Creating space for laughter...

There’s something about laughing that fills the air with bubbles. Smiling makes my eyes brighten. Putting a flower in a vase on the kitchen table creates a place of beauty and invites joy. Let’s spend time here! Let’s eat here! Let’s tell stories and laugh here. 

We’re enjoying watching our puppy explore the world. Over breakfast, Dan told me the story from his morning walk with our padawan (young Jedi in training) pup Obi who detected a tasty scent on the sidewalk, lunged, inhaled the morsel and then slowly Obi realized the discarded scrap was covered in something unpleasant, something that was biting him and he spit it out and then  began wiping his tongue on the sidewalk, attempting to free his mouth of ants. 

When Obi arrived home, he drank a bowl of water, washing away the last stowaways.

Dan’s reenactment made me smile. It was a simple story told at our kitchen table from the details of everyday life. And we laughed and laughed. 

Even as I write, I realize how similar to Obi I am. I can latch hold of a thought only to find it’s covered in ants and I let it bite me, again and again. I try to rid myself of it. Change topics, breathe, laugh, sing… compassion for my suffering, clouds floating by in my mind. Anything to wash away the stowaways. 

Oh what a padawan, a beginner in mindfulness training I am. And I remind myself to put a flower in a vase, make a delicious meal, and tell a good story of trying, trying to bring beauty and goodness into a day.  And to laugh at my humanness, my humility, my inclination to eat tasty morsels covered in ants and not learn. Again and again. With the hope that someday, I will have the restraint or wisdom or I’m so focused on something else that tastes better and is better for me….that I don’t lunge. And instead, whistle on my way. 

Blessings on our journey. 

Kathleen

P.S. What I’m trying to focus my good energies on is the Wild FloweRebellion. More soon on this!