Help
Sign In
emotions
November 2009 
when laughter bubbles up like a fountain...
quietlaughter
When I first read this question today, I closed my eyes and drank the words in. I felt myself smiling as I imagined hearing those words... ‘you are safe'. They are beautiful words. What a source of comfort and reassurance it would be to hear those words and know the deep truth of them - that in spite of every past occurrence, every moment that was unsafe that arrived before that moment - that with those three words, worry, fear and concern would fall away like drops of rain off of a lotus leaf. It would be the sun coming out and shining to warm each one of us. I wonder if deep down this is not the touchstone that we all search for - in order to be free to be ... to just be who we are, without fear, without danger... to me that doesn't mean an absence of challenge or even risk - instead, it is the strength that comes for a source of safety that allows us to rise up, reach up and meet that challenge, that risk full on.
I think often, the first thing that comes to mind when the topic of safety comes up is personal safety, physical security.... to me, true safety comes from within, from knowing yourself - in facing the darkness of the soul, your own fears, your own short comings and missteps, the heavy heart of learning through each experience we have set out for ourselves in this lifetime. To hear ‘you are safe' is like stumbling upon a hidden valley, rich and lush, replenishing my soul. I cannot help but feel the low rumble of laughter growing from deep in my belly and rising up until I cannot help but let it spill over. I can do nothing to contain it. That is how it makes me feel to hear and know that I am safe.
la
Access: Public
You write beautifully! If dreamily… :D Thanks for your offering. Sherri
“ it is the strength that comes for a source of safety that allows us to rise up, reach up and meet that challenge, that risk full on.”
LOVE IT!
thanks Sherri - sometimes it is good to dream ;-) :-D!
thanks you ohmsmom !
Honestly… I live in 'the dream' pretty much all of the time! I'm just now trying to be the grounded dreamer as I call myself, so that I am also fully aware of the loving bounty that is around me [not just the awful stuff]j but never quite losing that vision of love and wonder. Kind of the best of 'both' worlds.
So DREAM ON! I'm up there with ya!
Sherri
it is definitely important to have balance in all things :-)
Leigh Anne,
I think your words are more beautiful than the picture. That's hard to do, considering it's a breathtaking image. I believe that we are safest in knowing ourselves wholeheartedly, and yes, the challenges are important parts of our journeys. However, I think laughter from somewhere deep inside may be the most curative, loving thing we cwn give ourselves. So well expressed.
Thank you Andrea :-) laughter definitely is a soothing balm and a great healer. I have found that when I have not laughed enough, I have not filled the day with enough living, with enough Life… that being said, some days it is harder to find that laughter than others, but everything in its own time… just like everything happens for a reason - it's just up to us to sort out what that reason might be. I think that is why I like the image of the bubbling fountain so much to describe how I feel - how from a deep well of my soul, laughter, love builds and bubbles upward, rising, falling and rippling outward towards the edge, ready in the next breath to happen again and again - and even when I am not consciously aware of it happening, it still does, a constant source… and it is truly the greatest gift we can give ourselves, and others around us :-)
amen sister!
I just had to come back in on this. I think some day last week I had a revelation that when I go really deep to the core, I feel as if God wants me to be laughing… so laughter, if all is well, is supposed to be a regular part of life! It almost seems an oxymoron, given the serious things I try to give thought to helping with in this world. But somehow I've got this feeling it's connected to the fact that God wants us to find joy also in what we are doing, even if it is joyfully picking up garbage! The greater human prerogatives to laugh and to love should supercede the physical duties we perform day to day. [That would make a nice quote, I'm going to save that and possibly refine it…!]
I believe in laughter SO much! It's saved me throughout the years, helping me to shake off the stress quite a bit. A quote to end my ramblings with: 'A sense of humour is like a needle and thread: It will patch up so many things'. From Daily Splashes of Joy by Barbara Johnson. I also truly believe that God has a sense of humour… gosh, look at what He has to witness everyday!
Great day to all of you. Sherri
thanks Sherri - I think that you are right on! For me - the laughter comes from finding the beauty in every day - what gets taken forgranted as being mundane, ordinary… that joy and laughter is important BECAUSE there are great difficulties and challenges for people in the world. I think that is where true compassion grows from as well - we gain a deeper perspective from not taking ourselves too seriously, letting go, and giving our love to those who are in need. There is just nothing that compares to a genuine deep belly laugh :-)
have a wonderful day!!
Leigh- Anne
Hear Hear! I think I just got the motivation to continue writing my book… this was the motivation behind me putting pen to paper in the first place: to show that you can find deep joy even in particularly challenging situations, if you are in a place of love also. You guys are fantastic, without even knowing it! Thx! Sherri