“A good laugh is sunshine in the house.”
-William Thackeray
“A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.”
-Phyllis Diller
“From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere.”
-Dr. Seuss
I love to laugh. Love it. In fact, I’d argue there’s almost nothing better than a full-fledged gut-wrenching belly laugh that delightfully tickles your core and awakens your senses. They say laughter is the best medicine, and I couldn’t agree more: It’s the little moments of levity and unadulterated instances of pure joy that make us feel most alive and ultimately capture what it means to be truly human.
It’s no secret life can be tough. So, given this constant, unwavering reality it is all the more imperative to embrace the good and treasure the moments that make us feel disarmed, alive, and undeniably whole. Whether it’s the laughter of a child, the smile of a stranger, or the melodic chirping of a morning songbird, it’s these little details that remind us the world is bigger, bolder, and more beautiful than our small, myopic perspectives often fail to realize.
For me, I find incredible lightness and childlike wonder in daily life with our dog. Fitz keeps me grounded, reminds me to not sweat the small stuff (and it’s all small stuff), and makes me erupt with more laughter and levity than I ever thought possible. Fitz is, in all cases, wholly and authentically himself. And Fitz’s whole, authentic self could not be less concerned with what the outside world thinks of him: Fitz is kind, he is goofy, he is erratic and still wholly predictable in his own right, he is oozing with energy and yet perpetually destined for exhaustion. Fitz is bright, Fitz is derpy, and above all, Fitz is forever consistently and unapologetically himself.
Not only is this endlessly endearing, but it’s also unyieldingly comical. In other words, Fitz never fails to make me laugh. And for that, I love him all the more.
E.E. Cummings once wrote, “the most wasted of all days is one without laugher.” As the weeks, months, and years continue to march on I only find this to be more and more true. Very little in our lives is uncompromisingly solemn, and yet so often we move through our days carrying too much unnecessary weight, creating burden where it shouldn’t exist, and taking everything ten times more seriously than it should be. And while we shouldn’t minimize the gravity of certain things, we should right-size the importance of that which we over-exaggerate, inflate, and prescribe more value than it’s worth. For if we forget to laugh – if we don’t allow ourselves to fully emote, live, love, and be undeniably human – than what are we really doing?
So, I say find the joy: Look for those little moments of levity and unfailingly seek out the precious things that make you laugh: Our very humanity depends on it.
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