“Laughter is the closest distance between two people.”

Victor Borge

Imagine two points on a map, they’re you and someone else. The terrain between is rife with mountains of misunderstanding, rivers of disagreement, forests of differences. It’s daunting, a journey that seems too perilous to embark upon.

Then, suddenly, a peal of laughter echoes. It slices through the mountains, leaps over rivers, and pierces the forests. Laughter, a simple vibration of vocal chords, becomes a bridge, a flight, a tunnel. It’s a shared experience, a universal language that cuts across all barriers and distances, linguistic, cultural or personal.

Laughter is the shortest distance between two people, a bolt of understanding, a flash of connection. It’s a bridge built of joy and sealed with a shared moment. It doesn’t ask for passports or visas, doesn’t care for your past or your present. It’s instant, it’s powerful, it’s intimate.

When we laugh together, we are briefly one. We see eye to eye, not as strangers, but as fellow voyagers in this journey called life. We acknowledge that we are not alone in our absurdities, our missteps, our triumphs. We are bonded, even if just for that shared second.

So remember, laughter isn’t merely a sound, it’s a beacon. It’s a signal that says, “I understand, I’m with you, I’m here.” It’s a thread that stitches two souls together, shrinking the vast universe into an intimate dialogue. It’s not just about humor, it’s about humanity. It’s a handshake of the heart, a soul’s embrace.

Because laughter, my friends, is the closest distance between two people. It’s the highway on which we travel to find each other, to connect, to understand. Keep laughing, keep bridging, keep connecting. It’s a journey worth embarking upon.

Stephen Boudreau serves as VP of Brand and Community at Virtuous Software. For over two decades, he has helped nonprofits leverage the digital space to grow their impact. To that end, Stephen co-founded RaiseDonors, a platform that provides nonprofits with technology and experiences that remove barriers to successful online fundraising. He is an avid (but aging) soccer player, audiobook enthusiast, and the heavily-disputed UNO champion of his household.

Copyright ©2023 Stephen Boudreau.