The Spice of Life...

Now Playing: "Wonder" - Emeli Sander'

It's been quite a while. Life has a tendency of getting you so intertwined in the things that have to be done immediately that you put aside the things that are necessary to keep you stable and fed for the long term.

There are two things for me that serve that purpose--people and writing. I guess it all boils down to, at its essence, communication. And when I get consumed and deprive myself of that interaction with paper and my friends--well, I get a little testy, to say the least. :) I've been that way lately, but luckily, I've got some great friends--all special to me in so many different ways.

It's those differences that feed and nuture me with their own special methods. I was just reminded of this today when, hilariously enough, I was severely checked and uplifted by two separate friends, both of whom love me, care about me, and approached me in those divergent ways based on their knowledge of me and their unique personalities. And even though their approaches were completely different and in lots of ways, contrary, they were both exactly what I needed.

My friends are the spice of my life. They are male, female, young, old, black, white, conservative and liberal, religious and not. I have the friend that knows exactly how to make me laugh, the friend who makes me forget all the challenges of life; the friend who can be my 'misery loves company'; the friend who walks besides me and lets me know precisely when I'm not in my lane; the friend who constantly motivates me and encourages me, and the friend that makes me feel so gosh darn beautiful on the inside and out.

I can only hope that I can be one (or all) of these things to my friends. Lord knows I try, but Lord knows I'm not perfect, either.

Here's my parting thought, one that I find comforting and nice: we meet so many people everyday, but so few of them become our friends, the bastions of our trust and the keepers of our vulnerability. I'd like to think that the initial "sparks" and qualities that draw special people together are enough to hold them together when things happen along the way that test the bounds of friendship and loyalty.