I have a love-hate relationship with this saying because it invalidates what good night’s sleep can do for you, resting, trying to eat right, taking your medication and/or listening to your doctor. Laughter and comedy is not always the best medicine.
Sometimes crying can be very cleansing for you—along with laughter. But it still doesn’t mean it is the best medicine. It is usually only a temporarily feeling of relief. It is something that can help you get through the night.
I bring this up because not only do I live with an illness and disability but I am also a human being with way too many emotions. Just having a normal bad day will make you want to cry your eyes out or watch a funny show to lighten your mood. But when I am having a flare-up and feel like I am dying—that is when laughter can be the “best” medicine. Especially, after I have tried sleeping and have taken my medication and still don’t feel good.
The other night I had a bad day—actually, I have had a couple of bad days. I haven’t been feeling good. These are the days when my body feels like it is against me and wants to kill itself. And there is usually nothing I can do. I will take a nap, wake up and still feel pretty terrible. I will take my medication and sometimes it helps and other times the side effects only make it worse. Either way, I watched Netflix and it made me feel a lot better. It is a huge distraction from how I feel. It is a huge distraction from my somewhat shitty life.
Laughter comes from many different places. It can come from a show, a book, a song, a video on YouTube or a person. Someone that is really good at making you laugh. Someone that you can be vulnerable around. But not too vulnerable. I have been having a couple of bad days.
Particularly, the other day I wasn’t feeling good and I had to miss one of my classes because I didn’t want to pass out during the middle of it. So, I went back to my apartment and took a three-hour nap. I woke up still not feeling the greatest. I cried a little bit. Then I was just feeling like I needed to be held. My boyfriend decided to stop by and he didn’t even know I wasn’t feeling good that day. We talked and laughed for about three hours and cuddled. It made me feel a lot better and was a nice distraction. Who knew? I sure didn’t because we have only been dating for a couple of months. I am not used to having a boyfriend while living with an illness.
It was nice but I still wasn’t feeling good. The point is it distracted me from the crappy feeling of my illness taking over my body. That is what laughter, talking and crying do. It is a temporary relief of distraction.
That is all a girl can ask for when it seems like everything else fails her.
