"I took out the book I was reading. Duck Soup for the Soul by Swami Beyondananda, really very funny. Opened where the bookmark was.
" 'Irony Deficiency
Here is something ironic: We live at a time when our diets are richer in irony than ever before in human history, yet millions of us suffer from that silent crippler, irony deficiency . . . not so much a deficiency in irony itself, but an inability to utilize the abundance of irony all around us.'
"I stared at the page and laughed out loud. Irony deficiency! Okay, okay, I get it. I had barely squeaked through on the iron. How was I doing with the irony? Had anything ironic happened lately? How about my visualizing the agent falling in love with my manuscript for seven weeks when it was lost somewhere in her office? Yes, this day's diet was rich in irony. Could I process it, or would I suffer from 'that silent crippler, irony deficiency'?
"I giggled all the way to Valerie's office. Then, lying on her massage table, I heard her say, 'But in my daughter's new job she'll have to wear professional dress, and she hates to iron. . . .'
" 'Oh?' I said with my face in the brown leather, 'she has an ironing deficiency?'
"I will not fall prey to that insidious disease. As suggested by Swami Beyondananda, I will process my irony, release my jestive blockages, and pay attention to my humorroids. Knowing that non-judgment day is at hand, I will, while I am meditating on opening my crown chakra, also work on opening my 'clown chakra.' "
