All Is Grace

you know what i love?

i love the silly.

the pure, unadulterated joy that bursts out of the ability to freely laugh. living squarely in the moment. abandoning any inhibition. free of judgment. void of criticism. with full knowledge that the people who surround you and who you love completely embrace the silly–and display it–right along with you.

i love that.

there is just so much hard. so much expectation that makes us shrink away from the silly. rules, etiquette, appropriateness, formality, peer-pressure, perceived expectation…we LOSE our joy. our ability to be silly.

we fear.

why do we do that??

worse, why do we impose that upon the people around us? the people we love the most?

i understand the necessity of certain norms. behavioral expectations are appropriate when there is a need for discipline–silliness causes distraction when it is inappropriately timed. but in our homes, in our cars, in our back yards…in our lives-when-we’re-not-working-or-schooling, why are we so bogged down?

i really think we need to run directly toward Joy. find it. establish it in our homes. discover it with our children. and not chase it away. reach out and hold on to it and not criticize it or mock it or demean it. whatever form in which joy arrives, figure it out. lean into it.

and don’t. let. go.

Joy is worth it. worth the effort. worth the silly. and the silly…is an expression of the joy.

give in to the silly. let go of the judgment of yourself and the children who need the silly.

bring on the joy.

i’m loving the joy in our house this week.

the silly has (re)found a new home.

can it find yours?

stop living in fear.