As a general rule, we become more self-correcting as we age. Most children can speak, sign or laugh colorfully and with a simple truth until they are told that what they say or write isn't nice or correct.
I was in a now-defunct Borders several years ago attempting to find another series that would take my child into his teens as a reader when a mother dragged her 5-year-old into the children's reading section. The mother proceeded to pick out joke books, while her daughter attempted to pull away. The woman's admonition? "Let's get you a book so that you can tell better jokes."
That child had gone from telling one liners in a natural way, to telling no jokes because it wasn't natural or filled with the laughter and lightness that most children seek.
So, what if we take a few minutes every now and then to use words in the silliest, most nonsensical ways? Could we go back before the judgments killed all pleasure in word play? Try punning your way through a little pause in work, out loud or silently, on paper, on the screen. Write a few words on a computer screen that evoke a strong feeling, any one you choose, then color them by how they might taste, feel or crunch underfoot. Celebrate this ability to create new avenues of self-expression in the most common words, and enjoy the chance to play with your food, walk in the rain barefoot and laugh loudly at silly jokes.
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