My reading project this week was Joseph Heller’s Catch-22. The crazy antics of Yossarian are good for more than just a good laugh. The book has revolutionized my week.

Monday began with decisions and responsibilities for which I felt ill-equipped. My heart was burdened.
But by mid-week, I was lighthearted again. The reason? Catch-22 reminded me that we just can't take life that seriously. Every character in the book is a parody of someone we are or know. The dutiful are lampooned along with the slackers. Those in positions of power look like bungling idiots. No one is safe from Heller’s satire.

As I reflected on Heller’s perspective, I was reminded that we human beings are just children, slightly baffled most of the time. And when we forget that, something vital is missing.

Click here to see a humorous excerpt from the classic TV show I’ve Got a Secret. Guests on the show would come on stage and whisper their secret into Garry’s ear. (The secret was then revealed to the audience.) The panelists would ask questions to try to uncover the secret. It was always great fun when the secret was revealed to the panel—whether it was shocking or unusual or simply unexpected. Good energy is released when a secret becomes known.

In Frank Delaney’s epic novel about Ireland, the narrator tells us that every person has three dimensions to his/her life:

1. The public life,
2. The private life, and
3. The secret life.

The story Delaney weaves aptly demonstrates that the untold secrets we hold inside ourselves play out in our actions in unpredictable ways. We are the only ones we are really hiding our secrets from. Everyone else already “knows.” Or at the very least, they “know” that we are hiding something.