Permission to be goofy
Today I skipped down a hill…what a long time since I’ve done that. It struck me that being goofy felt like a guilty pleasure.
Why should someone in their 30′s feel weird about skipping, or singing in public, or any of the thousands of other ways my children express joy? Somehow social decorum seems to dictate that we don’t really express joy openly, publically, unabashedly. How strange. No wonder so many of us are more focused on what is socially acceptable–complaining.
Strangers in elevators seem more likely to bond over a complaint about the weather, or smog, or politics than they are to share a smile, or happy news. It’s no surprise that it is an act of bravery to smile at a stranger these days, or that we are so much more preoccupied with our woes than our joys.
Let’s shift the focus, in our speech, in our interactions. Go ahead, give yourself permission to be goofy today.