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I've been giving serious contemplation to our friend Olympus' event "Smile at Life" in which he evokes several amazing additional posts related to Smiling at Life.
I am of the sincere belief that when we achieve joy at life's utter extreme, there is no difference between smiling and crying. When life is at its bleakest, when everything feels lost and has been lost for an eternity, when all hope is lost, a moment of reprieve or a moment of relief does not result in a smile. It results in a torrent of tears.
I'll give a few examples,, but my examples honestly don't matter. It's your life that matters, your joys, your reprieves, your love. Think of your utterly happiest moments. Did you smile. Or did you cry?
I had a dear friend for many years with whom I spent hours a day, six or more days a week. We went to night clubs together, we went to movies together, we hanged out doing nothing together, we faced death several times together and were in or around a couple of hundred bar fights and street fights over the years. He was my buddy and my closest friend, but eventually we started drifting apart. I got a job a long commute away, the punk scene died, and we had fewer and fewer reasons to hang out, but he was still dear.
He called me one night and said, "I'm going to smoke my last cigarette and take my last drink and then kill myself." This was the early days of cell phones, so I hopped in my van and talked to him for the half hour it took me to reach him. When I got to his house, the front door was open, and he was sitting at his table with a drink in one hand and a pistol in the other. I didn't know what to do, so I rushed to him and took my hand cuffs (a punk thing) and hand cuffed myself to him and told him not to do it.
He got upset and fired the 9mm at the wall in front of us. It was so loud in an enclosed space my ears shut down completely, and I put my free arm around him, and he cried. And he cried and he cried and he cried for the longest time.
That's the thing about crying. Once you can cry, you're not going to give up. You're not going to surrender. To cry is to unleash your emotions. To cry is life. It's the ultimate joy. It's love.
After that night we never brought up the incident again. He got married, became a police officer, has a kid, and I haven't spoken to him in years. I live a four hour drive from him now (not that I can drive--I can't). But that night, those tears, they were life. Love.
There are a few films I can't watch without crying uncontrollably, but I don't cry in sadness. I cry in the relief of hell averted, of a second chance, of life and love. One example is the movie, "Let Me Make You A Martyr."
To the event "Smile at Life" I present tears. But to me, tears and a smile are the same. They're life and love
Olympus, thank you for your wonderful event :)
38 comments
I just remembered a Joni Mitchell song with lyrics: "Laughing or crying, you know it's the same release." I don't remember which song it is. Probably Some People's Parties."
As for the films from which at least most of the scenes were taken ("Independence Day"), I hate that film on so many levels *laughs* but that song makes it beautiful :)
We all take our little lives for granted ; but when we see what is going on around our globe -war and natural disasters -we must realize that all is not lost and that more often than not, human spirit can overcome almost anything. Courage, perseverance and resilience are needed more than ever. And its starts in the human heart...
Nice image and a fitting story to match.
Thanks a ton for your visit and kind words! :)
Wonderful contribution my friend :)