Do you have friends that make you more clever? Friends that you feel smarter and funnier around? Have you found music that holds unpredictable, profound lyrics that challenges your prior notion of how a song is normally composed? I hope you do. I do. A handful of persons in my life make my wit sharper, my smile broader, and my heart richer. My friend, Lauren (pictured above with her boy Patrick) sharpens my humor because she challenges me to retort in a similar way as she has just spoken, with smart, sometimes random, word choices. A handful of musicians fill my heart with joy and make me sing at the top of my lungs. I love it!
Do you have people who you feel like are "your people"? You feel a level of ease, depth, unspoken understanding, care, and kindredness of mind. I hope you do. If you don't, find them. I believe everyone has at least a couple of kindreds to immerse themselves in. I have been struck lately by the definition of friendship. Not all look the same, nor should they appear identical...tis impossible and improbable. At times that notion is difficult for me. My longing for connection with people often can supercede my knowledge that "my people" my not number in large quantities, and that is ok. Expectations are huge, as well as, parameters. Once I know the framework and expectations of a friendship, my heart and head live in such freedom. Most times my heart runs way ahead of my brain, and the reins have to be pulled back to assess how to balance connection rather than going to extremes.
So, my word is this, I guess...treasure "your people". Treasure those that you don't consider "your people". After all #2 tells us to love our neighbor. We should treasure everyone. But do so for who they are, not for who you think they ought to be or who you would want them to be. The key is to remember how I want to be treasured...just how I am with all my junk, unconditionally. The word treasure, as my pal Webster sees it, means to hold or keep as precious. Who doesn't want to be treasured? Noone, I dare say. Expect that though all friendships will not look alike, they all enrich our lives. No man is an island, as Merton says. Thanks for being my friends, my favored companions who I think precious.
Music feeds my soul. What a poweful medium that can uplift, challenge, help us turn off our brains, inspire... The other day, I was driving to work listening to my ipod on shuffle, my favourite feature these days. I love to listen to David Gray. I love to listen to Jason Mraz. I love to listen to several other artists, of course, but I was struck by these two specifically that morning. You know how sometimes you listen to music because everyone else does or because you want to sound like you are cool because this artist is the one that everyone is talking about? I do this, yes, I am admitting that, I fall to peer pressure and always want to be in the loop of "coolness". However, I happened upon both of these gifted gents on my own, and I love them both...musically, of course. (I know them not.) People sometimes laugh at me about my intense liking of both artists. (I think this laughter comes mostly from them only knowing their radio-played songs, which as per usual most times does not reflect true depth from an artist, only what the masses will tap their toe to and sing over and over.) Tis ok. I am secure in appreciating their talent. Richness, poetry, originality, depth.
A bit of a random monologue, but my point is embrace music you love, treasure friends, and be passionate. Life is so rich and full of passionate pursuits. I believe we all have something we hold passion for and our hearts know joy when we find it.