I Lost Laughter

One Writer Helped Me Find it Again

photo by Jaqueline Munquia on Unsplash

A member of my spiritual formation group asked, “What fruit of the Spirit would you like more of?”

It didn’t take long to answer.

“Joy.”

As soon as I said it, I wondered if that was true.

The other members responded; their answers fading as I wandered into the tangled forest of my mind.

“No wait! I want laughter!”

The group listened, including the woman I had rudely interrupted. They also didn’t remind me that laughter is not a fruit of the spirit. (They are humble and polite people.)

“I realize that joy and laughter are not the same thing, but I know what I miss—I miss laughter.” They nodded in sad agreement.

I Want Off of the Roller Coaster of Bad News

I don’t know about you, but my email is a nauseating rollercoaster of bad news. I sometimes want to scream “shut-up!” at my inbox, and I seldom say that to anyone, let alone my inbox.

Then I stumbled across a writer who changed everything! His writing opened the gift of laughter that I had set aside like my grandmother’s old hatbox collecting dust in the attic.

Writer and author John Harris made me belly-laugh to the point of tears and snort- laughing at the same time. (Not pretty, but yes…I snort-laugh.)

If you have lost your laughter too, I hope you will read and subscribe to John’s articles and essays from The Proud Boomer on Substack and Medium.

His writing is authentic and heartwarming. I am grateful he helped me find both laughter—and joy.

Go figure.

Thanks John!

P.S. Now I am hooked on his fiction writing too!