Laughter
For my post today, I am going to get the most serious that I’ve been so far in this journey. Seriously silly. I want to use the space today to promote life, love, and the pursuit of goofballness (is it a realistic goal to try to get that word added to the next edition of the Merriam Webster Dictionary?). Let me start off by challenging you to stop and think about the last time you genuinely laughed. Was it at the most recent episode of New Girl that you watched where Zooey Deschanel was her quirky, adorably funny self? Or maybe you had a day where you were feeling stressed and broke down in over dramatic tears to the point of laughing at how silly you felt? Either way, this laughter has the ability to lift us up!
The reason this topic is so near and dear to my heart is because prior to the whole global pandemic of COVID-19, I felt my ability to relax and just laugh waning. I was working 3+ jobs, running around from place to place constantly, and rarely let myself relax. Now don’t get me wrong, I love being busy and I enjoyed all my jobs and the responsibilities I had and people I got to work with. I should note that I fully intend to go back to these jobs when able. However, I will show up differently when I do. And here is what I mean. During my time in these jobs, I felt myself not being as present as I felt like I could have been with those around me. Multiple times, I caught myself waiting for the transition to the next job or task. This was unfair to the people and kids I worked with who I love and admire. It was also spilling over into my home life. Sometimes I would be passive aggressively clear about my lack of amusement at something silly Eric did. I also realized when reflecting on it that I would sometimes go all day without petting my dog, Django. I would simply come home, put his leash on for his walk, then zip out the door again when we were done. Now I know that by sharing this, I am being vulnerable and run the risk of being viewed as a bad employee, partner, and dog mom. But the reason I’m sharing is because maybe others have had (either currently or in the past) similar experiences.
So what do we do about it? Today marks two months since Eric and I have been off of school and work. When our quarantine together started, we had our bumps trying to get into a groove of what worked for us in terms of work, life, exercise, etc… Now that I feel like we have found a manageable balance most of the time (we still have our triggers sometimes), I find it much easier to just relax and enjoy the present moment. When Eric shows his goofy side by dancing around the living room at 9:30 PM when I’m about to go home to go to bed, my former approach was to be slightly bitter that he’s postponing my bedtime routine. Now it amuses the heck out of me! He can be so silly and that is one of the things that I love about him more than anything and one of the qualities that appealed to me early on in our relationship. It brings both of us so much joy to laugh together and fuel each other’s goofy side.
So when is the last time you had a moment of extreme silliness to the point of laughing so much it hurt and/or you were terrified that you might pee a little? And it doesn’t even have to be extreme. It can be something as simple as having a “bllaaaahhhhhh” battle with your kids (or kids you babysit in my case) in the car. I challenge you to find joy and amusement in that and laugh about how ridiculous it seems. During the past two months, that is what I’ve been trying to challenge myself to do. And even when I go back to those 3+ jobs and long days, I will continue to laugh often because the people and kids I interact with regularly are awesome, funny, and overall amazing individuals and they deserve that from me. And in the true spirit of self-love, I’m going to end by saying this (say it with me about yourself): “I am awesome, funny, and overall amazing and I deserve to smile, laugh, and find joy in this life of mine”.
Drops mic. Goes to get $5 sushi at the grocery store.
