The Time of My Life

I had a blast last night. At a meeting. This year I have discovered that I often really enjoy meetings (I know, I’m crazy). Like all those trek meetings we had—I loved hanging with those people, the adults who had been called to plan this trek for the kids. Because they were such nice people, such capable, willing, cheerful people. I liked just being near them, cracking jokes, accomplishing a Work.

But last night was not a trek meeting or a church meeting. It was much, much better than that. Because at the meeting were several people whose minds amaze me, whose opinions are fascinating to me, and whose acquaintance I consider one of my best accomplishments. And we spent the evening debating the merits of several pieces of literature that I also found very fascinating. And, of course, eating really good food.

Who could ask for more? I was trying to describe it to Rog, and finally made the analogy, “You know how you feel after you’ve played a really great, long, struggling game of softball? THAT’s how it felt.”

The only depressing thing about it is that I think that for most of them the meeting was just a chore. They are all much smarter than I am, so they didn’t spend the evening in awe of just being there. So chances that I could reproduce such an occasion are pretty small, darn it. Meanwhile, I feel really invigorated after such a great evening (I even dreamed that we were still there, discussing).

I haven’t figured out whether I am an introvert or an extrovert. I guess Im a weird combination of both, because I love being alone and pursuing solitary things (like reading and writing). But after having read, I like nothing more than having a really rigorous discussion about what I read with someone whose mind is interesting to me. THAT’S the best way to spend an evening, IMO.
How about you? What’s the definition of a great evening for you?