Hunting Laughter

Hunting Laughter

Last Saturday, I attended a Christmas party at a TCU faculty’s house, along with the presence of around 30 other people. The people at the party came from different countries and of different generations. There were a couple of seniors in their sixties, a lot of young adult, and two little boys of age four and three.

 During the party, laughter occurred almost every minute. The general environment at the party was a great catalyst for tons of laughter to occur, because all of the people there were pleasantly friendly. I saw people laughing from ear to ear as they were having casual conversations about a variety of topics, from Christmas break plans to TCU’s football this year. Nevertheless, people busted out into uncontrollable laughter the most when they played a game called “Stupid Ninja.” This game required everyone to use body gestures to act along with directions. As human are capable of coming up with the silliest and funniest ideas, this game was a blast! Everyone assimilated each other’s action in a purposefully clumsy and silly way. This game is an example of slapstick comedy and self-deprecating theory. In order to join the chain of laughter in this game, people must learn to put their guards down and be not afraid to act silly in front of others. 

 In the party, the four-year-old and three-year-old boys did not laugh as much as the adults. But they laughed easily at merely anything. They laughed at the shiny ornaments on the Christmas tree and at the sounds of the guitar when Dann started to play a song. The objects and events that the kids laughed at did not embody the humorous factor within themselves, yet the kids managed to find them funny through their lenses of seeing life. Their innocent and care-free laughter proves that laughter does not need a reason. Small, simple events and objects can easily cause laughter.

Also, these children’s laugh was not caused from a nearby adults. I have seen kids laughing along with adults even though they did not fully understand what was going on. However, at this party, it was actually the other way round. These two kids only laughed when they genuinely saw things they found funny; and when the adults saw those two boys burst into laughter, they laughed pleasantly along with the boys as a way to show their approval and care. 

          The event was a light-hearted environment where the laughter was very contagious. One person started laughing, and shortly afterwards, another person laughed along until everyone in the room joined in the chain of laughter. This chain of happiness spread so fast that it almost seemed like they joined the laughter altogether. Laughter is powerful; it connects people in the strongest and fastest way.

The Emotional Meeting

The Emotional Meeting

December 6^th marked our 6^th meeting and the most special one. In just a one-hour meeting, I could see the beauty of Palmira’s personality clearer than ever and her stories was just what I needed at the time. What we talked about that day will forever be in my mind and serve as my guidance as I walked through this life. 

We started out by talking about religion – one of my favorite topics. I learned through Palmira’s stories that in Angola, Catholic is the main religion. However, the Catholics in her country worship a little bit from what Catholic here do. I was a little surprised to learn that Catholic in Angola pray in front of statues, because that resembles a lot of Buddhists in my country. Buddhists in Vietnam usually go to temples and kneel down in front of big Buddha statues to pray; sometimes they pray for hours.

Not until that day that I learned that she is a Christian, as well as her whole family. She was baptized when she was a child. Palmira started to tell me about her mom. Her mom is a true Christian at heart. She always gives 10% of her salary to the church and charity, even when she has to deal with personal financial issue herself. When Palmira was in Angola, her mom usually reminded her to read and bring the bible wherever she went. She would wake them up at midnight to pray until 1AM. Her mom taught her that she had to sacrifice her sleep to pray because that was how she could connect with God. Her mom also required her to pray when she wakes up and before going to bed. However, Palmira didn’t pray very often, but her actions through the story she told me next spoke louder than her prayers.

Palmira goes to Rush Creek church in Gateway for service. Even though today she was busy, she forced herself to go to church to give thanks to God. Because a lot of people have accidents in Arlington, but she is healthy and fine, thus she had to thank God for that. I asked her what the sermon that morning was about. She told me that the pastor talked about love – the love God gave us compared to what we sacrifice for him. God loves us and died for us. The pastor asked the whole church whether they would be willing to take off their shoes to donate for the people in need. “Jesus did everything for you, but will you take off your shoes for the homeless?” Palmira struggled with herself for a moment because she was wearing her favorite heel-shoes, but she finally took off her shoes to donate for them. Her cousin gave two pairs of her brand new shoes during that day’s sermon without hesitation. I was awestruck by her generosity and kind-heartedness. Palmira must have taken after her mother this wonderful characteristic. Sometimes when we are too caught up in the ugly things going on in this world, we all need some reminders that there are wonderful human being out there trying to make this world a better place.

Palmira continued with her stories, telling me that she knew a 21-year old, America girl with a bright future ahead, decided to go to Uganda serve God by take care of homeless children there. As I listened to her stories, all I could do was sitting there, in awe, and admire all of those beautiful souls. We claim we are the children of God but do we act after him? Every day in my life since I identify myself as a Christian, I have always tried to not only pray in his name but also act and represent his name well. However, I fail sometimes with my wretched, fickle heart and my selfishness. I was deeply touched and inspired by her stories. In the middle of studying for finals, I was only focusing myself and forgetting about other people. Palmira’s stories came just in time to remind me of who I am and who I am trying to be.

I am so glad that I brought up the topic about religion because it allowed me to see her beautiful soul better than ever. After this last meeting, I will probably not have the chance to see Palmira again in the near future as she will be moving to Dallas for college next January. Both of us stayed in silent for a while, caught up in the nostalgic feeling about not being able to see each other again. As we said our goodbyes, we hugged each other for a good long minute. It may sound cheesy but I almost cried. We are not just conversation partners trying to finish the class assignment. We are friends, good friends. We have been sharing with each other a lot about our lives; we encourage one another to keep going through difficult times. I am thankful for Palmira and her kind heart, because what she has been doing is an inspiration to me.