Are you tired of information warfare steeped in doom. How many negative movies are out there right now? Movies where even the sets are dark. The costumes are dark. Cheerless fiction is a downer.

I bet you remember old cartoons and movies that used to make you laugh. One of my favorite cartoons is Gary Larson’s work, a nerdy juxtaposition between logic and humor. Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson is often funny and enjoyable with its reflections on childhood enthusiasms. Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis has some entertaining moments that are relevant for today’s wierder quandaries. How about Groundhog Day, a movie that has influenced so many copycats? Or 50 First Dates? Or Ghost Busters? Do you remember spending more time laughing and less time worrying? I can.

The Riddle Master trilogy was published in 1976 and it was a wonderful fantasy story that I’ve read and enjoyed many times. It was written by Patricia A. McKillip. In that story, there was an ancient on-going war that no one knew about except as history. Suddenly violence began to affect everyday life. Warfare turned out to be something erupting from the long ago past. What appeared to be happening was so puzzling and it didn’t make sense when viewed in the context of recent life. Big change can be puzzling that way. A character in the story was attacked and the attacker spoke a poem as part of his attack:

“Withering your voice, as the roots of your land are withering. Slow your heart’s-blood slow as the dragging waters, the rivers of Hed. Tangling are your thoughts as the yellow vines are tangling, drying, snapping underfoot. Wither the life of you as the late corn is withering…Dry, dust dry, the earth, the earth of you, land ruler lord of the dying. Parching the fields of your body, moaning the wind of your last work across the waste of them, the wasteland of Hed.”

I sometimes feel reminded of that attack in the Riddle Master trilogy when people come out to say in the press that various dooms are nigh. There are so many existential threats due to basic malfeasance that isn’t being addressed. As we face change, it’s helpful to wait and see. Don’t believe negative stories predicting your inevitable doom. It’s better to ignore the doom sayers.

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One of the best things you can do instead of watching or listening to doom-porn is buy books that have been published with old funny comics in them. Buy the ones that you remember liking the most. Buy a book with a collection of your favorite old cartoons or grab some old comedy movies that make you laugh. Doing that will reduce your stress and lighten your information content. Make laughter part of your day.