Today’s Binary Response is in response to this article by Jenny Valentish, over at The Guardian, about The World Happiness Report. In her article she discussed the link between eating together and wellbeing.
She started her article out with this: Think back to your school days.
That line immediately draws attention—and the title of her article, Happy meals: is eating together the secret to happiness?, lingers in the mind long after reading.
It’s easy to recall how laughter and genuine happiness during meals might not have come until college. Before that, shared meals weren’t always joyful or memorable. Since then, shared meals have become increasingly rare—unless it’s a bar outing during a game, a birthday celebration, or the holiday season.
Those meals during sporting events? Usually pretty neutral—even with a favorite team winning. But birthdays and holidays? That’s when happiness and laughter felt guaranteed even when the meals happened at someone else’s house.
Let’s look closer at Jenny’s article with those thoughts in mind early in her article. The first thing that I actually had a reaction to was when she said: Sharing meals is the one of the best things we can do for our wellbeing, according to a report released last month.
Many single people today are turning to dating apps like OkCupid and Facebook Dating in search of connection and possibly a life partner. Often, those dates remain emotionally flat until intimacy occurs. Yet even after that, it’s common for people to compare the experience to past ones—then decide their partner isn’t “life material” and end things. The truth? Sex might bring short bursts of happiness, but it’s hardly a reliable foundation for lasting joy. And meals or drinks together aren’t the only route to intimacy with someone considered a potential life partner.
Later in the article, she touches on family time and living alone. Not everyone found joy in family gatherings while growing up. For many, family time felt more like mandatory attendance—no phone calls, no internet chats, no movie nights alone with friends.
It’s worth noting that The Guardian is a British news organization, and Jenny draws from the World Happiness Report using Australian examples. In contrast, Binary News is an American-based news opinions blog run by U.S. residents and I reference thoughts based on stories I’ve heard from and about others who have lived across the worlds.
Now let’s look at the end of her article where she discussing living alone and starts by saying: But we are living more individualised lives. Single-person households are on the rise in Australia, with the 2021 census showing an increase from 18% in 1981 to 26% in 2021.
This isn’t just an Australian trend. In the U.S., many single people also live alone—not by choice, but as a lingering effect of pandemic lockdowns that stretched far beyond the originally promised two weeks.
Here’s the thing, folks: Jenny closed up the article telling readers about Kate Freston who she mentioned in her first paragraph and ends her article saying: That night, I take a leaf from the book of my boyfriend’s family. When we sit down for dinner, he and I see who can tell the best tale from the day.
With that… While that closing anecdote might be some of the best dating advice in years, it won’t guarantee happiness after every meal. Why? Because many couples who aren’t married haven’t yet discussed long-term commitment—and often, the term boyfriend or girlfriend just reflects mutual enjoyment of physical connection more than emotional depth.
So if you’re chasing happiness, maybe stop looking for it in perfect moments and start noticing it in the honest ones—the ones that don’t need to be earned, explained, or filtered.