It’s ok to have fun, even when things are bad
On April 10th, 1815, Mount Tambora, a volcano in Indonesia, erupted in the largest volcanic event in over 1,300 years. Between 10,000 and 12,000 people died due to the initial eruption, but that wasn't even close to the end of the destruction. Exploding with a force equivalent to about 33 gigatons of TNT, the eruption blasted off a third of the mountain’s height, rained down 24 cubic miles of rock on the surrounding area, released huge volumes of sulfur and other toxic gasses, and covered a 45-mile radius with 40 inches of ash.
It didn’t stop there, though.
Over the next few weeks, volcanic ash smothered crops while the gasses released by the eruption caused rainfall to turn extremely acidic, which killed what crops were left. All of this while the Napoleonic Wars and a cholera epidemic had already begun to set the stage for widespread famine.
There’s even more.
The ash in the atmosphere reflected a great deal of solar radiation, causing record low temperatures worldwide that summer, which led to even more food shortages in China, Europe, and North America, flooding in China and India, and the freezing of shipping waterways, causing even more food and supply shortages.
The estimated total deaths due to the eruption of Mount Tambora are as high as 100,000, roughly 15% of the deaths recorded in the American Civil War. 15% of the deaths caused by a war. Because of the ash clouds and the globally lower temperatures, 1816 was dubbed The Year Without a Summer.
1929 kicked off a decade (at least) of worldwide economic hardship, causing unemployment, mass poverty, homelessness, droughts, crop shortages, violent psychological trauma, and suffering. The Great Depression left an indelible mark on not only North America’s collective psyche, but that of the world.
In 1938, mid-Great Depression, the world was also facing the rise of fascism and naziism while the KKK were aligning themselves with these forces in North America.
In 1956, Link Wray’s dreams of being a famous singer were destroyed. Wray, who had dreamed of being a singer since he was a kid, was drafted and subsequently served in the U.S. Army in Korea. During that time, Wray contracted tuberculosis and eventually had to have a lung removed.
Why the absolute hell am I being such a bummer, right now, you ask? Great question.
Do you know what else happened in 1816? 19-year-old Mary Godwin, with her fiancé and sister, was visiting a family friend outside of Geneva. With acid rain, ashfall, and record low temperatures, outdoor activities were not really possible, so they spent their time indoors. One night, their host suggested they all have a ghost story competition. That summer, while (and sort of because) the world was a scary place and “fun” was hard to come by, Lord Byron’s suggestion of a little diversion would lead to the soon-to-be Mary Shelley’s masterwork, Frankenstein.
Speaking of the Great Depression, as you might imagine, while luxuries came at an extreme premium, escapism was also in extremely high demand. With so many out of work, people found all kinds of inventive ways to make ends meet and fill their time. Recognizing the need for diversion from the dire state of the world, Universal Studios started releasing their now-classic monster movies, starting with Dracula. Movies were a cheap and immersive form of entertainment, so after Dracula’s wild success, Universal quickly released Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, and Bride of Frankenstein. The world was scary and times were extraordinarily hard, but without the Great Depression, we might not have seen the slate of classic monster movies that sparked countless iterations and stories in the following decades.
Toward the end of the Great Depression, while the world was wrestling with the rise of fascism, naziism, and the United States was dealing with the KKK, two artists decided the world needed a hero and decided to create one. In his first appearance, this hero tracks down and dangles a senator, who also happens to be a rich munitions manufacturer, off of a building, takes down an abusive husband, and stops a falsely accused woman from being executed. This hero would then go on to fight the KKK, Nazis, and fascists, and was even banned by Mussolini and decried by Goebbels, meaning the creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster pretty much nailed it on the first pass. When the world was on the brink of some enormously far-reaching and monumental events, Jerry and Joe decided to give the world hope in the form of cartoons on a printed page. We are forever indebted to them for the creation of Superman.
Link Wray, having had his hopes of singing ripped away, had to rethink his future. Determined to pursue music, Wray decided he would instead have to leave his mark on music through his guitar playing. Searching for ways to get new sounds out of a guitar, Link Wray became the legendary creator of… the power chord. Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and even Nirvana owe a great debt to Wray, as do we all.
The world is once again a scary place. Constant wars, economic instability, technological disruption, global climate change, bigotry, violence, and fundamentalist extremism are all rampant. In 2026, with more wealth, information, and infrastructure available to the human race than we have ever had in history, we are still seeing famine, disease, and poverty kill millions. People exist who literally could not spend the entirety of their wealth if they tried, while others have no place to live, no food to eat, and no access to healthcare. There is no shortage of things to be furious, worried, or terrified about.
I’m not trying to be a Debbie Downer again; I’m just pointing out that, while the world is legitimately scary, it’s ok to still find moments in which you find peace, enjoyment, and, yes, fun. Humans are funny creatures. We are really good at manufacturing meaning, creating rules and boundaries out of nothing, and then finding ourselves feeling trapped by our own creations. We tell ourselves that since there are terrible things happening in the world and maybe even to us, that we are somehow invalidating that very real suffering by finding ways to still enjoy life in any small way we can. Why? Why would one invalidate the other? Why does one exclude the other?
They don’t. Both can exist. Both do exist.
The instinct we feel that tells us we’re not allowed to have fun in dire times is the recognition of the potential for immersing ourselves in the diversion and losing all focus on the suffering and the work required to end it. There’s a reason they tell you on planes to secure your own oxygen mask first. You cannot give of yourself if you are empty. You cannot fight if you have no energy. You cannot be the change you want to see if you have no inspiration to imagine a better world. This is definitely an “all things in moderation” situation, but the principle is an important one. We need rest. We need peace. We need fun. We need these things to remind us what we should and can be fighting for, if nothing else.
When I was about 5, my great-grandmother died. While we lived too far away and I was too young to fully grasp the full depth of how sad this was, I was nevertheless affected. She was a kind, funny woman who helped sculpt the beginnings of my sense of humor and curiosity. I loved her.
We went to Ohio for the funeral, where obviously we saw many of our extended family members. Among these was my cousin, whom I’ll call Sam here, since he prefers to remain a pretty private person. Sam was 3 years older than me, and I thought he was so cool. Since I didn’t get to see him often, I made sure to hang out with him as much as I could while we were there. Since he’s related to me and I’m me, this also meant we ended up laughing, playing, and just generally having a great time more than was entirely socially acceptable. We learned this when we were scolded by another relative for being “too boisterous” in a funeral home. I don’t know if there is such a thing as “too boisterous” for a 5 and an 8-year-old, but what I do know is that those few minutes of fun with my cousin Sam turned a pretty overwhelming time for a 5-year-old Josh into a pretty fond memory.
As an adult, I realized my education, thanks to my upbringing, was sorely lacking. I used to love to read as a kid and still love it as an adult, but during this time, I told myself I was not allowed to read fiction because I had so much to make up for in my education gaps. I did this to myself for over 5 years, voraciously reading biographies, philosophy, sociology, history, and even economics. I learned a ton, but I was kind of miserable without any “fun” reading in my life. Then I realized I could do both, take a more balanced approach, and stop punishing myself for things that weren’t my fault.
So go play a video game. Watch a movie. Read a book. Take a walk, pet your dog, eat some pizza, buy a cool t-shirt, see a live show, or have a drink. Please take care of yourself, find ways to take a breather, have some fun, and then get back out there. We’ll cover for you, just like we know you’ll cover for us. We’re allowed to enjoy our lives. The world isn’t allowed to take that away.