Laugh heartily every day

to make space for goals that require more concerted effort.

This one, I can do this without effort, just cause I am a laughing sort of person.

Carbonated holiness. Big time. Thanks, Anne Lamott, for that definition of laughter.

Yesterday my children and I were all on my bed… along with Hank the dog and Tina the cat, and I said, “Let’s play ‘HA!’”

I think I mentioned this game here once before – it is one of those games I played eons ago and never again, but remember fondly each time I played.

It all started in the fourth grade at Kristen Auer’s slumber party. There must have been about ten of us there. We all reclined on the floor with our head nestled atop the belly of the girl right before us.

The first person says “Ha!” and the next person, whose head is in the first person’s belly, says “Ha, Ha!” and then the next, “Ha ha ha!” and the point is to not start laughing.

At some point yesterday I looked at Katherine. whose head was on my belly, when I said, “Ha ha ha ha ha!” and I immediately started laughing hysterically from watching Katherine’s head bob up and down with each “HA!” I intoned.

In the next round, Katherine did the same thing, watching Emma. We were laughing so hard our stomachs hurt. And… we came up with a new strategy. “When playing the ‘Ha’ game, be sure to keep your eyes closed!” (since the goal for the players is to NOT laugh and to make everyone else laugh!)

I had a five hour (or close to five hour) phone conversation with My Muse the other day. As usual, I had no concept that we had been on the phone for that long.

He said something like this, “For some people, it might be friendship. To others, a full time job.”

I just started laughing and couldn’t stop.

That was… when? Wednesday?

I have been laughing ever since.

Oh, it feels SOOOO good!!!

We played quite a few games today, including dominoes. I had never in all my 44 years played dominoes.

I was trying so hard to be strategic but all I managed to do was make my child laugh at my goofiness.

Watching her unabashed laughter made me bubble up some more unabashed laughter. Sigh Nothing quite so sweet!

i can’t even remember what was so funny but i laughed exponentially today.

any second now…

It all started when I read a quote from St. Teresa of Avila. There was a new word there – “orison” – which I discovered in the simplest sense means “prayer”. Further research and the Julie translation, in context, is “A sacred request to the Divine.”

Now, I googled at some point in my research reverie and found a name I was familiar with “Orison Swett Marden” which sounded vaguely familiar.

He is of Swedish descent, so chances are his parents didn’t name him based on his sheer conception and birth was a sacred request to the divine… or possibly, they knew more than I give them credit for and his name is like a wink-across-the-decades.

Mr. Marden published a book in 1897 which includes a section on LAUGHTER.

Here it is, for your reading and laughing pleasure:

From Orison Swett Marden’s book, “Cheerfulness as a Life Power.”

Laughter begins in the lungs and diaphragm, setting the liver, stomach, and other internal organs into a quick, jelly-like vibration, which gives a pleasant sensation and exercise, almost equal to that of horseback riding. During digestion, the movements of the stomach are similar to churning. Every time you take a full breath, or when you cachinnate well, the diaphragm descends and gives the stomach an extra squeeze and shakes it. Frequent laughing sets the stomach to dancing, hurrying up the digestive process. The heart beats faster, and sends the blood bounding through the body. “There is not,” says Dr. Green, “one remotest corner or little inlet of the minute blood-vessels of the human body that does not feel some wavelet from the convulsions occasioned by a good hearty laugh.”

= + = +

I am ready to go out and watch a comedy now, or perhaps create some of my own.

We laughed and laughed and laughed. It felt so good.

Remember – keep it up, JJS, keep it up…......

So many zany things happened. Tonight I am going to stay close to home and my children and maybe get some rest. I am grateful for it all.

Because I have this goal, I laughed when my brother sent me an email, saying he had bragged about my acting ability to Patrick Dempsey, the actor.

I laughed and laughed and laughed because it seemed so hilarious.

And then I remembered this goal, so I laughed some more and it felt really good!