There are endless reasons why people become writers, but the following is mine: There is without a doubt a direct and measurable result of writing encouragement daily. I have more energy, laugh more, and interact with friends and family. Overall I become a better version of myself, so start the healing!

Who doesn’t want to leave moody and sad behind? Let’s send Grumplestiltskin packing.

When Grumple (me sometimes) shows up, and before he/she kills all the joy in the house, I like to send Grumplestiltskin packing by gathering laughter and good thoughts. When we feel happy, we help other people feel happy in a myriad of ways. Our positive presence, smiles, and the sound of our laughter spreads like ripples in a pond and creates more of the same.

Happy people handle life better.

I told my husband this weekend that I wished I were funnier, so I could really help people laugh out loud more and he responded “You are very funny.” He said he laughed when he read Not-Me, a post about my iRobot vacuum, a personal luxury of epic import.

I am not so sure, but I am open to funny.

For instance, the other day I heard a commotion on the front porch as I was heading to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Pulling back the blind over the door, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, so I opened it.

My cat Sophie blinked up at me intently from her perch on the bench. As she leaned forward in that serious cat way, zing, cat thoughts. I hurriedly checked for the predator she had clearly found, but I saw nothing.  I did notice that her food bowl was knocked over.

What I haven’t mentioned is that I was in a short night gown and undergarments.

We live on a hill mostly out of sight and my porch is small, partially hidden by the many trees. I considered the exposure and stepped out onto the porch in the freezing cold to retrieve her bowl. You would think that I would have grabbed a robe before I went OUTSIDE in broad daylight, but I did not.

The bowl had fallen behind the bench, so I had to get down on the porch floor to retrieve it, and ended up with my underwear clad behind up in the air.

Quickly, I grabbed the bowl, stood up, and saw my neighbor standing at the bottom of my driveway looking up with her mouth open.

I imagine a gasp had just escaped her lips.

I.

Waved.

Turning crimson and slinking back into the house, I contemplated the odds of this situation versus the hundreds of times I had gone onto the porch without seeing a soul and ALWAYS in a full set of clothing. The one time? And, with my behind up in the air? Really, what are the odds??

I was mortified, but then something amazing happened. I started to laugh. I think I might be a magnet for embarrassing situations.

My personal laugh in response to the truly funny includes tears streaming down my face as I gasp for air with a squeak and cackle that sounds something like an outraged chicken.

My husband tells endless dry wit jokes for the grandkids and most elicit a groan from me, but once in a while he taps into hilarious and I lose it like that. I start crying laughing which makes the grandkids laugh too.

Whenever the grandkids visit, one of the first things they do is request a joke from Grandpas ongoing collection, and we all swap riddles and jokes for thirty minutes. They make jokes up too. Some of their jokes don’t really have a punch line or a point, but the grands are on their way to real comedy.

They like to make me laugh with their crazy antics, because Grammie is a guaranteed fun audience.

When you are

open to funny, it is everywhere.

We are careful though. Our eye gates get the best smile/laugh/feel great material we can find.

The Bible says a cheerful heart does good like a medicine.

You hear that? Laughter is medicine. It gets into our psyche and deep into our hearts and shakes things up, moves the bad stuff out of the way. It is one of the healthiest things we can do for our inner man or woman.

Start the healing, get to laughing.

Barefoot and writing,

Kim