Just bursting into flower is a Lavender Week. There’s a lot of laughter lurking. You’ll find yourself laughing harder than usual at friends’ jokes, funny incidents, cartoons and even at television sitcoms.

Laughter is both stress relief and — in social situations — a way of bonding. When you see a table of women at a cafe laughing hysterically, a strand of that laughter is about strengthening the group, and about belonging to it.

Don’t resist laughing. Sure, you don’t want to offend people with inappropriate laughter (often a sign of your stress), but we need to laugh and we need to laugh together. Be grateful for a Lavender Week that makes that laughter easier.