Tell us about....Laughter

It is said that children laugh 300 times a day and adults laugh about 17. There is a lot of problems with the way we decide to 'grow up'. I'm not sure we get it right.

I go to the Comedy Festival when I can - last year I had 10 shows booked until covid made me give away the last (and most expensive) show's tix to friends. I tend to go to unknown (to me) comedians - favouring women and Asian people (because they have to work harder to get an audience usually) and if the ticket is only $20-$25, then I only have to laugh a few times to get my 'money's worth'. It's fun to just pop out for an hour set with friends on a weeknight - still home early enough to have no impact on work the next day but be buzzing with the joyful endorphins.

As soap is to the body, so laughter is to the soul. — A Jewish Proverb

One should laugh constantly and hard. It does indeed have a medicinal effect. You feel rejuvenated. 

It releases neuropeptides improving your immune system. It stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles (according to this article on preventative medicine) and obviously it's the perfect way to destress and reduce anxiety & lighten depression. It can even lower blood pressure. Laughter even reduces feelings of loneliness. I guess it's that shared moment, and probably when you laugh, you tend to look at people in the eye to 'share' the joke. There's a bond or connection built into laughter.

"Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face." — Victor Hugo

Children laugh more not because they have less worries, though that is probably part of it, but because they have an innate ability to find joy.  I write a lot about seeking out joy and relishing in happy moments, no matter how small. Seeking out laughter will also infiltrate your life. It may start as a conscious effort - watching a tv show or comedian but like any muscle, the more you work it, the more easily it becomes.

"Mirth is like a flash of lightning that breaks through a gloom of clouds and glitter for the moment. Cheerfulness keeps up daylight in the mind, filling it with steady and perpetual serenity."-- Samuel Johnson

What made you laugh recently?

Linking with #AnythingGoes #HappyTuesday #WordlessWednesday #KeithsRamblings #TellUsAbout #TrafficJamWeekend #SeniorSalonPitstop #PictorialTuesday #RubyTuesdayToo

The photos are just some of the things that made me laugh in Singapore  (for some reason me as a weird bird skeleton entertained me for way longer than it should have)

Nesting season

Some of you may remember the horrific battle we witnessed last year where the birds tried to save their babies (eggs?) from becoming the Monitor's lunch. 

While I got much better photos last year, I was much happier that the outcome saw the lizard slink off in defeat....

This time it was very interesting to watch all the different types of birds (except the Kookaburra who didn't care to join in) team up together to battle it out. They seemed to have learnt something in the last 12 months about strength in numbers.

A practical example of the lesson: united we stand, divided we fall. 

I had not really thought about how stressful nesting season must be for animals. Hats off to those feathery Mamas and Papas that don't give up, doing all that they can against a much bigger foe. Or as another favourite saying of mine says "Even the smallest axe can fell a tree if it's sharp enough".

Linking with #WordlessWednesday #ThruMyLens #SundayBest  #NaturesNotes #SaturdayCritters and #GardenAffair  #WildbirdWednesday (I know there are more photos of the lizard but it is more about the birds...)

Encouraging someone to be entirely themselves is the loudest way to love them - Kalen Dion

I have lots of friends from different parts of my life - from school, from uni, from jobs 20 or more years ago, from school years of the kids and even from now.

The best types of friends are the ones with whom you relax. You never need to think about what you said or did. You never feel the differences, just the bond.

Go where you're celebrated, not merely tolerated.

If you don't return home from time with friends feeling content with who you are, then they're probably not the people for you. 

“Time doesn't take away from friendship, nor does separation.” Tennessee Williams

Linking with #TforTuesday

The giving season

 I've written about it almost annually, the Share the Dignity - It's in the bag Christmas appeal. Bunnings will be collecting those bags from 15 Nov until the1 Dec. It's a really great thing to do for those in need, but it's also a great thing to do for me, to lift my mood.

As I said before, "There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up."  John Holmes

So you have a few weeks to fill the bag(s) and get it to Bunnings.

Mine are almost done, just need to label and get them there. Then I'll start on my Reverse Advent calendar (where you fill a box with something each day to donate - with interests rates on the rise again, I need to shop carefully but it's something I'm reluctant to quit doing.)

For me November has become my Giving Season. (Though the photos are of Rainbow lorikeets because I took them but have nothing more to say about them....ha!)

Linking with   #RubyTuesdayToo & #BlueMonday 

Dressed to the nines...

 

We were going to Blanc de Blanc encore and at a party the night before, one of the people I was going with asked "How dressed up are you getting for it?" I told her I had this ridiculous sequin dress that I never wear because it is 'too much' but because I was walking the 3.5 kms to get there, I'd be in my disco kicks (sequin sneakers). She said "Oh good, I have this Comme des Garcons jacket that I never wear because it's so full on"

The next day in the group texts she said the last time she wore it, her daughter asked her "What are you going as?"

I replied "Awesome. Did you tell her you were going as awesome?"

And thus, our little group was dressed to the nines, in shimmering or sparkling splendor, even though it was 5.30 and daylight.

What I loved most, even as my friend and I walked up King Street, we barely caught anyone's attention. Such is Newtown, where anything goes (despite the gentrification).

As we sat in our little faux French universe, with other well dressed people, it felt like we were all playing a game together. Instead of feeling silly, it felt fun and uplifting.

It's something we should do more often....so I'm glad it's only a month or so away when I celebrate with Gatsby....

And if you haven't been, the season's been extended so get yourself some tickets to a fun & kooky cabaret.

Fashion is about dreaming and making other people dream. - Donatella Versace

Linking with #MondayMusicMovesMe #WednesdayWords&Whimsy #MuralMonday #HappyTuesday #AnythingGoes #SundayBest

They have a spotify playlist here . And they had this song in French. I can't find it anywhere. Any clues what it is?

“Magic, madam, is like wine and, if you are not used to it, it will make you drunk.” ― Susanna Clarke

A fact that surprises many people that know me, is that I love magic. Not just like it a bit, LOVE it. I always have. I grew up watching the David Copperfield Hour (whatever it was called) with my Dad on a Sunday afternoon. I go to magicians when I can, and used to drag the kids along but they did not get under the spell of it as I did. 

I do squeal like Lucille Bluth, and I can't control it. At the Museum of Magic, when I bought the tickets, the guy handed me my change which I felt in my hand but it then disappeared. I squealed so loudly he drew back in fright. He then said "Do you want me to do it again?" and when I nodded enthusiastically he said "No, you get too excited".

(For those that don't know what I mean, here's Lucille doing her thing)

The other night I went to these Magicians - they were at the Chippo Hotel. If you get a chance to see them, go. They're so much fun. They've one more show on the 20 Nov. 

One of them opened with saying how there were two types of people at magic shows - those that love magic, they don't care how it's done, the love how it makes them feel. And the other type of people are their plus ones. It was the first time I thought about it but the reason I love magic is because of how it makes me feel. Physically my eyes really do widen in wonder, I'm squealing in delight in voluntarily. A smile creeps onto my face in anticipation and it grows wider as the trick progresses. There's a feeling in my chest that's hard to explain, but joyful elation has to be close. 

I do dread being called on stage because I know I'll squeal and embarrass myself. No matter how hard I try to contain it. I was at this show, and I did because the trick was AMAZING. 

I went with friends and we all left in giddy, gleeful delight, chattering animatedly in the cab home. So I do agree with the author in the title quote, it makes you feel drunk (in a good way). 

 “Children see magic because they look for it.” – Christopher Moore

And maybe we need to more often too.

The images are not from the Magic show but from Atmospheric Memory at the Powerhouse museum (which ends Nov 5)

Linking with #Inspirememonday because that feeling is very inspiring. #WordlessWednesday #KeithsRamblings #WeekendinB&W &

#WednesdayWords&Whimsy #TheRandom

Jacaranda season

 

In Australia, we are in Jacaranda season. It's a tree which we consider quintessentially Australian, even though it's South American. It's in paintings and songs and all types of Australiana. There are Jacaranda walks and even a Jacaranda Festival.

The Jacaranda 'snows' as the purple falls from the trees and lays in piles on the ground, leaving a covering of purple mush.

I don't know what the red tree is, I just liked them together.

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