What a language it is, the laughter of women,
high-flying and subversive.
Long before law and scripture
we heard the laughter, we understood freedom.
I had dinner last night with friends at a new restaurant in Hattiesburg, Petra Cafe. It was excellent. I felt like a stuffed grape leaf by the time we nibbled our way through every appetizer three women could reasonably order, and I basically gave up all pretense of being a person who has ever even met a diet plan, but I left feeling alive and well.
My writing prompt for yesterday was to think of a moment from this past year when I felt most alive. I had to really consider that one. I could think of a lot of moments when I didn’t feel alive at all. I knew there were times when I had, though.
It’s probably good other people are supplying the prompts right now. Left to my own devises, the year’s end reflection prompts might be more like “think of your most aggravating moment from this year” or “describe the most annoying person you had to deal with this year.” Reverb 10, if nothing else, is helping to prove that a more positive outlook can be dragged out of me on occasion.
In that spirit, here are some other contenders for moments of life in 2010:
Holding my newest grandniece for the first time
Purchasing and experimenting with my first digital SLR camera
Gardening
Walking
Playing with children
Talking my friends into climbing over the “no trespassing” gate to trespass on my family’s land
Picking blueberries with my dad
Eating blueberries
Watching my nephew get married with four generations of his family standing beside him
Laughing with women
Laughter ought to be a daily requirement in life.  Laughter is medicine, the old Reader’s Digests told us, and now doctors are starting to agree.
You don’t have to be in a good mood to laugh. You can put yourself in a good mood by laughing.
It helps, though, if you try this exercise in the company of friends. It helps if you go to a nice restaurant and order foods you haven’t tried before. It helps if you swap stories.
They say the best revenge is a life well lived. Maybe the saying should be “a life well laughed.” Hearty mockery is fairly effective as revenge goes. It’s best practiced in the company of a few good friends. What a language it is, the laughter of women.
yes! you can put yourself in a good mood by laughing. and yes again! “what a language it is, the laughter of women.” there’s nothing like it. nothing at all.
Excellent! 🙂
Hah! I love “A life well laughed”. What a great mantra, and one to remember. (… I’m with you on enjoying the prompts. Helpful in reframing things! And look what comes from them.)
Wonderful post! I love to laugh and try do it daily
Laughter is lovely, in most cases. The mockery thing, though, confuses or troubles me. I’m wondering if mean-spirited laughter can really be very healing in the long run.