My Jarrell Monthly • August 2023

Is It Still "Wasting Time" If I'm Laughing?

Call it chicken soup for the world-weary soul, it’s also some of my biggest irony of the 2020s so far. Part of my New Year's resolution every year is to adapt my lifestyle to reflect the 1920s every now and then. This plan was designed to ensure a few minutes every day, or longer when possible, that I would unplug and enjoy some disconnected quiet—read a (paper) book, plant something, or play the piano. I have to stop short of cooking over an open fire... my grilled food is difficult to distinguish from the charcoal. Anyway, cutting off the endless supply of ego-fed opinions, fake or not-fake fake news, and considering we are already talking about the 2024 election, more than ever I need to indulge in healthy mental vacations that will reset my emotional barometer.

The irony comes from the serotonin boost I get from stuff I discovered on the Internet that has provided me with more laughter and relief than I can remember seeing or reading for many, many months now.

Of course, I will share them with you, in case, like me, you only have a few minutes a day and you are desperately trying to figure out how to manage all your clients’ business Facebook pages without having to actually look at Facebook.

If you occasionally laugh or smile at my columns, you might have the same sense of humor and you won’t mind watching these things over and over because they’re still funny the 10th time.

So find yourself some #TatumTalks videos on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube. He's gotten pretty big since I first followed him—as in I-have-aTatum-calendar-on-my-wallnow big. No need to write in about TikTok being the devil and all its security issues—I know. But all social media is tracking everything we do so if you’re communicating on any one of those platforms, you’re already on the call list for the “your social security number is being used by drug cartels in Mexico, so send us $600 to stop it” scammers. Even Bank of America is tattling to the FBI about customers who use their debit card for “suspicious” purchases. At least TikTok is fun.

First of all, most TikTok videos are less than 60 seconds in length so they totally feed my short attention span, unlike YouTube where I start by intelligently looking for videos about marketing techniques and a half-hour later I’m watching a 12-minute mini-documentary about haunted houses.

Anyway, you’ll either love it or maybe you won't get it. But it might give you a giggle today, and may likely leave you craving Dunkin' Donuts, blueberries, or chicken nuggets.

After that, I head on over to MeWe.com for the “Clean Comedy” group. Imagine scrolling through a never-ending feed of memes that are really funny, clever, and generally original, but never use bad language, contain almost no politics, and make you feel smart when you understand the word play.

<< This one is funny because it’s true. (MeWe.com)

If you’re still not convinced, find #DanielLabelle and watch any of his video compilations, particularly “If People Did Things Aggressively.” As I write this, my dog is freaking out because, checking for the correct hashtag, I found his newest “How People of Different Ages Take Selfies” and I have been ugly-laughing for 10 minutes. Seriously, Daniel and Tatum's 34 million followers can't be wrong.

Sure, this is not medical or legal advice, but at least for right now, I’m in a great mood.