Lesson #25: Let go once in a while. Laugh. Be silly.

This past weekend, I saw a great PostSecret. The secret was written in blue ink on a plain white postcard: "Laughing is the most important part of sex."

Don't worry, this post isn't about sex.  Not really.  That's my other blog.

I love this secret.

I love it because it reminds me the importance of humor, and joy, and that we can't take ourselves too seriously. If you think about something like sex... (I'll wait)  ...it's a very personal, very intimate act.  Some people struggle with sex, be it process, identity, etc., their whole lives.  So this secret makes me wonder... does the writer laugh during sex because sometimes it requires a sense of humor?  From pleasure?  From sheer joy?

This question doesn't really require an answer.

Some people hide their feelings well.  I don't think I do.  When I'm thinking about something that makes me happy, I smile.  I know, because people call me out on it.  When something's on my mind, I think it shows, that it weighs me down.  But sometimes, when some nice stranger has told me to smile because I look down.. and I am... I smile, and then I feel just a little bit better.  It's as if, by acting the way I want to feel, I get closer to being that way.

If I look for a little bit of beauty in the world, I can find that sense of joy and wonder that gives life more meaning than hours in a lab, or a commute, or a racing/training goal I haven't achieved.  If I look for the ridiculous, in others, or more often in myself, I can find a reason to laugh.  I'd much rather laugh than be pissed off.

One of my favorite things to do, when it's been a hard day, has been to come home and cook.  I like to make soup, if the weather's right.  There's something about the repetitive chopping that does it, helps me quiet my mind and calm down.  But whatever I'm making, I like to crank up the radio.  I dance around the kitchen, tossing ingredients around, flailing about with whatever's in my hands... wooden spoon... measuring cups... Henckle knife... whatever.  I dance.  I even sing.  It relaxes me.

I don't worry about how I look, or how I sound.  I don't stress if I'm off beat.  I just try to find joy, and I guess distraction, in the music, and the process.  I "be silly".

Life should be about playing.  It's too short to stress through, whether I make mistakes or do everything right. It should be about running and chasing, about tickling, about funny faces and 'poke-I-Win' games that have lasted for years.  It should be about Monkey Bites and stupid jokes and shoe wedgies and laughing so hard that my face hurts.  So every once in a while, I've learned to let go.  Laugh.  And be silly.