In Honor of World Laughter Day, May 2, 2010

In 1998, I was in a weekly writing group. It was public with frequent drop-ins, which made each session different. Travelers and impulsive writers and artists would show up among the usual six or seven of us.

I was a brand new single parent. My kids were four and eight. I was struggling to suddenly care for everyone, as well as two dogs, by myself. This group was my release, my me time.

One summer day, we each wrote a prompt on a small piece of paper, tossed it into a hat, then drew one. We did a 10-minute freewrite, ten minutes of non-stop writing, even if it’s not on your topic. You keep the pen moving to a timer.

Here is my writing, unedited.

Prompt: Write about a favorite nature experience.

Laughter – so natural, so beautiful. We are having a real good time here today. We always do. It’s easy to be with people who are easy. Yeah, right. Let’s do that sentence over. Rather, let’s do that thought over.

Laughter is natural. I often think of nature as the outdoors – plants, animals, seasons. But nature is also the intangible parts of us – writing, music, laughter, art – anything expressive is nature. It’s not man-made. It is us being us – not necessarily at our best, but being open, expressive, sharing. All nature to me.

I sure needed to laugh today. It’s often hard to ease up with strangers, but each time I’m in that situation, I find it’s not so difficult after all. My laughter today is stress release. Makes me realize I need more adult fun, more grown-up contact and experiences, instead of the stresses of everyday life. There is nothing inherently funny about packing three lunches and getting everyone ready and out of the house by 8:45 AM. Displeased children don’t make for a good laugh, either. Well, they do a few months later. More than once I’ve said, “I’m laughing now,” when I tell a household story. But to just crack up at a one-liner, someone’s clever, quick wit, only happens in a group of adults. And today there is no one eavesdropping, saying, “What do you mean, mama?” or “What did she say?” or “Why is that funny?” Those curious little minds just wreck the moment, and I get annoyed instead of enjoying a good old natural, expressive laugh.

(More on World Laughter Day.)