The One Thing That Really Freaks Me Out These Days. And it's Not a Laughing Matter.

Have We Lost Our Mind? Or "Just" Our Sense of Humor?

Let me preface the whole thing with this one though: You Will Die.

Picture the 80s. No, really – picture the 80s. That gloriously grotesque decade of shoulder pads reaching for the stratosphere and hair defying not just gravity, but common sense itself.

It was absurd. It was over the top. But here's the kicker: they knew it was funny (they did, right? God, I hope they did!).

Fast forward to today, and we're all too cool for school.

We're walking around in bubble wrap, surrounded by trigger warning labels that should come with their own trigger warnings. Try being funny today – it's like playing ping pong with the Statue of Liberty.

Instead of "Make America Great Again," maybe we need hats that say "Make America Fun Again!" (Though as an old-school European, I must confess my continental bias: we still have a secret stash of our sense of humor.)

And now that I think of it - if I had to bet on one thing to solve all the world's problems, it wouldn't be artificial intelligence, renewable energy, or even free pizza for life. It would be something far simpler and more powerful: a sense of humor.

Imagine if we didn't take ourselves so damn seriously.

And yes, it’s good to start with yourself. Or myself. Or them-selves. Whatever.

Life is absurd. It kind of is.

That's not a pessimistic statement; it's just a fact.

We're floating on a rock through space, wearing clothes we invented, following rules we made up, and fighting over whose version of absurd is less absurd.

It's like arguing about which imaginary friend is more real.

The biggest killer isn't climate change, nuclear weapons, or even bad Netflix reboots.

It's seriousness.

I'm serious. No, wait – I'm not serious.

That's the point.

Remember when self-help gurus were the weird ones?

Back when listening to Tony Robbins tapes marked you as the office eccentric? Now it's the opposite. Different names and faces - same message.

The faces of Modern Self-Improvement. Fun times!

The freaks are the ones who aren't constantly "optimizing" their lives, tracking their sleep, and turning their morning coffee routine into a 47-step ritual.

We're a bunch of isolated minds losing all sense of proportion.

Nothing can be laughed at anymore, not even in a healthy way. It's like we're all attending a funeral, but we forgot who died. ( it was our sense of humor.)

We don't need more stoics. We need more comedians.

The world would be a saner, healthier, safer place if we all just had a good laugh together.

You don't have to love your neighbor – just learn to laugh with them. Or at least at the same memes.

So here's to our senses:

• The usual five (though some claim six)

• The sense of urgency (always overrated)

• The sense of humor (endangered species)

• And common sense (the least common of all)

Maybe it's time we stopped being so serious about being serious.

After all, if laughter is the best medicine, we're in the middle of a global pandemic of solemnity.

And that's no joke.

(Although it kind of is.)

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