Rise!

One of the things I notice lately is how much I laugh out loud.

Growing up I completely ceased doing that around the age of eight. Up until then I used to roll on the floor laughing, mostly to impress my family who seemed to egg me on with their attention. Then I realized that all the people around me were very quietly serious and I set about growing up to be the same. Humor was usually very dry and mostly self deprecating. A tight smile, perhaps a silent chuckle, nothing more really escaped the confines of a well controlled sense of humor.

Later I grew to fear the Cheshire cat smiles of those in my world. Laughter was often confined to the evil snickerings of those who used it to ostracize others and the world was in such a sorry state that it seemed wrong to enjoy it too much.

Now I find myself letting out merry peals of giggles quite often.

I can't change the state of the world by being solemn. I am grown now, so I no longer need to worry about how to get there. I'm here. I'm it. I am one of those grown-ups some child is looking to for a pattern on life.

Life is good. More than that, life is expansive! It is possible to keep my finger in the pot, stirring up things and changing what I can without lying on the bottom suffering in the dark.

It's much more fun to be bubbling along at the top!