Paul Conti

I want to celebrate that because it's all part of the goodness.

I think we're taught to think, oh, that's so bad, and it equates to death and misery.

People can reminisce at funerals, right?

And laugh because people can be very, very, very sad and perceive

that this person has died and perceived the sadness of it.

But in perceiving that and really living in it, then you can have people who want to remember that person by telling a funny story.

Why?

Because each of those people carries that with them.

So I think what you're saying is consistent with healthy function as human beings, because we're going to encounter sadness and loss.

What do we do with that?

And do we do things that ultimately create some redemption or even reparation inside of us?

And reparation is a big

word in psychology, right?

It's how we repair damage and loss.

So if we lose someone and we're sad, can we, by telling funny stories about that person, remind ourselves that, hey, they're still inside of us.

Whether they're out there looking at me, I don't know, but I can call that person of mine inside of us and then we have something that's good and beautiful that comes of that too.

Trauma can certainly drive us to creativity, even to push against or to protest against what the trauma tells us.

Trauma tells us lessons like nothing matters and you don't matter and nothing will ever be good and nothing is beautiful.

And we can push against trauma.

There is life in me.