Inspired by silliness

Whether it's a silly hat you put on your baby's head, a silly face you make at someone, or a silly sound, I am one to ask you to "do it again." I like silliness. It makes me laugh. And laughter is worth repeating.

When was the last time you relished the silly things life has to offer? If you can't recall, it's time to look for the silly in life. It's time to start focusing on that which makes you laugh or smile. If you feel like you've lost your sense of humor because you're just too busy to kid around right now, I have a few words of advice: Busy schmizzy.

That's right. Schmizzy. So what if it's not a word. It pretty much sums up what I think about the word busy. Let there be no such thing as being too busy. "Too busy" to have fun? "Too busy" to relax? "Too busy" to laugh? See how absurd that sounds?

Here's one simple suggestion for what we can do about that:

_What's on your desk? Work, you say? Well, move it aside, just for a second, and grab one of those Post-it pads. Yellow, pink, blue. It doesn't matter. Just grab one. Now, take a pen or pencil (Yes, that's right, no keyboard for this exercise) and draw a doodle. It doesn't matter what it is. Just start drawing. Make sure you fill the entire piece of paper, from corner to corner, edge to edge. Now, pull that Post-it Note from the pad and stick it up on a wall closest to your desk. Make sure you can see it. Do this three more times. You should now have three doodle-filled papers stuck on a wall in front of you. Line them up so that you can see all three. Do you have any star stickers? What?! No star stickers?! If you're not joshing me, then find a different colored pen from the instrument you used to draw your doodles and use that to draw a star on the doodle you think looks the best. Yes, you've just entered your doodles in the B.I.K.E. WITH JACKIE Doodle Contest, and you're the judge. Which doodle is your favorite? Draw or put a star on that one and toss the others away.

Now wasn't that silly? But it was fun, right? I mean, it took your mind off that work you had on your desk. It allowed you to open your thoughts to random ideas. And you played along. It wasn't that difficult to be inspired by silliness. When you get back to work in a second, I'd love to know how that transition went. And when you look up at some point during the day to see your winning doodle, I'd like to know how that makes you feel. Post your comments here.