We’ve all been there. Life deals us a really tough hand and we feel like crawling under the nearest fuzzy blanket with Ben & Jerry, turning up the volume on Steel Magnolias, and just having an all-out pity party. No other guests invited. But the need to get back to routine does kick in — like considering the other three food groups (come on, you think ice cream should be its own food group too); trying that new make-me-amazing mascara; thinking about ditching the sweats for, well, anything else.

And for me, that includes finding my funny.

Where to look? Woody Allen movies — Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, Radio Days. TV reruns — Seinfeld, Friends, Cheers. Anything Nora Ephron has written. Anything Mel Brooks says. Katharine Hepburn in Philadelphia Story. Grace Kelly in High Society. Animal House (I can’t help it — Tim Matheson seducing Dean Wormer’s wife is hilarious. And don’t even get me started on Belushi’s antics). And of course, Robin Williams doing stand-up.

If laughter really is the best medicine, and laughing hard can bring tears to your eyes, then maybe it’s all one big continuum. And maybe that’s what makes us human.

Funny thing about that.

© 2013 Claudia Grossman