When Taking Life Too Seriously, Laugh

I was in an obsessive mode these past two days, off and on, over a very little email altercation; a misunderstanding or confusion of sorts with a prospective friend. Still don't know where that will land, but I've let go, as I seem to need to do on a daily basis, of my need for instant clarity around these things. Well, driving home today on this hot, July summer day, seeing the fields in full growth, listening to Margaret Atwood being interviewed by CBC, cleansed my soul of all of my self-imposed, small, self-seriousness and reminded me that I can laugh at myself. Atwood was answering questions with her usual dry, unassuming wit. I love her sense of humour, her love for the arts and for writing, and most of all that she can laugh at herself. The gift of humility, to be able to live with the truth of my obsessions, to watch them from a distance, like watching close friends unravel in their own paranoid obsessions, and to have the freedom to laugh at myself,...and to love myself still. This is freedom.

 What inspiration is there in settling for disappointment as the major focus for getting by in our love relationships?   I will find another point of inspiration, like laughing at myself, and thoroughly appreciating the finer characteristics of my fellow human beings...especially the ones flowing through the cracks and flaws. We chafe and we jive with each other as human beings...but in the deepest places of the soul we are one...and in my own soul, I'm hearing more and more laughter; less and less disappointment.