“If we couldn’t Laugh, we would all go insane…”

Title quote by Robert Frost

Today, I would like to tell you a little about my son, my Guru. He doesn’t just chuckle… he cackles. As often as possible. About anything and everything. I sometimes call him “he who cannot be contained” because the Joy in him just leaks out everywhere and is shared with everyone around him.

He understands the cosmic joke: the folly of our predicament inherent in this human life; the sweetness and preciousness of life as well as the impermanence; and our utter white-knuckled attachment to our egos and our things. He laughs at all of it. Giggles and guffaws, actually.

“Don’t take life so seriously, sweetheart.
Laughter lightens the moment so you can thaw the pain and begin to heal.”
~Kris Carr

Interestingly, he is also the one who has gone through the most “stuff:” he has a relatively uncommon genetic mutation that has created many delays and challenges for him, yet, he rises each day with a cheerful attitude and open arms. This quality makes him “he who will not be deterred.”

His challenges, of course, are the family’s challenges as well. Since his birth, his brothers, my husband and I have all made many, many accommodations and compensations. Each one of us has experienced heart ache and frustration, partly due to his difficulties, but also because sometimes he or his behaviors are so, so misunderstood.

However, every day I marvel how the fact that he is different is also the very thing that gives him permission to fully allow his light to shine through. His primary message is most profoundly

“Why so serious? Life is awesome and so hilarious!”

Life is tough. It just is. That’s why the first of the Buddhist Noble Truths is (roughly translated as)

“All Life Is Suffering.”

If we can sit with that, then we can begin to see that we can simply focus our energy on how we’re going to handle that. We can choose to cringe and cower ~ or ~ we can face each day like my son does:

allowing what is with a cheerful attitude and open arms,
looking always for the good, for the Joy, for the humor.

Laughter has the ability to bring people together, bridging differences and showing us our similarities. When we laugh, we connect with our bodies and release the tension in our mind, and this can have tremendous healing and stress relieving effects. Even in the midst of whatever tragedy or drama we are experiencing, finding and seeing the humor in a difficult situation lifts our spirits and brings a little levity, relieving us from the heaviness of our suffering. Irreverence is helpful too, as it illuminates the absurdity of our folly.

“Life doesn’t make any sense, and we all pretend it does.
Comedy’s job is to point out that it doesn’t make sense,
and that it doesn’t make much difference anyway.”
~ Eric Idle

 

~ Invitation ~

Life is funny. En-Joy it. Laugh a little.