Yikes!

This is my word for today. I especially enjoy hearing it pronounced. My sense of humor needs some exercise. My cat, Oboe, expressing, "Yikes!" I'm not sure what she was reacting to, but a few seconds later she looked at me quite peacefully. In this photo, she looks the way I have been feeling as I face some of my oldest fears. I have had the experience of being frightened and then laughing with relief when the danger is past. Laughing is somewhat like the shaking response that animals have after a traumatic event, the response that allows them begin functioning again. See Somatic Experiencing.

The Sanskrit word for laughter is "hasya." I just learned that there is something called Hasya Yoga.

Humor is a prelude to faith and Laughter is the beginning of prayer.

(Reinhold Niebuhr)

In my childhood, I had a religious assistant who always told me, 'If you can really laugh with full abandonment, it's very good for your health.

(Dalai Lama)

What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul

(Yiddish Proverb)