Day: January 15, 2011

I named this post today not because of the quality of the acting but the enthusiasm of the crowd. Today I enjoyed taking Peter and Isaiah to the Yogi Bear Movie. I found it just delightful to listen to the responses of the children as the storyline unfolded before their eyes. There was spontaneous laughter, sometimes as a group and often from varying seats in the audience. I could over hear the comments of young minds as they responded to the goofy and silly behaviors of Yogi. At times you could tell that kids laughed because they heard others laugh, other times it was the laughter that is heard when a child believes they have not ever seen anything funnier. I also heard comments throughout… “I don’t think that was very funny,” “I wish I was Yogi,” “What they are doing is wrong” (cutting down the trees in the forest), and “go yogi go!”

At the end of the movie, there was spontaneous and ongoing applause. It was a crowd that was so delighted and willing to share that as a group. It was a happy place and one where freedom of expression was heard often.

It got me thinking….

I wonder when children lose the freedom to be so free-spirited. When do children lose the ability to fully immerse themselves into a goofy movie (or life experience) and not be critical of something or someone? When do children have the freedom to share their thoughts so freely and out loud and express applause at the end of something they delightfully enjoyed?

It was well worth the 21 dollars it cost me to go to the movies to see and experience the joy of the moment. I hope to experience more of the delight of children in 2011. I also hope to be a woman who brings some of that freedom of laughter, delight, and appreciation into my every day adult world. May I not hesitate to laugh alone or with others, to share my thoughts freely and to applaud and celebrate when my heart feels so moved.