“Perhaps I know best why it is man alone who laughs; he alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter.” - Friedrich Nietzsche
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It’s hard to fake laughter. Actors say it’s easier to cry on cue than to laugh convincingly. I used to laugh all the time – I even got told at work not to laugh so much. Then when my depression became so severe I wanted to die, I quit laughing (I quit crying, too). I didn’t laugh – or cry – for about six months. I tried watching my favorite comedies, and just felt sad because I could remember a time when they made me laugh.
People around me tried to cheer me up, but to no avail. After I survived my attempt, I would pretend to laugh so that my family would think I was recovering. Months later, one day, I saw something funny on TV and I laughed. At around the same time, my beloved cat died, and I cried. I knew I was on the journey back to life. I’m still on it. Are you?
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