Laughter and Iridescence

I was on a yoga retreat a few years ago when the leader of the program I was participating in argued strongly in favor of both laughing and crying at least once a day.

Now, emotional release is excellent and I never sleep so well as after I cry (how is it that crying wipes you out more than aerobics and cardio combined?) but making laughter and tears part of a daily to do list seems to me to be a bit too regimented (and this from someone who lives off lists).

And that’s only the lesser problem.  The real struggle is that, while I can make myself cry on a dime (there’s just so much to cry about, you know?) I have never been able to make myself laugh.
Until now.

Granted, I have found only two methods that have given me any success, and even then my laughs are only moderate (a 4 out of 10 on the laugh scale). And so that makes this a very short list (and regarding these techniques, your mileage may vary). If you happen to be reading this and can make yourself laugh with the same level of talent that I can make myself cry, please advise!

For Laughter:

• Say “bubbles” in the angriest voice you can
  I guess another word would work, but bubbles was somehow the one I was told about and the only word I have tried it with (success not guaranteed with other words).  For added hilarity: do this surreptitiously in a public place or while looking at yourself in the mirror. Nothing is so funny as watching yourself be an idiot.
• Try to laugh while frowning. A method stolen from this here youtube video.

So three or so years after that yoga retreat, my laugh journey is still only in its nascence, but I’m sure I’ll get there someday.  I also found this: How to Make Yourself Laugh for No Reason, but whenever I try it I end up with only a few chuckles and massive hyperventilation. And my cats look at me very strangely.

Iridescence:

Just a list of iridescent things, because I was watching pigeons yesterday and their throats are so pretty.

• PIGEONS (and a few other birds like starlings and hummingbirds)
  You have to admit that pigeons are a cute bunch of characters
• Some moths and butterflies
• Bubbles
• Opals
  Is there really any difference between the words iridescent and opalescent? They mean the same thing to me.
• Mother of pearl/nacre
  That beautiful stuff inside mussel shells. I have a mother of pearl pendant that I found in New York that I love very much.
• CDs
• Puddles with gasoline in them
  I’ve been kind of weirdly fond of these since I was little, probably because they’re so swirly. You can find shapes in them like you can in clouds.
• Some beetles and other insects

There are a lot of other manmade things, like the scales in Dragon Tales and various cosmetics. There’s also this super strange-looking African fruit, the Pollia condensata.
That’s it for today. Remember to laugh and be amused by shiny things, that’s really all there is to life, when you come down to it. 🙂