163“With the increase in domestic violence,” the doctor
says, “I am advocating that home appliance manufac-
turers begin installing airbags.”
On the subject of our growing intolerance of crime,
he says—“Criminals, among the most deeply tense in
our communities, will soon have trouble recruiting top
people because they can no longer escape the sense that
there is resentment building about what they do for a
living.”
“It was inevitable,” he observes, “that genetic engi-
neering would come from a generation that played Mr.
Potato Head.”
Knipe’s editing of my writing also causes me to
lighten up. (While making helpful handwritten notes
on the manuscript for this book, he recommended that I
refer to the Lakota shaman Lame Deer as “Super Sha-
man Lame Deer.”)
While going through my recovery from a frighten-
ing disease that featured, at one point, uncontrolled
bleeding, he left me a comforting phone message that
said, “Don’t worry about the bleeding. It’s normal for
someone your age.”
Fred shares my long-held belief that humor is the
highest form of creativity. It’s the hardest to produce
and the most enjoyable to receive. Humor, like all other
creativity, is a matter of making unusual combinations.
The more surprising the combination, the funnier the
humor.
Your own motivational level will always be lifted by
humor. Any time you are stuck, ask yourself to take
things lightly. Ask yourself to come up with some funny
solutions. Laughter will destroy all limits to your think-
ing. When you are laughing, you are open to anything.
Lighten things up