What, in general, makes you angry? What, specifically, is making you angry right now?

And what are you gonna do about it?

When I think of anger, I think of one of the angriest characters in the history of film: the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz.

One outlet for her anger was unleashing her extraordinarily terrifying flying monkeys to go in search of Dorothy and her friends. Remember when she was poised at the window, screeching, “Now fly! FLY!” and off the monkeys tore, gazillions of them winging their way to do Evil, and traumatizing young viewers in the process.

Bizarre, yes. But come on. Haven’t you yourself been tempted to express your own anger in exceedingly if not equally inappropriate ways as unleashing creepy primates on the object of your wrath?

It sounds pretty satisfying, I won’t lie.

And though most of us don’t have access to this kind of revenge, we’re guilty of expressing our anger in a variety of ways–some fairly inappropriate.

So what can you do with your anger? Because if we have any hope of living a life characterized by joy, we really need some skills that can help us cope with the inevitable.

Find some in this episode…

NOTES:

Lee, Ingrid Fetell. Aesthetics of Joy Blog, June 20, 2020.

Martin, Ryan. Why We Get Mad–and Why It’s Healthy.  TEDx FondduLac

https://www.ted.com/talks/ryan_martin_why_we_get_mad_and_why_it_s_healthy?language=en

“Women Have Fist Fight at Bluffton.” Berne Witness. February 11, 1927.