Being able to laugh in the face of cancer lets you continue to own yourself, as hard as that might be, rather than ceding ownership to the disease. A good laugh reminds you that you are not your cancer.…

I know that sometimes laughter seems impossible. After my cancer diagnosis I plunged into a bleak funk. And these days I’m struggling with a post-treatment depression that leaves my days swaddled in wearying grays.

But no matter how remorseless the gloom, we humans tend to have our antennae for humor out. We’re the animal that wants to laugh, wants to unlock itself through a chuckle and a chortle. And laughter lets us cope, even in awkward moments.