“Laughter is the sunbeam of the soul.” Thomas Man
How are you spending your time indoors? Does it feel confining or like a vacation? How do you feel about the solitude if you are alone?
Life is relatively simple now. I’m able to ease my way through the day, not willing to set a schedule yet, although I may need to do that in the future. Yesterday morning I was out running necessary errands and was amazed by how few cars were on the highway. It reminded me of the Asheville I knew many years ago before the tourist trade exploded.
While life may seem boring as we are confined to our homes, fortunately spring is approaching, and I’m delighted each day as I see the azalea blossoms quickly growing in size. When I walk in the neighborhood, people are keeping their distance but always wave and smile. And of course there are also those moments we don’t expect that may awe us or bring us laughter.
Comedy Shows
A couple of sunny days ago, my husband and I took Susie our dog out for a walk on our street. I was so glad to get out because I had been spending too much time on Facebook and reading emails. Too much sitting time!
When we are ready to walk Susie, we try to get her to poop in our yard. But no matter how much we try to get her to do this, she usually saves it and drops it next to the curb on the street in front of one our neighbors’ yards.
But this time as we walked to the center of the intersection close to our house, Susie stopped in the middle of the intersection and pooped just as a neighbor stopped at the nearby stop sign. We were all surprised and laughed. As Charlie gathered up the poop, he was laughing so hard I was afraid he would fall over. Susie strutted off with her head held high, as if she had just shit diamonds.
We couldn’t stop laughing as we continued to walk up the street thinking how grateful we were for a good laugh that day. This was not the end of it however. In the distance, we heard several people yelling and laughing. As we approached the house two people were hanging off their balcony laughing hysterically. Everyone was at a good distance, so we stopped to see what was so funny.
It was a dog. A little boy with a hose in hand was spewing water in circles around the yard. The dog chased the water like he was chasing a cat, barking and jumping around, pouncing on the water as it hit the ground. What we thought would be a quiet walk had turned into a comedy show.
The Healing Power of Laughter
Isn’t it amazing how unexpected things can suddenly appear to spark our laughter? To say Charlie and I felt uplifted after these experiences would be an understatement! Positive energy flooded our bodies and brightened our souls. William James was right when he said, “We don’t laugh because we are happy, we’re happy because we laugh.”
We all need humor in our lives as we must now for safety keep our distance and avoid friends. It’s true that technology has made connection easier. Although I always prefer face to face contact, I do truly appreciate the funny posts people put on Facebook. It gives me many opportunities to laugh or at least smile as I read them.
These simple things in life can lift us up even if only for the moment, and for that moment the sun shines in our souls. The burdens and challenges drop away and we feel freer, ready to go on to the next challenge. Sometimes, simple things take us the deepest, and then we feel like we’ve discovered the diamonds.
© 2020 Georganne Spruce
Readings : AWAKENING TO THE LAUGHTER WITHIN
Awakening to the Dance 