She probably followed it up with something viciously offensive about Elizabeth Taylors weight, but the wisdom still stands.
This week marks the 9-year anniversary of Joan Rivers death.
For starters, they were both big hits with gay men in the 80s!
(Dont get mad.
There are universal events in the shared human experience that pop up just to shoot you down.
Your house burns down.
You know,universalhuman experiences!
If youre like me, your brain is wired to go straight to a cycle of despair and catastrophization.
The day I got my HIV diagnosis in 2016, thats exactly how I reacted.
Like, shell-shocked-and-hearing-a-high-pitched-noise-in-a-WWII-movie stunned.
I was running Terms of Endearment scenes on loop in my head (Its after ten!
GIVE MY DAUGHTER THE SHOT!)
Life was at its worst, and it felt entirely by my own doing.
Yet somehow… it also wasnt over.
The nurse was right that a state program would pay for my treatment and insurance.
I was Undetectable within months and have had zero health complications in the years since.
But Im a comedian.
Never content to be content, I started doing something that is probably a little sick…
I started doing stand-up about my HIV.
And whats worse; it worked.
And I truly dont think I would be here without the alleged tragedy of that initial HIV diagnosis.
I am not fixed.
Ill continue snapping out of my funks, and so will you.
Its what Joan would do.
