Message from our founder
I have two wonderful brothers and I always wanted to have sisters! There is a special bond with sisters that is not the same with brothers.
In 2008, after being involved in the Laughter Yoga community for over 5 years, I started to sign my emails with these words: Your HAHA Sister, Linda. It made such good sense because whenever I was laughing with people, I felt a deep and strong connection between us. Something that was coming from deep within, touching the bright and pure part in us. LOVE. So this idea of creating a community of women laughing came very naturally. It was a given! For the ripple effect of love that a woman’s laughter can create… magic!
My vision is both simple and grand. Laughter, like love, knows no limits. I see women laughing and loving each other, worldwide. Because anything we do with this intention can translate into a tsunami of love! Touching the lives of so many. We care, we nurture, we love, we protect, we support, we educate, we feed, we heal. Think about all the beautiful roles we play in this world! Now think about how much we can touch and colour lives if we do that with a conscious laugh, a smile and joy in our heart!
We are all more alike, in our frailties and strengths, than we are, in our differences. There is no other, we are all truly ONE. What you experience is also within me and vice-versa.
I wish for all of us to be with a group of women where there will be no ragged edges, just unconditional love, all the time. Even if we might sometimes be vessels full of cracks, how about we fill ourselves with love, gentleness, ease, laughter, wonder and acceptance. We are mirrors for each other that help each other love ourselves, be brave, be gentle, be light, be laughter! I want for us pure love and soft lines to enfold us. And LAUGHTER BRINGS THAT. And because we have such a tremendous impact on our family, community, and world, as we guide, care, nurture, support, protect and love them, it is even more crucial that we do it consciously so we bring even more love and light into this world!
I want to say special thanks to a small group of very special women, who were there with me during a weekend that saw the germination of this heart-felt movement buoyed by laughter. Katie West, Ina Lukas, Jill Johnson, Anne Timpany and Rebecca Foster, I have no words to describe my feelings of gratitude, humbleness and love for you. You helped bring this dream of mine to life and put words to this vision and mission. Not only was that weekend the beginning of what is now the HAHA Sisterhood, it was a love fest! Now Sisters, let’s do this consciously and feel the powerful wave of love we are creating around us! You are not alone in this! We are together, and we are all committing to doing it every day!
I love you.
Your HAHA Sister, Linda
What it is
Welcome to the HAHA SISTERHOOD palace, your home on the web, where you can celebrate your beautiful gift of laughter, and share it with all of us!! Here is a place, for all the women of the world to see that by laughing more, we can have a true and real impact on the world! When we laugh, we change. And our children change when they see us laughing. And so do our family. And our communities. And the world! This community is a group of women who decide and commit to laugh every single day, preferably in front and with other people so they too can laugh (or at least smile). We stand proud and tall and are fearless because we are not alone. We ARE Sisters! We care about joy! Commit to laugh every single day, to be seen laughing every single day, to be there to help a Sister to laugh and don’t ever go to bed without having done something nice for you and for someone else! Sisters, Let’s LAUGH!
Why a Red Ribbon and a Clothespin
The HAHA Sisterhood Quilt Created and Hand-made by Françoise Saumure and Linda Leclerc
Well, this is quite simple and funny! When we laugh and are looking each other in the eyes, there is a strong and deep connection between us. We are not in a space where we judge, evaluate, and reason. We are in a state where we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! And our hearts are connected because of laughter. So the red ribbon symbolizes the blood flowing from my heart to yours through our laughter. From one individual to the other. A beautiful connection of two souls in peace and harmony. The clothespin first came as a way to physically unite the ribbons, during the gathering rituals. That small object is universally known: most women use them to get the clothes on the line and to make sure they don’t fly away! Look at one closely. It is simply made out of 2 small pieces of wood, bound by a simple metal spring. It might seem fragile, yet it is very strong, very reliable. Like us Sisters! And every time we use them, they are there to remind us to laugh every day! To use our strength to bring understanding, of how laughter can bring us together in love, and to be tender and soft to ourselves and to others.
By the way, this beautiful quilt you see here was hand-made with love by a beautiful and very creative HAHA Sister, Françoise Saumure from Quebec, and Linda Leclerc, the Sisterhood founder. Françoise must be the Queen of Quilts because every single one she creates is beautiful and lovely! Her spirit infuses this one – that’s for sure.