The Best Medicine...

Comedy is defiance. It's a snort of contempt in the face of fear and anxiety. And it's the laughter that allows hope to creep back on the inhale. Will Durst


I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose. Woody Allen

I believe that laughter is a language of God and that we can all live happily ever laughter. Yakov Smirnoff

Laughter is an instant vacation.
Milton Berle

Laughter is inner jogging.
Norman Cousins

You can't deny laughter; when it comes, it plops down in your favorite chair and stays as long as it wants. Stephen King

         

         It happened again last night …and again this morning.  I couldn’t catch my breath.  My stomach muscles tightened and hurt terribly.  I couldn’t speak.  Tears streamed down my face and, finally, I was left exhausted.  You might ask…what in the world was wrong with me.    I was hit by an intense, incredible, and uncontrollable wave of laughter.  A fit of laughter over the dumbest things…if you ask my family.  You see, anything can set me off…pictures on the internet, characters in books (Grandma Mazur gets me every time), comic strips (especially Gary Larson), and test answers from my students. 

          Most of the time, these outbursts are more private occurrences – at home, surrounded by eye-rolling family members.  However, I have been caught off guard in public before.  In fact, that’s how I got my first Far Side book – I was limp and laughing hysterically on the floor of a bookstore in Iowa City when my future mother-in-law grabbed the book out of my hands, paid for it and asked me to wait outside for everyone else. 
          When I’m in a dry spell, I laugh at my own corny jokes…a lot!  This always leads to more eye-rolling and sighing!

          I love these moments.  It is a total surrender of worry, stress, pain, grief, anxiety, and all other daily negatives.  I am left filled with hope, happiness, and a wonderful lightness in my soul.   

          So, have a laugh on me, but these may not do anything for you.   Feel free to leave comments, pictures and links to what makes you giggle. 

Just as long as you’re laughing.  J

Power...Karma...Ripples and Pity

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character,

give him power.
Abraham Lincoln

            Those of you that know me, or have read some of my previous posts, know that I spend enormous amounts of time around children…gentle, kind, loving children. Yet, like all humans, these precious little people can also be mean, vindictive, and cruel, but, luckily, these behaviors rarely show themselves.  But, alas…I cannot say the same for adults... ones I read about in the news and, fortunately, rarely deal with in my personal life. 

            When I was in college, I was fascinated by my Psychology classes.  I loved the  study of human behavior… and I still do.  The longer I teach and the older I get, the more I find myself becoming more of an observer of human behavior, both in and out of the classroom, than a participant in everyday interactions and I have begun to notice some interesting patterns and similarities in the people I encounter on a daily basis, as well as the people I read about and hear about in the news.  

            One of the most interesting, disturbing, yet personally relevant human behaviors I have come in contact with lately is the abuse of power.  I see its disturbing and intoxicating effects all around me.    Like all of us, I have dealt with individuals who have aggressively pursued and achieved power over family members, friends, co-workers, and even larger groups of people.

             I believe that a person’s true character is revealed when he/she is given power over another human being.  I have been blessed and humbled to witness some of the most loving and gentle spirits reflected in the everyday actions of my fellow teachers as they guide the young and fragile humans that have been put in their hands.  But lately, I have found myself disillusioned, disheartened, discouraged and dismayed by covert and overt abuses of power by individuals whose actions have drowned out any words they may attempt to speak on their own behalf. 

            I believe that every action…every decision has a ripple effect – positive and negative.  It affects our family and friends, so every abuse of power touches beyond its intended victim…it ripples out to the spouse, the children, the parents, the friends, the students and the co-workers. 

            Because of this belief…I feel overwhelming pity for these people because, one day, Karma will visit them.

Karma will not be kind because they were not kind.

Karma will not be gentle because they were not gentle.

 Karma will be thoughtless, vindictive, shallow, petty, judgmental and determined because…

 I cannot imagine a more powerless feeling than watching a loved one suffer because of my Karma. 

Karma will be powerful….and it will ripple. 

Noni...

Artwork by Noneal Johnson Archer Davenport

My Hippie Heart



 Caroline Zimmer Photography



I wish you a new year filled with loving companionship, happiness,  good health, adventure, tenderness, laughter, and peace.