I have a muse in the form of a middle aged woman going through her own existential crisis. She found herself downsized out of a job that she had a terrific love/hate relationship with. It was the typical case of not knowing how bad you feel till you start feeling better. I love her tremendously. She is one of my dearest friends and I have never met her in person and have only spoken to her on the phone once in the two years I’ve known her. We have this little mystical friendship that might change if we make it more traditional. But, maybe not. Why push it? Anyway, she and I have deep philosophical discussions. She asks the hard questions. She makes me look. She makes me think. The other day we were discussing friendship and what it means to us.

It is interesting how my friends, and my relationships with them, have evolved over the years. I had a very small core of friends growing up. There weren’t kids in my neighborhood my age so I played with younger kids. Even through high school, I could count my friends easily on two hands. My X-ray class was small. Then I married and moved to England. I had exactly four friends there, one of whom is my very dear friend to this day. But as life progressed, I moved, changed jobs, had babies, changed husbands, and my social circle waxed and waned. Some friendships were extremely important at the time but friends have a tendency to drift in and out of your life with the season you are in. When we are in those busy, productive, hard working, child rearing years, we have blinders on and we often find ourselves quite alone when we come out the other side.

There are things that have changed as I’ve gotten older, as well. I’ve found my friends have become extremely important. My family has become even more important to me. I have many friends…much more than the four alluded to in this meme. And every single one of them touches my heart. That being said, there are things I have little tolerance for these days. I don’t like drama. I don’t like malicious gossip. I don’t like male bashing. I am selective as to who I let in my tribe. And I am content and secure in our love for each other. It’s a beautiful time to be alive.

❤️

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

John 15:13