a matter of laughing

sometimes i think i laugh too much.

anyone who knows me knows that i really do laugh a ton. in general conference this past april, elder scott gave a talk about receiving personal revelation. one thing he said worried me for a while:

Another principle is to be cautious with humor. Loud, inappropriate laughter will offend the Spirit. A good sense of humor helps revelation; loud laughter does not. A sense of humor is an escape valve for the pressures of life.

 though i wouldn't say my laughter is often inappropriate, it is loud. i worried that this trait, this thing that is such a huge part of me, was actually holding me back. but then a few people reassured me that, just as elder scott says, a good sense of humor is healthy.

this weekend was our ward campout, and there were many standout moments, but by far my favorite thing was our late night, hour long game of big booty, classic campout/party/children's game. you can see an example, which is a slight variation on the game we played, in this video. (note: this is from big brother. i don't watch big brother. but it was the best youtube had to offer in the way of big booty demonstrations. start at about 5:20 and watch until you get the gist.)

i'm pretty sure i'm not going to be able to capture the hilarity of our particular game of big booty, especially since no one else seemed to be laughing nearly as much as i was. but, three boys in particular were very intense about this game, and their intensity was killing me. this all went down four days ago, and i can still crack myself up if i think about dan's nonchalant introductory ritual or tyler's sing-song technique or michael's fake-out strategy. i wish so badly that we had some video evidence of the game, because there were times when i was laughing so hard that i was on the floor, and it was then that i had this realization.

sometimes i get laughing so that i lose control of my body. i find myself on the ground or flung over the side of the couch or whatever and i think, what the heck am i doing here? i'm clapping and hiding my face and rolling on the ground, but i can't stop it because the comic urge has struck, and i just have to ride it out. i think most of the time people think i'm ridiculous, that i'm laughing for show or something. i'm not. i really do think a lot of things are funny, and i can't suppress it when it comes.

one observer commented that, if you ever want to think you're funny, just spend a day around courtney. and that's probably true. i find humor and amusement and delight in many things, and i'll let you know when i think you are funny.

the same observer later told me that he thinks that if he spent just 10 minutes in my shoes, in my mind, he could die happy. and that maybe changed my perspective a little bit. so i'm going to keep laughing.