Mariment Laughter Yoga

     Skirting around Chardon Square, my car putters up the steep Park Avenue hill and I notice a tree alongside Chardon Cemetery that looks like it's screaming...arms outstretched to the sky.  The tree reminds me of Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream."

     Is the tree screaming in fright, like its human counterpart in the painting?  After all, it stands sentinel right by the cemetery gates.  Who know what spirits shudder the tree after midnight?

     Is the tree screaming in pain?  The whole center of its bower had been removed to make way for power lines.  If limbless soldiers feel ache in missing limbs, does a tree ache in missing branches?

     Is the tree screaming in laughter?  Seeing doughy bicyclists weave up the challenging hill might amuse the tree.  Watching caravans of geese and goslings cross the road might make it laugh.  Feeling the juicy autumn breezes might cause it to wheeze, "Aaaaiiii!  That tickles!"

     Screaming tree, I feel your pain but also hear your rustling leaves laughing at me. 

Life's comedy is all around me, and I am fed by it.  Like Cookie Monster with Oreos, I'm constantly checking every cranny, nook and baseboard for laughter bytes.

I laugh at the absurdity of life. "What was I thinking?"   When the Powers That Be make a particular (and infinitely laugh-inducing) bone-headed decision: "What were they thinking with?"

I laugh at the innocent discoveries of infant animals and tiny humans.  "What is this new thing?  That person is gone from my sight, and then they magically reappear.  Weeee!  Me like this magic!"

I laugh for absolutely no reason other than my lungs and spirit need a workout. "Ahhh. I feel soooo incredibly clean inside!"

I laugh because I want to be closer to someone.  Shared laughter deepens bonds of friendship and can create a new and funny less-traveled road in a time-wearied relationship. "Oh yeah, baby!"

I laugh with joy whenever I see a butterfly, especially if it graces the top of my head with its dancing feet.  "I don't know what's going on upstairs, but please, please, please, don't stop!"

I laugh in camaraderie or conspiratorially when I discover that a new friend has a warped sense of humor that equals or exceeds my own.  "Whoopee!  You be a cracked-head laugh-magnet too!"

On gray days without sunshine, I'm an addict looking for a fix:  "Where's the funny today?"  Universal thank-yous to the developers of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Blogger, and other websites that provide a fun-fix when I need it most...with no cover charge!

Why do I laugh?  Laughter feels absolutely fabulous..inside and out..and it costs nothing! 

Laughter stretches me like Silly Putty, stamps hilarity onto my soul, and then bounces me over life's lumps and bumps wildly.

Need a lift?  Lift your face with laughter.