Ode To Joy

(I don't care who you are, this is just darn good advice.)

I don't know why, but when I saw this hanging on the wall in a restaurant, I erupted into laughter and couldn't stop giggling for a couple of minutes.

In school, I used to get kicked out of class for laughing. I never got kicked out of class for anything else, but sometimes things would just strike me as being unbearably hilarious and the snorting would commence and out I would go. The teacher would make me sit outside in the hall until I could calm down and somehow that made the situation all that more hysterical. Doors from the other classrooms down the hall would open and heads would poke out and I would hear, "Yep. It's Amy again."

The only high school reunion I've ever been to was my 15th. I arrived after dark to the backyard pool of the classmate that was hosting the party. My eyes hadn't adjusted to the lighting yet and I tripped over something and started laughing. As I did, I heard a choir of voices yell, "Amy's here!"

Laughter ranks right at the top of my list of favorite sounds. To me, it's incredibly viral and I have a weakened immune system to it and tend to catch it immediately. I have no shame in being the carrier of it either.

One of the things I find fantastically interesting is that we all cry and laugh in the same language. No matter where on this planet you live, what language you speak, what color, race or religion you are, we all speak the common languages of joy and despair.

How wonderful would life be if we all chose to speak the language of joy at every possible moment?

"Thy magic reunites those

Whom stern custom has parted;

All men will become brothers

Under thy gentle wing."

Partial lyrics from Ode To Joy