I can't remember the last time I had a really, really good cry.
I can't figure out if this is a sign of maturity, or of insensitivity.
I laugh daily. I do. But it's usually not a laugh-until-you-can't-breathe-laugh.
I get teary eyed a lot. Things touch me, but I don't cry.
The last time that I can remember laughing really, really hard? 7 years ago. 7 years.
I was hugely pregnant with Emma when I attended a lecture. I was front and center. The speaker kept making eye contact with me. It was obvious I was her focal point. I have to admit, it made me slightly uncomfortable because I felt pressure to be on my best behavior and pay close attention to her prepared talk.
And then I looked down and noticed that the woman sitting next to me was wearing mis matched shoes. They were the same style, but one was navy blue and the other one was black. I found this hugely entertaining. But every time I tried to suppress my glee I'd notice out of the corner of my eye my stomach just shaking. Shaking. This huge mass was quivering. And I lost it. I tried to control it. But I couldn't. The lecturer noticed and gave me the evil eye. Which made it worse. I finally had to leave the room, which was a spectacle in itself. And I continued to laugh for about a half an hour. I remember feeling like my body ached afterwards. But it was good for me.
I'm pretty sure that I was much more immature then. But was it immaturity that made me laugh so hard? Or have I boxed myself up so that I don't find the humor in situations that are funny?
I'm not sure. But I'm going to find out. Mission laughter is my goal. Laugh-until-it-feels-like-my-gut-is-going-to-burst laughter. I'll let you know how I fare.
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61 comments:
I love that image of you, hugely pregnant, laughing your ass off!! I laughed like that recently and it did feel really good. I know what you mean!!
I laugh long and hard frequently. Often over things like mismatched shoes. Or even unusual shoes. A lady come to our church with lime green alligator shoes. It really makes me laugh.
Immature? Maybe. But its fun!
I hope you achieve your mission! J and I both have a goofy, childish sense of humor and we laugh very frequently, the tears in your eyes, can't breathe kind of laughter. It's great!
Oh that's AWESOME! Reminds me of the time my best friend and I were observing a court case for a college course, and we got the giggles. It got so bad that the judge STOPPED the proceedings, lowered his glasses down his nose, and was all, LADIES! We had to run out of the courtroom. Good times! I played with Mama Kat today, too.
Now you got me laughing.
Funny, I just posted today about something that made me laugh, hard. Maybe I should add it to Ms Kathy's Linky thing...
I actually have a goal as well to laugh more often. Funny, how we have to remind ourselves that!
I feel the same way...I haven't laughed like that for some time. I remember laughing when I was pregnant - my whole body laughs when I laugh so that was a WHOLE LOT of laughing going on!
Alright so we are both either immature or insensitive. It's hard to get me to cry too. Infectious laughter is the best. Emma was probably rolling around in your tummy wondering what the heck was going on?!?!
Oh God, I think that woman was me. I went to work with a blue and a black shoe on once (same shoes, different color, and I got dressed in the dark so I wouldn't wake my husband). I bet I did it more than once. Sigh.
That imagery is hilarious. :) I don't think nearly enough of us have a good laugh often enough. I know I'm due.
Your writing is wonderfully entertaining. Embarrassingly, back when I was teaching I did wear the same shoes only one black and one blue. I did not notice until half way through the school day. That taught me never to dress in the dark and never buy the same shoes in two different colours. I gave many a good laugh that day.
I'm blessed to have a funny husband and two hilarious boys. It's been a very long time since I had a tear-streaming belly laugh though, but I giggle pretty much half the day.
That adds up, right?
Em
the picture in my head after reading this is priceless...heehee! i was actually just thinking about this a few weeks ago, wondering when i reached the point where laughter just didn't come tumbling out uncontrollably anymore. i don't think i laugh, really and truly laugh enough anymore!
Too funny... I wonder if she realized she was mismatched!!
Why is it so hard to stop laughing when you are in a place where it is inappropriate?
Great story! so funny. Sometimes things just strike you as funny!
I laughed really hard a couple of months ago at a post on someones blog. My son thought I was drunk, or high or something.(Not really)
I can't even remember who's blog it was on.
I laugh that hard quite often and I do cry but not as often. It's usually warranted. Two to three times this year,maybe. What does that say about me? Wink.
Love this one- I need your same mission dear girl!
Goodness, miss a few weeks, miss a bot! I've be a little checked out of Blog world lately. I miss it so much, but we've had a ton going on and I've been away quite a bit.
I completely missed that you had moved. I had to go back and check older posts to unravel the mystery of your "new digs" comment you left ... wow, Santa Ana! As a 'born and raised in Florida' girl transplanted to Pennsylvania, I can appreciate how you must be enjoying the climate (and cultural change!). Thanks for keeping in touch!
I bet that was good, you kinda got 2 for one!!!
:0)
~angie~
Oh! It had been a long while since my last gut aching laugh but then we went to visit my sister this past summer and it was ON! We laughed until 3 am. Good times!
I hope you accomplish your mission!
Laugher is the best medicine ; )
Oh, just had that happen to me when I was someone's focal point. When she got done speaking I thought my face was stuck in a permanent smile!
I kept smiling all the while screaming in my head, "Stop looking at me!"
Oooo I laugh a lot... & cry alot... not sure what it means...
Mission laughter -- I hope you laugh until you cry today! Live, Laugh, Love!!! Stop by my blog -- my blog will make you laugh!! Got Peas??
I don't think I need to laugh OR cry more. I do both too much. Maybe that's a sign of bipolar disorder, great, another mental illness....
♥ I do the same thing. Sounds like a great mission! :)
I have laughing fits like that when you just can't stop laughing hours later. Good times
Sorry you don't laugh or cry hard anymore.
I'm not sure why that would be.
Good luck.
i must be immature. i laugh really hard, way too much! actually i cackle...and that's probably from years of high school ministry. can't take anything too serious!
i just read megduerksen.typepad.com and she made me roll this morn. u should read up. :)
Maybe I am immature because I laugh a lot. I laugh until I cry quite often. It's terrible when my family goes anywhere, because we usually do this. Something we will think funny and we just can't stop laughing! It's really horrible when it's at church or a baby shower or somewhere like that!
I love that kind of laughter. I have a friend that makes me laugh that hard. I just love that she does this. It is so good to laugh, why don't we do it more often.
I hate to admit it but many peoples down falls with fashion are always entertaining to me. I liked this story. Very funny.
Laughter is good for the soul my dear! This was an awesome story! I have something for you over at my blog.
That's a great goal:-)
that sounds like fun! i usually find myself laughing uncontrolably until my stomach muscles are killing me in the most inappropriate times, such as your story :) pretty much anywhere in a quiet, public place...
I think it is something with the hormone changes that make us women laugh at the mist juvenile things when we are preggers! I couldn't watch America'a Funniest Home Videos when I was preggers without almost peeing all over myself!
now that sounds like a plan! find that missing laughter that makes you ache all over! i think i will be on the look out too!
I laugh, but I don't have that loud cackling ha ha ha laugh. I have laughed until I've cried, but it's almost a silent laugh. It drives me crazy when I get to sleep and my hubbie comes to bed to watch SNL or something, and the whole bed is shaking from his giggly laughter! Crying...I do that often!
I have been cursed with a huge laugh! Huge. We're talkin' wide open mouth, HAHAHAHA! kind of laugh. People turn and stare. It's a little embarrassing. Because I laugh daily. Humour is how I get through the chaos that is my life. And when I try to hold it in, I'm like Melissa at the fun house, and I just know it's comin', and that doesn't help. With my silent laugh, I vibrate, turn red and the tears flow. That's a little awkward too. lol
I, my friend, totally would have been with you laughing at that poor woman!!! Too funny!
ding, ding, ding! I have an Accord! You're good!
I would have been laughing too! I am Queen of not being able to control my laughter at inappropriate times! I once got the giggles while taking a birthing 101 class with my 8 month pregnant sister.(Guess what? Pregnant women apparently don't like when thin/non-pregnant women laugh at birth! Who'd of thought?)
Oh! & I am about to get a new niece in a week or two who's name is going to be Emma! What a sweet name! It will make me think of you now!
Isn't it funny how some things just completely tickle us and we can't control it? It feels so good to laugh like that. I wish it happened a lot more often!
That story is really funny!! I love a good belly laugh! 7 years though???? 7...seriously??? Don't make me come out there and give you something to laugh about, cause I will!
I can seriously picture your tummy shaking. That is great! I don't think it's insensibility or maturity. I think you have a lot on your plate and stress is a supresor of laughter. I think it's a great mission and goal. good luck!
The last time I had a long hysterical cry was after my father-in-law's house fire. The laugh? My hubs makes me crack up all the time. Thanks for the smile today!
Oh, I love the laughing big pregnant belly story. That's awful, but hilarious.
Moms have a lot of things on their minds, a lot of responsibility... maybe that's why we don't break down in hysterical laughter or heart-wrenching sobs. A level of relaxation is needed for both.
Stopping by on my tour of MamaKat's writing workshop. Loved your post and the images it provided. I find I laugh the most out-of-control when it is most inappropriate and embarrassing. Probably the worst when I was in grade school. I was in a Catholic School and we were to pose in the tableaux for the Stations of the Cross. The nuns and priests and others went around to see us and...you guessed it...I got an out-of-control case of the giggles that could not be stopped no matter what. There is nothing quite like hysterical laughter to cleanse you of all stress. I wish you hysterical laughter in your near future.
That was great, Angie! It also reminded me of how blessed I am. Most of the time I'm very "grown up", but I have a husband who brings out the immature in all of us, so I have those belly laughs probably 4 or 5 times a year (and a lot of really good chuckles in between).
But your story reminded me of one of the most memorable times when I've been absolutely out of control laughing. It was when I was pregnant too. I had gone to the hospital for my first NST (27 weeks - hey, it was 13 years ago - they didn't know any better!), and they had the TV on in the room.
I wasn't watching all that much until I saw this commercial come on for a "new" cartoon that was going to start showing on TNT. Space Ghost!
I remembered Space Ghost from when I was really little. But this Space Ghost was a wise-cracking, sarcastic, and more than a little - dare I say it? - stupid! For some reason, it struck me as absolutely hilarious! The nurses came in to find out why my contraction monitor just went crazy, only to find me rolling on the bed in hysterical laughter. Wade was there, and while he thought it was funny, too - he didn't think it was *that* funny. But he said just watching me laugh that hard was a riot!
And for the entire four weeks I was in the hospital, whenever those commercials came on, I'd lose it. Totally uncontrollable.
But you know what's sad? The first time I saw it after I delivered, suddenly it wasn't as funny anymore. I think that was sleep deprivation, though! But I do think the pregnancy hormones can do a number on you in the humor department.
I think it's pretty nice that along with the mood swings and other unpleasant side effects of the hormones, sometimes you get some absolutely silly hilarity as part of the package. :)
Great post! Sometimes I think it's just hormones, you know? When it doesn't take much to make you sob but it laughing is a chore? (Why does it always seem to work THAT way?)
Anyway, your blog makes me smile and that counts for plenty in my book!
:) Robin
Great story. I hope you laugh uproariously very soon.
Let it all out - laughter is good for the soul!
Another Good post Angie!
You wanna good gut bustin, tears rollin, laugh...go over to my blog and listen to the recording of the prank call. Funniest thing I. EVER. HEARD. (but it's mouthy so don't listen to it with kids in the room!)
And Hey...I missed Wordful Wednesday...my week has not been all that great! I will be sure to catch it next week!
Just reading about you laughing like that makes me want to laugh till it hurts too!
The new Jack in the Box commercial for the Teriyaki Bowl where all the workers are guessing stuff you could put in a bowl (lake trout, glitter, laser pointers...)--that one had me about falling off the couch :).
Wow, it's been that long since a real hard laugh. Well, this morning I laughed so hard at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOvqF4ZPDNM
Maybe it will work for you. Have a great weekend.
I think huge belly laughs are necessary no matter how mature one is ;-) Great post, Angie! Hope you're doing well!
Oh man it's always the best laugh when you're NOT supposed to laugh. I find I did that a lot in church growing up. :) I couldn't do this prompt because I can't remember the last time I laughed like that either. Good goal. Laugh more for sure!
this is your funniest post ever. I loved it!!
I feel for the lady that you were laughing at. I did this once, wore 2 different color shoes to the orthodontist. 1 brown and 1 black.
Laughter is gold. I'm right there with you.
Sometimes I drag out a movie that's a sure thing when I need a real laugh. The one that never misses (well, there are several, actually) but the one that comes to mind is "Undercover Brother." The opening scene gets me every time...enough to where my stomach muscles are aching the next day.
Awesome!
Just a suggestion...sending hugs...
:^) Anna
I love to laugh. I usually have at least one giggle a day and a couple good belly laughs a week. I believe laughter is the best medicine. I mostly laugh at myself, but hey, if I can't laugh at myself, who can I laugh at!?!?
So, how are you doing with this??
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