Friendship

We shared a meal with friends and family in the Chapel Hill area and I am reminded of the value in the simplicity of connection with good friends. Nothing is comparable to the luxury of the smile from a familiar soul especially when you are not feeling well and need companionship. I believe friendship ~ the familiar touches, looks and words is an often overlooked part of weathering a storm.

I’ve known this couple for nearly 15 years and have gone through so much of life beside them – birth, death, marriages, hospitalizations, simple shared meals, walks in the woods and travel – including getting lost! I doubt that there is much that my friend and I don’t know about each other. To me, this kind of shared intimacy is the heart of living.

I know there is a great truth in being in the present moment and yet, I know that when I have a history with people and places I connect throughout all time and space. This is a grace ~ a great gift of our consciousness. It’s the difference between going into the forest for the first time to explore and walking the same path behind my house every day aware of the plants, insects and animals that cohabit this mountainside with me to create a great play of life together. Each is beautiful. And yet, when I’m not feeling well, the steadfast enduring friendships offer the most meaningful interchanges.

Perhaps you would like to reach out to a dear friend today?

 

Spiritual mentor Deb Vail will often become ecstatic over her dog, a simple flower, violin music or a southern Appalachian handcraft. Communing with a subtly boisterous forest brings her joy difficult to contain. Deb, the founder of Sacred Living, has created a service for those with serious illness to find comfort, ease and bit of wonderment.