“Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility” – James Thurber, via A-Word-A-Day or, Why I Write Humor

I’m at Elaine Blanchard’s writing group in the Shelby County women’s prison, talking about writing, describing the time when I wore a TERRIBLY inappropriate dress to a graduation party for SEMINARIANS and I say, “That’s how I deal with things – I write them.”
Then here comes this quote from James Thurber, refining my comment. Now, it will be, “That’s why I write humor – it refracts emotional chaos.” Refract because the view of the event changes as it passes temporally from currently-experienced to remembered. The jagged pieces rearrange themselves into a beautiful kaleidoscope, still jagged, just funny. The end result shines.
Sometimes, when the emotional chaos passes more quickly for me than those around me, I get scolded: “How can you laugh at that?”
Response: How can you not?

Here’s to creative synthesis . . .