August 27 2018

At times, people feel guilty for their laughter thinking they should only be feeling pain and sorrow. I invite these people to look to children as their teachers. A child can move from sadness to laughter and then back to sadness from one moment to the next – they welcome it all, feel it and then move on. When I facilitate support gatherings, I say tears and laughter are welcome: Humor can Help Heal. Rumi’s “The Guest House” speaks to this topic:

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes 
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all! 
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent 
as a guide from beyond.

 (Adapted from the article first printed in the Centre Daily Times’ “Helping Hands” column on July 25, 2018)