Today's message in a bottle is for my daughter. You have my permission to laugh - but you don't need it.
As adults, we have a lot of enduring memories of childhood. Most of them, for most of us, are hopefully positive and nourishing. The kind of memories we cherish and which may even help to define us.
But even for those of us lucky enough to be in that category - of having a happy childhood that is now the source of great memories - even for us, there will always be some darker shadows in the corners of our minds.
For me, there are a few.
It is time to shine the light on one of them.
It's not a traumatic memory. It's not even that sad. But it has stayed with me.
I remember vividly, one of my happiest moments. I must have been maybe 10 years old or so. My brother had just introduced me to Garfield comics. And I was reading one of the books, and the jokes were on a roll, and I was getting deeper and deeper into the zone of humour. And I was laughing. A lot.
You know that feeling, when your whole body is going with the joke for the sheer exuberant fun and joy of it?
That was me.
I remember sitting in the chair, kaking myself, and with each page turned, the laughter would burst out happier and more joyous than ever.
And my brother (I won't say which), said simply from the armchair beside me : "It's not that funny."
It's not that funny.
Talk about a buzz-killer.
I went to my bedroom, and continued reading. But something had changed. Something that should never have changed had changed, and Garfield was never the same again.
I was going through a box of memories from my childhood yesterday, looking for an awesome book on beat poets and Buddhism (more on that later - or check my post https://steemit.com/writing/@drwom/steemofconsciousness-filling-steemit-with-beatniks-and-steemniks) and I came across a stack of old Garfield books, as well as some other old faves (BC and The wizard of Id).
I haven't opened them yet.
But on the weekend I'm going to crack open a beer, sit down with my daughter and introduce her to Garfield.
And I'm going to give myself permission to laugh.
Stay tuned for an exciting @drwom #steemofconsciousness initiative.
Photo courtesy of pixabay.com - mashed by @drwom
@drwom footer by the fabulous @ryivhnn
It is amazing how the human brain works. Can't remember what happened last week but some small things that happened during childhood, and for me that was a real long time ago, stay with us forever.
Yep. The good and the bad.
And I know what you mean about last week :-)
Daily Learn some new from your post. Love to read it.
:-)
That's a very interesting memory. The ways in which human brains work, especially in children, are so mysterious yet fascinating! I hope your daughter will enjoy and cherish Garfield just as much as you did. :) Well done, and thank you for sharing!
PS: If you are interested and have some spare time, I have some poetry on my blog. :)
Glad you like it lukakorba
I'll check it out!
Thank you! :)
This brings me down to memory lane when I was first introduced to Garfield too. I never realized I can actually laughed at a plump lazy cat!! Thank you for bringing me back to yesterday..😊
Hey gorgeous
No problem :-)
And my daughter is loving Garfield by the way 🌞 - She's the girl laughing as she's walking down the street with her head stuck in a book!
wow. what a jump
thanks for info
Great. Thanks for sharing. I'm starting to follow you