Laughing with troublesome friends

Austin Kleon shared this 2-min video of Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama laughing gleefully during an interview. At one point, Tutu is asked,

"What is it about your friendship that allows you to have this extraordinary joy?"

He ponders a moment and says, "He's always troubling me..." and then cracks up.

I just love that. Because what's better than a friend (or life partner) to laugh uproariously with one moment, then turn around and be intellectually challenged by them in the next?

(Clearly this is my interpretation of what Archbishop Tutu means.)

Some of my closest friends come to mind. In fact, I've realized I struggle to get close to people who can't both go deep and be humorous. An interesting filter for who I invest time in.

I am oh-so-very biased here, but I couldn't agree more with the below line. It's from the co-author on a book about Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama spending a week together called The Book of Joy.

“Having worked with many spiritual leaders, I’m tempted to see laughter and a sense of humor as a universal index of spiritual development.”

Douglas Abrams

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