Tried to write a joke about my past trauma

[Toasthead]

So I’ve been writing jokes for my stand up routine so that I’m ready when the bars open up again after this quarantine is over and I tried to write a joke about a traumatic event that happened about 4 years ago. Not going to go into every detail right now, but basically I was involved in a game road rage altercation on the side of the road. My mom stopped next to the guy that cut us off on and he got out of his car and started punching me through the car window. For a long time after it happened I would have some minor flashbacks over it once in a while and the stress it caused me affected my relationship at the time and whenever I’d think about it I’d get extremely nervous. I thought I had finally beaten this trauma through therapy, I finally stopped blaming myself for what happened, I didn’t feel like I was less of a man for not defending myself, I thought I had finally moved passed it. And I thought maybe since it’s been so long maybe I could finally make a joke about it, but the moment I started thinking about what happened again I started feeling knots in my stomach. Why can’t I just move past this one instance in my life? Why can’t I just take this pain and channel it into art? I don’t know maybe it’s just late and I guess I just had a reality check on my mental health progress and it makes me a little frustrated that I still have a ways to go.


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[Cuchculan]

Some things simply stay with us. Hard to just forget about them. You don't expect to get attacked and punched when you are out in a car. Maybe you can use your writing skills to turn this into some form of stand up comedy too. As a way of dealing with it. Instead of him punching you, say that you decided to headbutt his fist a few times to show him how angry you were. Once your head began to hurt, you knew he got the message. So you drove on. it would be one way of making light out of something that was serious.

I was one of those people who likes to joke around. Spent ten years in the house. Due to my anxiety. Is no lie that I went to a support group for others with agoraphobia. We all talked about our fears. As you do at such things. Forward a few weeks. A day trip was suggested. Maybe it was just my mind, but I was seriously laughing. Group of agoraphobics out for the day. Brown paper bags in hand just in cases they needed to blow into them. Sort of said, wouldn't it be fun if we drove to the middle of nowhere and the bus broke down. Then we all had to make our way back home again. Others were laughing too. You go first. No you go first. I don't want to be here. I still think it would make for an amusing plot.

It is just we have to laugh at times. Only other option is crying. What you went through was wrong. It was a serious matter. But you like writing jokes. I am sure that somewhere in amongst all that trauma there is a good to be had. When it is at our own expense people tend to laugh more. The fact that we can joke about such things. I know next time when out in a car you will be nervous. But use the skills you have to turn it on its head. Make something else out of it.

 

[Joshua1]

Whatever this traumatic event was that you experienced long ago, you may need to work on closure on it.