In Defense of Being Totally and Completely Silly.
Even you. Even right now.
Do you know the two things they found on Dickens’ spice rack? The best of thymes and the worst of thymes.
I want to talk about being silly today.
There are a few reasons for that.
Feelings are exhausting. Heavy, physically. I mean, that’s why we have the expression “the weight of the world.” Especially when we’re seeing and experiencing and hearing about and feeling so much of the world. It doesn’t feel allowed to even think about silliness when confronted with that deep, deep heaviness.
But what if that stems from a misunderstanding of what silliness is?
A thesaurus might suggest that the opposite of silly is serious. And of course, there are plenty of things in our own individual lives and in the world that must be taken seriously.
But what if serious isn’t the opposite of silly? What if they are not mutually exclusive? What if we’re mistaking seriousness for solemnity?
A thesaurus might suggest that a synonym of silly is childish, and that can certainly be the case, sometimes. Immaturity is all too real..
But what if there’s a flavor of silly that’s rather childlike, instead?
Remember that scene in Steel Magnolias, after the funeral? After Sally Fields character has just buried her daughter, and sobs and breaks down in grief and anger, and says she just wants to hit something? And then Olympia Dukakis’ character does this?
What if, when the weight is simply too much to carry or even face, silliness is what starts to help lift? Like taking a low, deep, heavy voice and adding a little helium?
Maybe we don’t have to choose between taking something seriously and being silly.
Maybe the real opposite of silliness is something more like rigidity. Being inflexible or austere or uncompromising.
Maybe the opposite of silliness is even something like shame.
In his absolutely incredible speech about creativity, John Cleese says this:
I happen to think the main evolutionary significance of humor is that it gets us from the closed mode to the open mode quicker than anything else. I think we all know that laughter brings relaxation and that humor makes us playful, yet how many times have important discussions been held where really original and creative ideas were desperately needed to solve important problems but where humor was taboo because the subject being discussed was so serious.
I read somewhere once that anger makes your mouth work twice as fast as your brain. That seems to be what’s happening everywhere we look these days. And we really need more brain—more smart and desperately urgent creative ideas to solve utterly serious problems.
Maybe the best solutions to big problems can be more easily approached by our silly, absurd, creative inner five-year-olds, making wild connections and loosening up our assumptions. After all, kids media is some of the very best at helping us allow our own creative absurdity find solutions to big, absurd challenges.
Did you know that dogs cant operate MRI machines, but catscan?
I don’t think we need to be resistant to the idea of silliness in the midst of the serious. John Cleese says, “a group of us could be sitting around after dinner discussing matters that were extremely serious like the education of our children or our marriages or the meaning of life and…we could be laughing and that would not make what we were discussing one bit less serious.”
I wholeheartedly agree.
At my funeral, I want people to be laughing.
You know the old Aesop fable about the sun and the wind? It’s the one where the sun and the north wind argue over which is stronger, and to prove themselves they each try to get a passing man to remove his coat. The wind blows and blusters and rages, but the man only holds to his coat more tightly. Then all the sun has to do is shine, and the man takes off his coat himself.
Oh boy do we need sunshine right now.
There’s one last thing to be said about silliness.
Though we’re defining silliness here as the antidote to rigidity and inflexibility, I don’t think that means having to compromise your moral values. You can be silly and stand up for what you believe. Its possible to be compromising without being compromised.
You can be silly as you work towards making the world a better place.
In fact, you might have more success and stamina that way.
Your turn!
What is your favorite pun? Tell us in comments!
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7 Side Dishes Worth Sharing
In case you need to feel encouragement about putting your time, energy, and resources into making good and beautiful things right now, I recommend this post by Dan Blank: Your Writing Matters.
If you need ideas for books to read to your kids or in your classroom, look no further. The end of year roundups are super helpful this year, especially My favorite kidlit of 2025 from Chrissie Wright and My best books of 2025 from Sarah Miller.
I’m not sure why, but given **gestures everywhere** what I’m craving right now is capital w Weird. The sweetly Weird. So…here:
Here are 51 Things That made Me Laugh in 2025 from Chris Duffy.
In case one of your goals for this year is putting yourself out there, here is Advice for a friend who wants to start a blog by Henrik Karlsson.
Share your own favorite sides in the comments!
Teacher’s Table
Some goodies especially for the teachers:
10 Ways to get Kiddos Excited to read from Alyssa Reynoso-Morris
Everything needed to get your young writers started is here in Tools Not Rules: A Writing Guide for Young Creatives.
Various and free activity sheets up on my Teachers Pay Teachers store! More added all the time, so check back regularly.
I am so, so excited and honored to now be on the roster at the Macmillan Speakers Bureau! For school and other events, you can find my speaker page here!
You guys are rock stars!
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for coming along everyone! 1) Subscribe, 2) get a copy of the book bebes, and 3) keep glowing, you shining star you.
-Sarah
What is brown and sticky? A stick!! 😂😂😂
A coworker of mine started a tradition about a year ago now, where we start every staff meeting with a joke :) she brings elaborate stories to set up her puns and it always has us smiling before she’s even dropped the punchline! I keep mine simpler like:
Why does Snoop Dogg carry an umbrella? Fo’ drizzle.