Are You Funny?
I read a quote recently that said you are finally a grownup when you can laugh at yourself. Whether or not that’s true (children seem to me to have a genuine capacity for laughter), this is a beautiful quality. It lightens things up and creates a space for us to reach a higher plane.
Last week I had an experience. I was in my studio practicing, and for some reason I was in a mood where everything seemed funny. It was all around me.
Right at the height of it, this girl called from a credit card company. We chatted back and forth a bit, and I liked her accent so I asked her where she was from. She said Guatemala, and I said, “oh, cool.” in an awkward, clueless way. For some reason, this immediately struck us both as so funny we could barely finish the call. We were both pushing down the urge to burst out laughing, which of course made it stronger. I can’t say why this happened, except that it was just in the air.
I believe I brightened her day a little, and made an actual connection with a human being. It felt good.
17. July, 2007 at 17:35
Hey Tristan,
What a great anecdote — I can just imagine the two of you, both bursting into laughter on the phone..
-d
22. July, 2007 at 14:47
It was a beautiful little phone call. The most interesting thing is that it came out of that energy I had around me, where everything had the potential to be funny. It was in the air. So I think in that state we relax… we lose the rigidity of ego… and then we have the power to be funny. In your highest state, when things just work and life is beautiful, I think there is a lightness. That’s why lovers laugh a lot.
4. September, 2007 at 13:09
[…] L. Sullivan presents Are You Funny? posted at Imagine, saying, “…laugh at yourself… children seem to me to have a […]
6. September, 2007 at 00:41
Thanks for sharing this experience. Laughter is so healing.