Today is Easter and I am away from my computer, and am actually handwriting! Stay tuned!
Sunday, April 5, 2026
Thursday, February 5, 2026
A page of links to other things Noreen Braman has written
Because February is the Month to Repeat Myself
©2017 Noreen Braman
Because
Because of the priest
who told my mother she was doomed to hell
for a tubal ligation after
life threatening childbirths,
almost leaving
three daughters motherless.
Because of the man
who cornered me in the boathouse
attempting to
remove my clothes while laughing,
knowing my adolescent
self would be too ashamed to tell anyone.
Because of the knife
held to my throat
at the workplace
where I was the only woman on the floor,
working too
fast and making the men “look bad.”
Because of the men in
the office addressed as “Mr.”
while women were addressed by first names,
and paid
significantly less for doing the same job.
Because those same
men felt entitled to grope women in the hallway,
make job security contingent on sexual favors they demanded,
or withheld them to punish your noncompliance.
Because of the insurance
providers holding the key to healthcare
denying treatment for
my children and myself,
until a protracted
fight was engaged.
Because women who
came before me fought so hard to get here
bequeathing me a
country where I can raise my voice,
continuing to demand
that we don’t go backward.
Because it is too
easy to get comfortable
allowing erosion to
do its deadly work,
destroying the
firmament under our feet.
Because the women
that come after me
should never suddenly find themselves
back in the dark
places that exist in cultural memory,
but rather go only forward,
reaching their hands
down to pull other women up,
and with them
humankind as a whole.
©2017 Noreen Braman
©2025 Noreen Braman
Monday, January 19, 2026
2026 - Endings and Beginnings
As 2025 was coming to a close, I sat down and spent some time thinking about life, sucesses, failures, and taking a deep look at the years to come. I realized that what I was expecting to "one day" become my full time work was really only going to be a hobby. A hobby I loved, but one that was taking too much time, and costing too much money.
More and more groups were no longer paying for presentations, and even being paid as a Keynote Speaker didn't quite cover expenses. Whatever the reason, whether the fact that I was also balancing a full-time job, maybe not hitting the speaking mark I thought I was, or even the lack of educational credentials to boost my laughter yoga and laughter wellness training. The Smile Side of Life of a business is just spinning around in a circle. So, last October, I wrote this, which eventually would move the Smile Side of Life into a solely graphic design business at www.njlaughter.com
It is the Laughter We Will Remember
To all my friends and followers, including everyone at the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor (AATH), there comes a time when, even something you love, may have to be set aside, or at least reduced in attention.
The Smile Side of Life has been my baby for more than 25 years, and I have an office full of the proof! I've loved the speaking, and met so many people that I would never have crossed paths with, if not for the Smile Side of Life. But the sad reality is, the traveling, the "promotioning", the conferences, the books - all add up to what accountants would call "a hobby."
So for now, while I will always live on the Smile Side of Life, it is time to step back, clear out that office!! and choose a new path. (I'll be a little slow while getting my toes fixed). I look forward to a cruise of the British Isles next spring, meeting cousins on my Scottish Grandmother's side, and hopefully going to each and every archeological site the cruise has booked. There will be pictures!
Thanks again for all your friendship - and that remains steadfast!
With fond memories,
Noreen Braman
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