L is for Levity

When SP suggested the word “levity” (Hey! I’m finally doing a word off of his list!) I pretty much thought I knew where the post was going to go. Humor, laughter, blah-blah,… oh yeah, I can handle this. 

However, having been raised on the maxim, “Never shoot off your mouth unless your brain is loaded”, I decided I’d better look up the precise definition before I started to hold forth… and realized there was a very large gap in my understanding of the nuances of the word.

lev·i·ty  (ˈlevədē/)

noun:  1. humor or frivolity, especially the treatment of a serious matter with humor or in a manner lacking due respect.

That last portion is where my understanding had failed me: 

     “in a manner lacking due respect"… 

That really is one of the edges where humor can go wrong, isn’t it? Light-hearted can easily be seen as silly, joking can be seen as mockery… and any of those perspectives can trigger a feeling of disrespect.

Personally, I’m a big fan of levity. For one thing, the world is grim enough as it is and needs all the sunshine that can possibly be brought into it. So I do my part by trying to keep things light, to invite people to join me in enjoying the silly and absurd, rather than to get lost in the seriousness of It All. 

But my approach isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, I realize that. We all have our sensitivities and sensibilities and humor doesn’t always translate across personalities. So that missing nuance often ends up being the thing that bites me in the butt. Instead of amusing, I end up disdained for my inanity - and attempted quashing ensues.

Yet, who judges when humor has slipped into disrespect? 

      Anyone who feels offended, or is there a perceptible universal standard?

And how do you determine who initiated the lack of respect?

      The frivolour or the judge?

Levity.

It seems like such a light little word - who knew it could be so slippery?