Friendships

I am thinking about friendships tonight. About how there can be so many different kinds in ones life. How some flow in and out like the tide, how some are based on laughter and jokes, others on dreams and deep secrets, and how some just come to a gentle end. Interactions with others are so important, give us strength and assuredness, love and guidance.

There are some friends that are forever. The ones who you might not be near to for days, months, years, yet your conversations are as fresh and comfortable as well loved stretchy pants. Those are the soulmate friends, the people who will always know you, who will always be the ones you turn to in times of struggle or joy. The sisters or brothers.

I am realizing that some friends come into your life when you need them, but maybe recede some as one of you take a new path, explore a new road. And that that isn't a bad friendship, but just one that was invaluable for a certain period, who made your life full and rich within an exact time frame. Like anything, it is best to not hold on with too much preciousness.

Friendships that involve going out, involve walking your dog, climbing a rock wall or any other form of exercise, friendships that are played out as a series of jokes, and friendships that involve finding designer bargains at thrift stores. Friendships that are based on a love for all things artistic or for the noticing of the natural world during a sunset or a snow storm. Our friends and acquaintances form such a unique quilt for our lives, all sections that come together to make a whole, a whole that keeps growing as life moves forward.

I am feeling so full of friends tonight, so blessed and fortunate, while also paying homage to those friendships whose flames have dimmed somewhat.