Wander Toward What Makes You Laugh
A Wall Street Journal article about clown school caught my attention this week, which is not a sentence I expected to write. The piece explored clowning as a form of actor training built around vulnerability, spontaneity, presence, play, and being willing to fail. What intrigued me most was the idea that adults were choosing to practice something that asked them to loosen their grip on getting everything right.
I loved that immediately, and then I remembered that I used to be a clown. 🤡
Years ago, I joined a group of clowns for our local Christmas parade in rural Tennessee. We painted our faces, wore ridiculous costumes, carried silly props, played with kids, and wandered through the parade having an absurd amount of fun. In one photo, I am dressed as a race-car driver and carrying a steering wheel that is attached to absolutely nothing.
There was no deeper meaning attached to it at the time. We were simply there to have fun, make people laugh, enjoy the experience together, and be willing to look a little ridiculous in public. Looking back now, I think there was something wonderfully freeing about that.
When you are wearing a rainbow wig, oversized shoes, and clown makeup, there is not much room left for trying to appear polished. You are already committed, so you might as well wave, laugh, play, and see what happens.
That may be why the Wall Street Journal article stayed with me. Clowning asks people to respond to what is happening instead of trying to control every moment. You have to pay attention, improvise, notice the people around you, and keep going when something does not land the way you expected.
There is curiosity in that, and there is also a willingness to let the experience unfold without knowing exactly where it is going.
That sounds a lot like wandering.
A Soul Traveler needs room to follow the little tug that says, this looks fun. We do not always know why something catches our attention or where it might lead, and that is part of the adventure. Sometimes curiosity leads us toward a new passion, and sometimes it leads us down a rural Tennessee highway dressed as a race-car-driving clown. Both can tell us something about what makes us feel alive.
I think adults sometimes forget how much information can be found in the things that make us laugh, light us up, or pull us toward something unexpected. Curiosity does not always arrive as a profound calling. Sometimes it simply shows up as a quiet thought that says, I kind of want to try that.
Maybe it is taking an improv class, trying pottery, learning to dance, going to karaoke, joining community theater, exploring a new town, picking up an instrument, making something with your hands, or saying yes to something that sounds just strange enough to be interesting. The invitation is not to turn any of it into a lesson before you have even begun. It is simply to notice what draws you in and give yourself permission to follow it for a while.
That kind of wandering leaves room for surprise. It also leaves room for meeting versions of ourselves we may not have seen in a long time.
Seeing those old clown photos reminded me of a version of myself who was willing to dress up, be silly in public, and join something simply because it sounded fun. I like remembering her because she feels connected to the part of me that still wants life to hold curiosity, humor, wonder, and a little unpredictability.
As I think about that playful spirit, I cannot help but think about Dolly Parton too. There was always something wonderfully alive in the way she carried herself, with humor, sparkle, warmth, mischief, and a willingness to be unmistakably herself. Her playfulness never felt separate from her strength. It was woven into it, and that feels especially meaningful to remember now.
Maybe play is not something we are supposed to leave behind as we get older. Maybe it is one of the ways we stay connected to the parts of ourselves that are curious, expressive, open, and still willing to be delighted by life.
That is one of the things I want to remember as a Soul Traveler. Sometimes the path forward begins with a serious question, and sometimes it begins because something makes us laugh and we decide to wander toward it just to see what happens.
Sometimes that path may even involve a red nose.
🍃 Soul Traveler question: What is something that sounds fun enough that you would be willing to wander toward it just to see what happens?
There’s No Place Like Soul 🪴
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