Bob Schwartz

If you didn’t notice, April Fools’ Day this year seemed subdued. I understand that, since I didn’t feel much like making light of lying for fun and making light of foolishness. Living daily with very public lying and foolishness makes joking about it too tragic to be funny.

Maybe today, the day after, can be April Wise Day. It can be a day to appreciate the precious value of even tiny bits of wisdom, the kind you hear and read, the kind that can make your life and the lives of those in your world better and bearable.

So look out for wisdom, speak it, seek it, recognize it when you stumble upon it. It’s out there, more plentiful than the foolishness that may be weighing you down.

Here’s a starter, appropriate for April Fools’ Day or any day. Happy April Wise Day.

Get into the habit of singing
a tune. It will give you
new life and fill you with joy.

Get into the habit of dancing.
It will displace depression and
dispel hardship.

Finding true joy is the hardest of
all spiritual tasks. If the only way
to make yourself happy
is by doing something silly,
do it.

Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav (1772–1810), from The Empty Chair: Finding Hope and Joy—Timeless Wisdom from a Hasidic Master, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov