Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

I was listening to the radio as I drove to the post office this morning, and John Cleese (of Monty Python fame) was discussing humor and what makes us laugh.  He mentioned that he supposed the Buddhists had a point in that they don't get too rigid and attached to beliefs and opinions.  Laughter usually requires a fluidity and ability to see the fool in oneself.  And, when I think about it, people who laugh more around me tend to not be so serious about themselves and their lives.  They figure they are fallible and human, and admitting mistakes and mess ups just makes them one of the crowd.  We laugh at ourselves because the universe has a lot of surprise, irony and joy, yes joy.  Losing laughter is indeed a serious sign of taking oneself too seriously.  I was looking at videos of my grandson that my son sent me, and there is one where he bursts into tears because he can't reach into the cake right after the candle is blown out.  We quickly got him in his bib and high chair and he could dig in and ended up with cake all over his head.  But we laughed when he cried because we saw ourselves:  wanting it NOW.  Another video shows him in ecstasies over balloons and his joy makes me laugh because I recognize it and connect immediately with my own experiences of joy.  Laughter makes us human.  A baby can recognize something amusing at a few months old.  He's in on the joke.  May he never lose that ability.