Day 216: Unbridled Joy

The last few weeks have been action packed with Atom. If he is tired and hungry, he cries. If his mom reads his favorite book, he laughs. Sounds so simple, right? If you are happy you should laugh about it. But at some point most people start to censor themselves and no longer do they throw their heads back and cackle at a funny face or a fart noise. Adults learn to guard their emotions. They learn the power of emotions. They learn to master, some of us better than others, their emotions. And this is necessary to have a community or society. I get that. But it is hard to believe that the pure optimistic melody created by Atom's riotous roars someday might be bridled.

The story of Peter Pan never really resonated with me growing up. I liked the pirate aspect I guess but I could just as easily have been entertained by an episode of Hong Kong Phooey.  As I got older I intellectually understood the idea of needing to keep that sense of wonder in the world to be happy but emotionally it still seemed like an odd story to me. You have the jerky guy in green tights, a suspicious little fairy, children without adult supervision, all on one side, and then these funny looking Pirates on the other. Just weird.

But as I sit back and let Atom's laughs naturally resonate throughout my numbed grey matter it makes me think maybe there really was something to that Pan fellow. It is hard not to smile or laugh when Atom falls into one of his belly busting laughing fits. I wonder if all babies are capable spreading this sound? And if so why haven't I heard it before? Why does laughter suddenly sound so different? I have heard perhaps thousands of people laugh. Even some at incredibly inappropriate times. I can even tell the difference between fake and real laughs…but this…his laugh, it is something that I was completely unprepared for.