The Dark Side of Humor

On By nopassingfancyIn Life, writing

According to ‘some’, it is unfortunate that my children are so much like me. Most disagree though and so the ‘some’ don’t win. Personally, I’m rather relieved that they’re so much like me. Although admittedly there are moments when they terrify me – said tongue in cheek 😉

Like the other night when my daughter sent me this, with the caption, “I’d sleep with one eye open, Mom” :

IMG-20181028-WA0010

If it had come from my 20-year-old son I don’t think it would have bothered me quite so much – which is kind of weird, I know. But my daughter is 13…and she’s a girl…for goodness sake! I placed a bookmark into the spot in a really interesting part of a psychological thriller I was reading, and marched myself to the dining area where I could hear her tapping away on the keyboard.

What a relief to discover that my ‘little girl’ had not suddenly become a psychopath!
She was looking at a variety of writing prompts and the picture above had come up as one of them!

I’ve always had a bit of a dark sense of humor – nothing to be feared, just enough to not get offended too easily, and to see the humor in situations that are sometimes not funny at all. It may be from having a prior career where death was a part of life…but my genre choice for reading and movies etc doesn’t help much either.
Naturally, this has been passed down to my children – although I have always been very careful to keep it ‘age appropriate’ over the years.
Having a dark sense of humor has always been considered a fault in my close and extended family though. I guess that’s why my brother and I are very much the ‘darkest sheep of the lot’.

funny memes hilarious lmfao sarcasm Elegant A dark sense of humor SO TRUE & Downright Hilarious

The years have passed and I have learned to develop healthier coping mechanisms. I have also learned to be a lot more positive and to find the good in things before I lose focus and get myself lost in the bad. The dark humor is still sometimes funny though. The funniest thing about it?

According to a published study, those of us who can appreciate dark humor are actually more intelligent, lower in aggression and have better moods.
And when I think about it, and those close to me who are inclined to share my dark humor, I can actually say that I fully agree.
(Although my teenage daughter’s moods are not quite better…but then again, in her defense, I suppose she is stuck in hormone hell at the moment)

I guess dark humor isn’t such a bad thing after all then, right?

25 thoughts on “The Dark Side of Humor”

  2. Pingback: The Dark Side of Humor — nopassingfancy | Ups and Downs of Family History V2.0

  3. HA! – It’s at times like those that i smile the smug smile of a man who’s never had to raise a child of his own (and i shudder at the memory of trying (albeit briefly) to help raise someone else’s!) 😉

    Naturally I would agree with you about the published study – interesting! 🙂

    (Gotta admit – i snickered or chuckled at every one of those! I have already used the funeral one as a DF)

    I don’t see a dark sense of humour as any kind of fault, not unless it is taken to the extreme and you can only really appreciate dark humour and think the ‘lighter’ stuff is just ‘sad’.

    From your comments on my DF’s i can see that is not an issue here! 🤪

    Most people would probably describe my sense of humour as just ‘weird’, but i try to post jokes and laughs on my blog that are positive and might appeal to a wide range of tastes. 🙂

    Here’s to the dark sheep!) 🍸 🙂

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    1. You have every right to be smug. I’ve been raising my babies alone since they were 20 months and 9 years old. It’s been an education all in itself – and a definite lesson in growth personally!
      Thankfully, the oldest is a fully grown man now…just four more years of mommy’s guidance for the young one. She’s definitely the most interesting one to be raising 😛

      I happen to be very fond of your sense of humor. So cheers, dark sheep.
      Do you twitter? 😛

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      1. That can’t have been easy and i’m sorry to hear it happened that way, but i think it was likely better than if that relationship had continued as it was – or am i on the wrong track here?
        If she’s anything like her Mom (and you said they both are) i’m sure it would be … oh, what’s the word…..?

        …Interesting! 😉

        Thank you – i’ll try not to disappoint :-p

        I’ve got an ‘anonymous’ Twitter account, but it’s pushing it to say i ‘use’ it. I have a ‘thing’ about using ‘smart’phones that goes someway to explaining it. 🙂 🤪

        ” @bdt059 “

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      2. It hasn’t been easy – but nothing worthwhile is 😉
        It is sad that it happened that way – not exactly how I pictured my life… but yes, in this case it HAD to be that way. Or I wouldn’t be here.

        My daughter is a LOT like me – but waaaay more interesting. The joys of youth 😉

        So if I were to message you on Twitter, is it safe to say you wouldn’t read it then 😛

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      3. They SAY nothing worthwhile is easy.. i like to think some worthwhile things could be! 😉

        You made the correct decision in my none too humble and totally unbiased opinion!

        Hopefully your interesting daughter learns a lot from her Mom. 😉 ( Could save some heartbreak, but kids’ll do what kids always have.)

        Oh i’d read it (and probably enjoy it) – but maybe not for a while! 😉

        You could always send me an email?

        I’m on Messenger as well. 🙂

        You Got Mail! 😉

        Like

      4. In all honesty, when I look at my beautiful ‘little girl’ I can almost envision that I’m in for some heartbreak up ahead. But she is who she is, and needs to learn what she needs to learn. I’ll always be there loving her and I’ll always be willing to guide her. Choices are hers though and I will not force any of mine on her. She’s a good kid in general though and I’m grateful for that 🙂

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      5. All Mum’s burden – letting her little girl grow up without smothering them to death.

        It won’t be easy, but will be worthwhile! 😉

        Sounds to me like she has a pretty darn great Mom! 🙂 ox

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      7. One of the things you will learn about me is that when people – good people like you – say something that puts themself down i tend to jump to their ‘defence’. 🙂

        You so don’t suck! ( Hmmmm….. 🤔🤔🤔 ) :-p

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    1. Funny you should mention that… when i tried ‘follow me on Twitter’ button on your blog the Twitter screen came up with: Sorry ! That account does not exist??

      Don’t you just love social media??

      My acc: is @bdt059 I think – Yes??

      I logged on and thought i saw that you had ‘followed’ me and i tried the same, but i think i got that message again – i know i saw it twice?

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