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Editor's Note |
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Most every Thanksgiving, we begin our holiday meal by going around the table and, in turn, noting some of the things we are thankful for – our health, family, home, friends, animals and more. One holiday dinner, my sister extended the idea, inviting all of the children at the table to share ideas of what they would like to be as they grow older. Five bright faces set to contemplating their dreams. Away we went, my eldest niece saying she wanted to be a teacher; her sister, a model; my nephew wanted to be an architect; and his younger brother a professional basketball player. Then it came turn for my daughter, the youngest of the cousins, an only child. Looking around the table with big, happy 4-year-old eyes, she announced that when she grew up she would be “a kitty.” We all laughed, of course. And as I looked at my little girl with love and amusement, a part of me wistfully yearned for that trusting state of consciousness that was so much more expansive than my own, that delicious state of being in which all possibilities sparkle in existence and growing up includes – if you are lucky – becoming a kitty. I laughed some more. Laughter never fails to shake loose a few of our rigid thought patterns. In fact, the reason most of us laugh is because a joke, expression or event – be it planned or spontaneous – unexpectedly jostles the boundaries of our mental categories. Everything comes tumbling down with laughter; for a moment, all things are feasible. Or, as Jean Houston puts it, “At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.” As we now move into the shadows of shorter days, longer evenings and colder temperatures, we may find ourselves in want of a few new possibilities. The holidays bring us pleasant gatherings with plenty of food and drink, but it is up to us to engage our laughter. For this, too, is a spiritual quest. As Quincy Jones once remarked, “I've always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, ‘Ain't that the truth.’’’ Indeed! This holiday season, let us contemplate the kaleidoscope of new possibilities that await us, the loud boisterous truths that ache to bubble up from our souls, just a short, joyful laugh away. Dawn Brunke is the editor of Alaska Wellness and author of Animal Voices (2002) and the upcoming Awakening to Animal Voices: A Teen Guide to Telepathic Communication, to be published in Spring 2004. |
