Welcome to Day 24 on the journey through The Joy of Writing Journal. Here I share an excerpt from my journey and I hope you will share something about yours—an excerpt, an insight, a challenge, a joy…

My dad was a true character with a brilliant mind—a renaissance man, English teacher, musical genius / composer, Asian art expert. He was self taught in almost all areas and was just as comfortable researching supplements and alternative health treatments as he was reading obscure medical journals—for fun! (and later for his health). His research paid off. His doctor told him every year, “You’ve lived 4 years longer than anyone with this kind of cancer.” Which became 5 years and 6 years and 7 and more.

Dad also dominated almost any conversation and seldom paused for breath when speaking. He was also a devoted and passionate teacher, a kind and generous person and loved my nickname for him, “Faux Papa.” Dad enjoyed occasionally poking fun at himself.

I had fun imagining a conversation between my dad and someone else I know—who comes from a completely different world to Jewish New York—and who, like Dad, lacks self awareness. The dialogue reminded me of theater of the absurd.

I laughed when I reread it.

The other person in my imagined dialogue lives on. It’s one thing to journal about someone and make fun in your own private world, knowing they will never see it. Quite another to make it public. For these reasons, I decline to share the excerpt.

I will say that it was fun and somewhat cathartic to write. Humor created space for compassion for both my dad and this other person (maybe for myself as well). I could see their behaviors as personal defenses and nothing to do with me.

I love when my journaling becomes humorous. I find it healing. Humor can help us release our rigid perceptions and make room for new ways of seeing things.

Your Turn

Share an excerpt from your Day 23 exploration in The Joy of Writing Journal: Spark Your Creativity in 8 Minutes a Day. If you don’t have a copy, you can buy it here.

As I did, you may feel that sharing your writing would betray the people in your anecdote. Please honor your intuition on that one.

However, feel free to change names and details to disguise the people before sharing an excerpt, if you feel that would be sufficient to make it anonymous.

And you can also share insights about the experience, rather than an excerpt.

How was this exercise for you? Did anything shift?