humor

Know that you are both intelligent and stupid, often in the same moment. Admit to what you desire and what you fear.

In my practice of therapy, I always try to add some humor and intellectual spark to the often swampy and humorless experience of a life problem. Even in the dark you have to be awake and alert. People often sense one emotion at a time, instead of appreciating the emotional complexity of the situations in which they find themselves. But it is

Their laughter seems to free up their compassion and liberate them from narcissistic worry about themselves.

Some people complain about irony, confusing it, perhaps, with cynicism. They seem to think that too much irony keeps you aloof and insincere. But that isn’t the kind of ironical sensitivity I am talking about. I’m decrying the collapse of a witty, comic understanding of the human condition. My personal preference is a subtle humor and wit, the kind

The many Sufi stories about the mullah Nasrudin teach the importance of wit. Among my favorites: Nasrudin goes to a music teacher to take guitar lessons. “That will be ten dollars for the first lesson, and five dollars for each lesson after that,” says the teacher. “Fine,” says Nasrudin, “I’ll start with lesson two.”