Loss of Laughter

The holidays are upon us. This is the time of the year that brings up all sorts of emotions to many. The winter weather (unless you live in Florida) seems to add to the struggle of disconnecting from others and the self. A dear friend of mine is a writer, a healer and a teacher. She is also creating classes and helping others move through worth issues and breaking old-thought programming. While having a discussion with her via email she sends me some of her questions and thought-provoking exercises. She ends an email with “I have this HUGE sense of loss.”I am always amazed at how things come up when you are working on the self...you grab a hold of something over here and then another thing pops up over there. This thing of being human is tough and we make it even tougher when we don't acknowledge the issues that come up. I ask her where the loss comes from, is it this or that? I send her several questions and she writes back:“Loss of never knowing how to laugh...Not sure...Definitely will explore. Someone who just finished her PhD asked on Facebook what people did for fun because she had forgot how...  I don't know that I ever knew. Grew up in the country as an only child. By 6th or 7th grade I started planning my escape so that I could create my "perfect" little family... And I guess it was but not what I thought it would be... definitely not Ozzie and Harriet... but through all the planning and making things happen there was no time for fun and when there was an opportunity... it was awkward.”We weren't taught to laugh in many families. There was a sense of compliance, responsibilities, and duty. Laughing wasn't part of the dynamic. I spent a lifetime thinking that laughter was a sin...that was not accepted because of duties. When I turned 40 I said, “The hell to all this crap. I am going to enjoy my life.” I made drastic changes. I went overboard deleting and creating a different course and life path. Some of my children resisted. Some went with the flow while feeling resentful that I removed them from a privilege life. There was money. Then there wasn't. There was comfort and safety and definitely abundance of all types. Materialism was all around us. And then there wasn't. For them laughter was always available. They laughed all the time...they didn't feel or see the sadness in their mother. Now years later they all see it. The difference in a life is not measured by things but by the joy in simplicity. I learned to laugh and enjoy without guilt. My children were taught to play and laugh and continue playing throughout life. They are seeing it now in me like they never did in their childhood. I had a huge sense of loss and emptiness. I couldn't figure out what I needed when I had so much. To read these words from my dear wise friend I was transported back to a time that I can't relate to at this moment in my life. Laughter is the best medicine. It raises our vibration and spiritual frequencies. Back then I wasn't authentic to my spirit. I was fearful of others and what they thought of me. And now I see that there is a huge sense of loss from a lot of folks. I see the subject in emails and messages. It's across the world from here to Norway, Mexico to Australia, France to India and then some. I read the words and feel the sadness and the sense of not knowing how to bring joy into their lives. I feel the pull of many who want answers and an easy solution. I cannot tell anyone what they need to do. All I can say is “You know the answers. Meditate and ask you higher self for guidance.” We have been taught to be responsible, go after what we want, serve our families, study, work hard, etc. But, we aren't taught to play. Watch a child playing and it's a marvelous feeling of joy. They don't worry about anything else. They are wholeheartedly focused on whatever they are doing. They don't care how silly they look. When did we lose sight of play and laughter? At what age did we stop pretending and imagining? What happens to the soul when we shift our true awareness into the programming form of social experiment driving us into fear and anxiety? I don't have any answers. I haven't a real solution except to fake it until you make it. I have spent the last 7 years playing in the dirt, wearing tutus with boots in public, fishing for heart-shaped rocks in rivers, having colorful fairy hair, taking wrong turns exploring back roads, leaving loving messages on windshields, leaving funny messages inside books at stores, and truly giggling at the simple things in life. I have laughed with strangers, hugged more, and felt like a little kid tickled pink when someone notices my toes all have different colors. I don't know how to show anyone else how to laugh but I can surely play. I can now be silly without worrying about what others think. I don't care cause they are not me! I believe we need to take more time for play and express joy through creativity. Something has to be put into place as part of the everyday list of things to do. Write it ...follow through with it. Honor your spirit with joy. If you can't figure out how to do something...well, Google it! Research it! Pinterest it! Treat laughter and play as you would a new job. And as your last resort come play with me on a sunny day. We can go to a Goodwill and try on ridiculous clothes and hats....oh...wanna laugh? It's belly busting time! Create your own magical moments. The world is truly your playground so stop making it so hard to do something that's naturally implemented into our DNA.  You got this.  EnJOY these holidays while seeing the magic of wonder. It's not fun being an adult if you can't also play like a child.