Deep human connection brings me greatest joy. Expensive theatre or concert tickets aren’t necessary for it to occur, and neither are elaborate fashion shows. In fact, sometimes it happens while dressed in ratty bathrobes with uncombed hair. All that’s needed is for me to be fully present to another human being, then accept whatever comes from that connection.

As for throwing my head back with laughter, I can laugh with people I hardly know. In fact, I can laugh with total strangers. It’s pleasurable, to be sure, but a steady diet of this kind of fun eventually falls flat, like a soufflé that collapses at the slightest jostle. Truly good times stand on a sturdier base — one built from a little sweat, a few tears, and earned understandings. These are the materials from which solid foundations are forged, and they launch the heartiest laughs, ones that won’t crumble at the first chill. We humans have a wide range of feelings and I, for one, want my relationships to be full orchestral arrangements that use all these moods. If I know someone over time then we learn to play many tunes together: happy and sad, regretful and grateful, joyful and melancholy, grief-stricken and rapturous.

When my mother and I shared a sad moment at lunch we added some low emotional notes to the higher ones we’d previously sung. It brought us closer and enriched our lives. Though lacking laughter, our lunch was time well spent — good time. Real time. — Beliefnet.com (Concluded)