She was a vision of pure joy. Her beaded skirt twirled around her damp legs as she danced barefoot in the rain to the music swirling around her. Bystanders looked on with just a trace of envy in their eyes.

We all want to experience that childlike wonder of having not a care in the world.

When did you last taste a snowflake on your tongue?

Or blare your favorite song, car windows rolled down, as you sped down a backroad singing loud enough to quiet the birds.

Or dance with abandon under an indigo full moon sky?

Or laugh so hard, uncontrollable tears running down your face, unable to speak and not remembering what started the burst of merriment?

Or just sit peacefully under the big oak tree watching the butterflies flutter from wildflower to wildflower and just release a spontaneous sigh at the wonder of it all?

When was the last time you truly let it all go?

When did you stop having fun?

I humbly suggest we all put joy back on our to do list.

Here are a view quotes to get us started:

“One of the most responsible things you can do as an adult  is become more of a child.”

Dr. Wayne Dyer

“Humor is the great thing, the saving thing after all. The minute it crops up, all our hardnesses yield, all our irritations, and resentments flit away, and a sunny spirit takes their place.”

Mark Twain

“A good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other one thing.” Laura Ingalls Wilder

“Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the Gods made for fun.”

Alan Watts

“Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.”

Guillaume Apollinaire

And finally:

“In many shamanic societies, if you came to a shaman or medicine person complaining of being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of four questions:

When did you stop Dancing?

When did you stop Singing?

When did you stop being enchanted by Stories?

When did you stop finding comfort in the sweet territory of Silence?

Dancing, singing, storytelling, and silence are the four universal healing salves and where we have stopped them is where we have experienced the loss of soul.”

Gabrielle Roth