National Presidential Joke Day – August 11, 2017

How to Celebrate National Presidential Joke Day

Look at America’s president. Look at his tweets, look at his face. Try to construct a joke, but fail – any humor you once knew now crushed beneath an overwhelming sense of anxiety and dread.

Turn away from your computer, your phone, and/or television. Look out the window. Think about a time when you were young, and summers were long and full of adventure. Remember an afternoon spent with friends – chatting, laughing, playing, conspiring – simply enjoying each other’s company.

They say that scent is closely tied to memory. Can you recall what being young in the summer smelled like? Chlorine and sun block? Asphalt and sneakers? Sweat and freshly cut grass?

Stand up, stretch, and leave the building you’re in now. Walk away. Walk until you reach a spot that feels and smells like summertime and friendship and youth. Clear your mind. Take a few deep breaths. Stare into the middle distance and remember a time when the world’s woes rolled off you like that saying about water and ducks that you can’t quite recall. (Beaks? Backs?) Just for a moment, be the duck.

Quack a little. It’ll probably help.