Laughing Into Freedom
December 7th, 2007 by Ernie
At the latest retreat in Vancouver, BC, I noticed again how much we are touched by the presence of warm curiosity in our lives, and by the way of living it suggests. And I realized afresh how much we love to laugh (as though this were news!). Having listened to a little of the recording, I believe the laughter did as much to open us as anything. There were some grand guffaws! (Holly helped a lot). Free, fresh, alive, spontaneous & responsive to the moment: what a way to live! I can’t at the moment think of any other everyday experience that easily says so much about the nature of the Possible Life.
Such an everyday thing, laughing! Why on earth have we believed that those delicious moments are only happy punctuations to an otherwise fretful life. Not that we could laugh all the time, but surely we can have free, fresh, alive, spontaneous responses to ANY moment. When there’s sadness, it is there, just as a laugh is in its time. When there’s joy, it is so. Confusion, impatience, anger, disappointment, fears – they are so. Why resist any of them? They all beg for attention and love in response. We think we’ll be better off, happier, if ‘negative’ states pass quickly. Why? Why do we make them a problem? Can they be allowed their life the way we let laughter take us over completely? What would that be like?
It’s our brains that interfere with most experiences by naming and resisting them, but this is neither necessary nor helpful. The brain does this because all it can bring to itself is satisfaction – via a process, over time, to gain pleasure and avoid pain. That’s all it can do. That’s how it’s built. And so it confuses joy, love and freedom as things to attain over time, like my next vacation.
Yet laughter is just there, unearned, full and completely at ease in the moment. Could other experiences have as much space in us as a belly laugh? Laughter is easy and self-evident, if mysterious.
Sadness, however, might be hiding some other deeper experiences and resistances. They may show themselves and tell their stories if there were enough room inside us to unfold themselves, like flowers. Then there may arise, spontaneously, some unexpected response. And the experience of sadness might transform into an experience of love.
Once you’re done crying, you might even laugh…
I agree that the laughter was key. David gave us the gift of demonstrating the stark difference between not seeing what was so funny, and realizing that it’s ALL funny! The entire human experience is open for triggering that spontaneous expression of Life.
Thank you, David, for your willingness to be open and explore your initial confusion with the rest of us. It was to great to see you as nearly the first one to laugh for the rest of the weekend!
I have noticed a lot of emotion and energy moving in me all week, as others are reporting. Not all is clear yet, but there was a serious impact from the weekend… Just watching the emotions move lets them have their say, and then be finished. Usually leaving a sigh of release and peace in their place.
Thanks to everyone for their unique gifts and perspectives, and for reminding me of all the ways in which we are alike in our concerns about how life “should be.”
I can still hear the laughter from the weekend. I break into a grin and think, wow, we had so much fun! David’s experience was amazing to witness – to see such transformation. What a joy! A delight! A reminder to me that things can change in an instant and profoundly. I am not my history. My race car does not have to stay on the track it’s been following all these years but can jump lanes and explore other paths.
This was my third time doing this workshop, and the experience went deep in my soul. It is all still settling. I feel a definite sweet spot, an internal shift, an opening and spaciousness of deep love and gratitude and wonder and connection. My mind wants to try to understand it, but thankfully I go fuzzy and return to just being with it.
I loved that this latest Possible Life was held in a retreat setting where I could be enveloped by the love and beauty of everyone. I am looking forward to the next one!
Nicole xo
darn! I missed out again! I talk to myself a lot & I think I have a pretty funny sense of humor! Dave’s humor was so great… I often smile when I remember things he said or did… the way he lived… he was always watching a cat or his grandchild playing by himself & would physically imitate the moves… so cute! smile, ok, grin ((