Funny Thing About Funny Things

Posted 6:39 p.m. Apr 13, 2022 — Updated 6:39 p.m. Apr 13, 2022

Cam Steele

"From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!" It is a fun quote and the main premise behind the wacky book of rhymes, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss. We can often take a lot away from the works of Theodore Giesel, better known as Theo LeSieg, best known as Dr. Seuss. Sometimes the takeaways are as easy to see as the Krispy Kreme Hot Light, such as those in The Lorax, The Sneetches, and The Zax. Sometimes they are slightly more subtle. Take for instance, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. I'll admit that the first, I don't know, twenty five times or so my son, who is now just over one, pulled this book off of the shelf for me to read to him, or asked for more after I finished it, I didn't think of it as anything more than a book of silly rhymes about strange and silly creatures. Somewhere around that 26th time, though, that sentence that sets the theme for the entire book struck me. "From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!" Now of course, you won't find a bunch of zans opening cans, ink drinking yinks, or wumps with seven humps everywhere, but when I started paying attention, I started noticing that reasons to smile and laugh truly are everywhere!

We all seem to, for one reason or another, spend a lot of time thinking about, dwelling on, and spending time with all of the negative things in our lives. I'm not going to list all of the negative things that we all go through, the list is too long and I don't want to shed any more light on them than they already get, but we do tend to surround ourselves in negativity. Once we've surrounded ourselves in this bubble of negativity, too often we either only see the negative in the world around us, or we put on blinders that close us off from it altogether. But what if Dr. Seuss is right? What if funny things really are everywhere? What if when we look for them, we really do find reasons to smile all over the place?

I want to challenge you to start looking for the things that will make you laugh and smile. Start simple and go somewhere that you feel will have the most smiles, put your phone in your pocket, and start looking. Maybe for you that will be someplace like a dog park where you can see all kinds of dogs and their people playing and interacting. Maybe you're a people-person and a crowded park where you can see all kinds of people doing their people things is where you'll find your smiles. Personally, nature is my go-to for lots of smiles and laughter. Once you learn to look at your so-called "happy places," you'll find that looking for things to smile about becomes easy, dare I say natural, and almost a little addicting and you'll start noticing the good, the positive, and the reasons to smile no matter where you are because that's the funny thing about funny things; they're everywhere! You'll find yourself laughing at the squirrels chasing each other outside your window while you're washing dishes, smiling at the parent being silly with the toddler they're holding, and you might even get an extra bit of positivity out of that book you're reading! So get out there, and don't forget here, and find those funny things and reasons to smile! Doctor's orders!

Suggest A Correction