Go With the Flow...Letting it Roll

Sometimes in life, you just have to step back, let go, and say what the hell. Go for it.  Not everything in life is about order. Truth is a little chaos can be fun, so let it roll.

I've said it before, sometimes just observing my boys is enough to keep me young. Even better, on those rare occasions I have the opportunity to join in on the celebration, for those few hours....I find myself lighter and less burdened.

It can be as simple as listening to their infectious laughter or their limitless energy as they excitedly discuss the newest games and technology. It could be their raucous and slightly sometimes raunchy humor or sharing of a silly you-tube video treasure they have discovered.

It could be a discussion on their future dreams or shared memories. Whatever the ocassion, the energy is high and it fills the space around them with a static magnetic force that pulls you in.

Granted, if it comes from a place of moodiness, the playfulness can cross the line to obnoxious and rude, but it more often stays on the side of silly, endearing, and mesmerizing.

Case and point.  This weekend we celebrated my youngest sons 18th birthday. His girlfriend helped to put together a small gathering of his closest friends and included his brother and one of his brothers friends as well.  We made Carne Asada and she brought baked goods to feed an army.  It was amazing. No one went hungry.

I had a home filled with love and friendship and laughter and young adults ranging from 17-21 plus myself, Jeff, and my dear friend Glenda.  What happened next , no one, not even I could have predicted.

As I sat with my plate on my lap enjoying my carne asada tacos and conversation with Glenda, my living room space suddenly burst with energy and chaos. Furniture was moving, blankets and sheets were pulled from the linen cupboards, broomsticks became makeshift tent poles, pillows and couch cushions were on the floor and my living room became a fort complete with LED candles and his and her separate quarters. At first feelings of control and anxiety washied over me, and then......deep breath....in and out.......and it was o.k., the room could easily be put back when they were through and this was simply imagination taking it's course. I decided to go with the flow...let it roll.

Eventually the fort was dispensed with and trivia games ensued, but the laughter was constant throughout the afternoon and well into the evening. The energy of youth. Young adults willing to embrace the creative and playful side of who they are and for a few hours shed the expectations of what being an adult is with all its rules and burdens.

My sons and their friends continue to remind me, that living is about laughter, its about spontaneity and joy. I know all about the responsibilities and rules and things which must be done, but in the moments of in-between, it's valuable to remember to laugh, heartily, wholly, all the way through.