This Smart Women Conversations video covers a lot of ground, mostly about how humor is so valuable to our daily lives, and yet we forget to smile, or laugh, or engage in pranks - because we were taught that adults don't do that. And, we might once have laughed in church or at a solemn event (a christening or a confirmation or a bar mitzvah or our during assembly in 5th grade when weird Sally Bollocks was singing a Diana Ross song)  and been chastised for it, so we learned that laughter is something you do only after someone else does it.

Tugging on Your Ear 

Like comedienne Carol Burnett, Lisa sings and does improv and likes being a goofball. She says the only way out is through, using a Robert Frost quote to explain how to get on with your life, even when life throws tomatoes at you. Carol Burnett is her hero. Watch and learn why. Learn how she is planning a connection to Carol Burnett - through all this social sharing, perhaps? Who knows.

Lisa never let the family problems hold her back. The third child in a family of four children, she has more stories of life growing up confused, than most. Weren't we all confused as kids? But this is different.

This is confusion from being in a home torn by alcoholism. Perhaps something more. Whatever it was, the choice Lisa made was to get through it, get beyond it, and somehow, get over it. 

In a moment of bravery, and she shares many moments of bravery in the video, Lisa talks about the book she wrote and self-published. Called Laughs on Wry: An Improviser's Memoir  this book is a story of a girl who became a woman, "finding humor through childhood abuse, failed marriages, and other hurdles."

It's About Choosing - To Smile or To Frown

The book is all about choice. Because, as I tell you all the time, life is about choice. You choose to be happy today. You choose not to let a minor inconvenience be blown into a major catastrophe. You choose to be successful. You choose to laugh or you choose to cry.

This is a difficult time for us. Us human beings. We are asked to confine ourselves to our homes. We are asked to be respectful of others and only go out for necessary reasons. We are asked to care.

Lisa cares. Lisa cares more than a boatload of the rest of us. She cares about finding joy in your day. She cares about sharing her joy and her antics, to give you a moment of pleasure, away from the social distancing and worries of what happens tomorrow.

I asked her how she does it. How does she get up and do improv, for one. Performing in front of a lot of people, trying to get them to laugh. And, I asked her about giving a portion of her proceeds from the book to The Family and Children's Center of La Cross. 

She said, "No one ever told me I couldn't."

And, "I wanted to give back - April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a cause that I hold dear."

It's what we all want. To work through our troubles, and to give back. 

Enjoy this fun show. Share it. Leave a comment. OH GOLLY! I almost forgot the Serious Selfies! It's a Lisa thing. Hop over to her Facebook page and check it out. I got to be part of it! W00tie Tootie for me!

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