The Kind of Laughter That Isn’t Light”

What makes you laugh?

What makes me laugh?

Not the kind of laughter people expect.

It’s not forced smiles or polite chuckles in the right moments.

It’s not jokes that everyone else finds funny.

It’s the quiet, unexpected things.

The kind of laughter that slips out when I wasn’t planning on it—

when something catches me off guard in the middle of everything else I’m carrying.

It’s my kids, when they’re being completely unfiltered and chaotic in ways that somehow make sense only to them.

It’s the way life can be completely overwhelming one minute,

and then somehow ridiculous the next.

It’s the moments that don’t try too hard.

The ones that feel real.

Because for me, laughter isn’t about entertainment.

It’s about relief.

It’s the release that comes after holding too much in for too long.

It’s the brief moment where everything loosens its grip just enough for me to breathe.

And sometimes…

it’s darker than people expect.

Because when you’ve learned how to survive things,

you also learn how to find humor in places most people wouldn’t look.

Not because it’s funny—

but because sometimes it’s the only way to take the weight off of it.

So what makes me laugh?

The real things.

The unfiltered things.

The moments that remind me I’m still here…

and still capable of feeling something lighter, even if it doesn’t last.