The year was 1993. I was driving my mother back to her place after sharing a Chinese meal with her in Brooklyn.
She was being critical of my driving. I was being critical of her criticism.
The argument escalated until I pulled over and let her drive.
I got out of the car, huffing and puffing, preferring a thirty minute walk over being under the hood and under the spell of a power struggle with the woman who gave me birth.
My foot was still on the accelerator, I noticed.
Being a student of a Course in Miracles, I called on my inner guide to help me access some Higher Power steering, or so I thought.
I saw Jesus in my mind’s eye, and because I learn best through levity, He spoke to me in the language, I can best receive.
in my vision he was giggling, even laughing. I resented him instantly. This was serious!
“What’s so funny”, I asked?
“You are”, he said, teasing the hell out of my ego.
“You called on me, not for help healing your mind, but for assistance in validating your perception that you were right and your mother was wrong. Sorry, but that’s not my department. Would you like me to refer you to a good lawyer I know on the astral plane?”
I felt the truth of his words, and gradually began to laugh with him. I almost laughed for the entire thirty minute walk back to my Mom’s place, the kind of laughter that completely dissolves and resolves righteous anger.
When I arrived, I apologized to my mother, who, underneath the only language she knew how to express her vulnerability (criticism), was just trying to let me know how frightened she felt being out of control, not being in the drivers seat. She just wanted to feel safe, like all of us.
I wish I would have slowed down, been more careful, and respected her wishes, however disguised they might have been in anger.
So my next step was forgiving myself for stubbornly staying a defensive driver and letting my mother drive me crazy.
My work took the form of writing a song, The Asshole Song, which became my most requested song over the decades.
Before you listen to it, you may want to think of someone you have some unfinished business with. Let the song complete your business, and just like Jesus did with my ego, let laughter be your medicine.
PS. FUN FACT: Ten years later I was on a concert tour in Germany, and I was told by my organizer to steer clear of my funny songs, as he estimated that 60% of my audience would not know enough English to get my sense of humor.
By my fourth concert, I was tired of the same simple spiritual sing-alongs I was doing, and I performed The Asshole Song.
Nobody, not a single soul, smiled or laughed.
I thought I had goofed big time.
But the German people, famous for being guarded and reserved in public, had an unexpected inner reaction.
When the concert was over and people were crowding around my products table, the main question I kept hearing was , “Which CD has that song about the Asshole on it?”
My funny CD sold out that night.
It seems they understood much more English than my organizer had thought.
In any case, feast your ears and get ready for some Laughter Yoga….
