"Humor is a way of disempowering terrible things (or people). If you can see the ridiculousness in the abuser, abuse, or bad situation, then right away this loses the power it had over you. It can't control you if you just can't take it seriously."

Nathalie Lawhead's Everything is going to be OK explores dark, horrible life events through a lens of relentless optimism and humor, facing down soul-crushing horror with an absurd cheer. It's also a scathing look at how we deal with life trauma, in both ourselves and others, showing cartoon bunnies cut in half who are being told how diet and a positive attitude will get them through. It's absolutely ridiculous, and yet shows how many of us deal with emotional pain.

Still, each of these bunnies, no matter how much pain they're in, survive. Despite useless advice and pointless platitudes, they persist. They live on, and find a way to exist past the traumatic event, even if their lives are never the same.
Lawhead wanted us to feel that absurdity and that pain. Wanted us to experience the out-of-control ways in which life throws endless curve balls that we can only work to survive. Embrace the chaos that comes with the relentless difficulties of existence. And then, with maybe a little bit of powerful optimism, come out on the other side, still hurt, but maybe, just maybe, be OK.

"Making light of hopelessness, and even laughing at it, is sometimes the only thing you can do. Humor is very liberating. If...