On the Light Side

On the light side..

Its fun.

“That does it,” said Jace. “I’m going to get you a dictionary for Christmas this year.”
“Why?” Isabelle said.
“So you can look up ‘fun.’ I’m not sure you know what it means.”
― Cassandra Clare, City of Ashes

Last evening an aunt of mine called, she is hitting 74. She was just initiated into the family group. She was very upset with the kind of “jokes” that my cousins passed on to each other. “They are grown up, the way they message its like teenagers, don’t they have work to do?”  of course we are teenagers in the group.

This brought back another event, that took place maybe an year ago. My husband was out of town, so a cousin of mine, a niece, my two daughters and I met up of dinner at my place. The circle of bonding was so comfortable that we were busy laughing and poking fun at each other. The next day my neighbour very politely asked me, “yenna amma, neta periya party irunduda?” that is did you have a party last evening.

Both the times all that we did was having fun.  Somewhere during our journey we become very serious we forget to have fun.

We tend to dismiss fun as though it is not important. Hard work, focus, diligence all take the limelight while we forget to pay respects to the equally important light side of silliness and laughter. This is ironic, because we all know the feeling of euphoria that follows a good burst of laughter, and how it leaves us less stressed, open hearted and more ready to reach out people. We are far more likely to walk down the street smiling and open after we’ve had a good laugh, and this tends to catch on, inspiring smiles form the people we pass who then positively influence everyone they encounter. Witnessing this kind of chain reaction makes us think that having fun could be a powerful tool for changing the world.

Its okay to relax, and have fun. Laughter is a good medicine and one that is available to us, whenever we recall a funny story or act in a silly way. we magnify the effects of this medicine when we share it with the people in our lives. If we are lucky they will something to share too and life loving sound of laughter will continue to roll out of our mouths and into the world.

Of course, it is also important to allow ourselves to be serious and to honour that side of ourselves so that we stay balanced. After great merriment, it can actually be a pleasure to settle down and focus on work or take some time for introspection until our next round of fun begins.