew Larson is not remotely jewish.
Just thought you would like to know the reasoning behind the joke.
Felty loves his nickname, by the way. He talked about it at his Eagle Scout Court of Honor.
DeleteIn the Voigt family, we found our humor in puns and repetitions. It was benign, and was never dark. I'm sure that was my mother's doing. My dad does have one dark joke. When someone dies, he will ask, "Remember Joe Green?....Dead." Which is funny and sad at the same time. Those kind of jokes are rare in my life, since Mom battled a grouchy family conversation pattern and worked steadily to keep things positive (bless her). In the lives of teenagers generally, it's common to be inappropriate or dark, as they learn to negotiate reality. Ask BJ about "Hey Jimmie..." And sometimes if the morphing-into-existence of a pattern of humor is explained, it isn't funny; you "had to be there." So it's hard to bring a new person up to speed to the joke without ruining it. I agree that it's in the Momma's power to influence humor at home, and am so proud of you that you are tackling that head on. Kudos to You-do's. Much love to you. --A
ReplyDeleteIt was my Mom's childhood family that had the grouchy pattern...that wasn't clear before. sorry
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