Guest piece from author Jenny Pearson
It is a very lucky person who gets through life without facing any hardship. And it is completely right that people have their own ways of getting through difficult times. For me though, being able to laugh with family and friends is something that has allowed me to remember that even when things royally suck, there is still happiness to be found, when you’re ready to look for it.
Laughter through tears is possibly my favourite emotion – it feels like everything is connecting. I’m sure there is chemical reasoning behind it – probably something about how the parts of your brain responsible for controlling those emotions are situated close together or some such – I really have no idea. And honestly, I’m not too worried about the reason why it happens – I’m just glad it does.
That we are wired like this means to me, that we are ultimately wired to survive. Like fight and flight, we have the ability to both laugh and cry when under the cosh. When I find a book that enables me to experience this, it’s a reminder of the possibility that joy can follow the despair. I suppose it brings me hope. And hope is something we all need, no matter how old and cantankerous we become.
And while the ability to laugh and cry may be a response that exists naturally within us, I do believe it is also something that we learn. My family have always searched for the funny when things are tricky. I have seen how my stepdad’s enjoyment of gallows humour got him through his illness. How at his funeral, and in fact at all the funerals of adults I have attended, the conversations at the wake inevitably turns to the sharing of memories – in particular funny ones.
I think sometimes as adults, we naturally tend to shield our children from sadness and hurt and pain – of course we do – we are hardwired to protect. But the unkind reality is that our children do face difficulties and hard times. In The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates I didn’t want to shy away from the grief Freddie felt when he lost his Grams. I wanted to say that we can still love people, even if they are no longer with us. But I also wanted to show children that there is humour to be found, even at the darkest of times. And this is why I wrote a scene where Freddie accidentally ends up sniffing his grandma’s underpants.
I wish that you are blessed with days that are filled with nothing but joy, but should those more challenging times come, I also wish that you are still able to laugh, and to remember that happiness is always there, waiting to be found.
- The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates by Jenny Pearson is available now. Thanks to Jenny for the wonderful guest post.
- Thanks to Fritha Lindqvist PR for organising.
