Jul 8, 2026 · 43 min · 14 segments
In this uplifting episode, Dr. Robyne welcomes comedian and mental health and well-being expert Jessica Holmes for a conversation about the power of humor and wholehearted living. Together, they…
Jessica HolmesGuestRobyne Hanley-DafoeHostSo Jessica, the big question that I had for you is one of the areas in the framework I use on human resiliency is the part of humor.
And of all the pillars, so there's five in total, I'll tell you the one that I get a wee bit of pushback on the most is humor, where people are just like, you know, things are heavy, things are hard.
Like, what are you talking about that we need to cultivate practices of joy and merriment and play and wonder, right? We see it in the research, Jessica.
How do we find that place when people, because the big question they ask Jessica is they feel really far away from those feelings of joy and play and merriment and laughter.
So where do we start if we're feeling a bit disconnected from those things right now in the world?
I had to take the word comedy out of my keynote and even out of my title because people were saying, no, no, no, we want something serious.
And so the research that I've done shows that when we can interpret life comedically, then we see the stressors in our life as separate and outside of ourselves.
So instead of feeling like I am under this mountain of stress, it is part of me, it is in me.
If we look at the stressful situations, for example, to say, I'm having such a terrible week at work.
If this week was an episode of The Office, what would Jim be doing? What would Pam be doing? What would go wrong? How would Michael react? Or if my favorite thing to ever do is Google whatever the issue is that's stressing you out, plus comedian.
And so there are little tricks to do in order to see things a bit more comedically.
And what the science says is it stops the stress from being in you, on you, around you, and just lets you see it as an event.
And it's still stressful, but it is something you see now, not something you are.
So Jessica, the big question that I had for you is one of the areas in the framework I use on human resiliency is the part of humor.
And of all the pillars, so there's five in total, I'll tell you the one that I get a wee bit of pushback on the most is humor, where people are just like, you know, things are heavy, things are hard.
Like, what are you talking about that we need to cultivate practices of joy and merriment and play and wonder, right? We see it in the research, Jessica.
How do we find that place when people, because the big question they ask Jessica is they feel really far away from those feelings of joy and play and merriment and laughter.
So where do we start if we're feeling a bit disconnected from those things right now in the world?
I had to take the word comedy out of my keynote and even out of my title because people were saying, no, no, no, we want something serious.
And so the research that I've done shows that when we can interpret life comedically, then we see the stressors in our life as separate and outside of ourselves.
So instead of feeling like I am under this mountain of stress, it is part of me, it is in me.
If we look at the stressful situations, for example, to say, I'm having such a terrible week at work.
If this week was an episode of The Office, what would Jim be doing? What would Pam be doing? What would go wrong? How would Michael react? Or if my favorite thing to ever do is Google whatever the issue is that's stressing you out, plus comedian.
And so there are little tricks to do in order to see things a bit more comedically.
And what the science says is it stops the stress from being in you, on you, around you, and just lets you see it as an event.
And it's still stressful, but it is something you see now, not something you are.
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