Friends (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A few thoughts on friendship:
“Each friend represents a world in us, a world not possibly born until they arrive.” ~ Anais Nin
I am grateful to my friends for so many things, and without them my world would be one-dimensional.
I would never name all my friends for fear that I would leave someone important out—but you know who you are if you are reading this. And if you are not a friend yet, my heart is open. It is open because the friends that I have opened it.
I echo the sentiments of Cicero when he wrote:
“How can life be worth living, if devoid
Of the calm trust reposed by friend in friend?
What sweeter joy than in the kindred soul,
Where converse differs not from self-communion?”
Or more simply in the words of a Hallmark card:
“You paint my life brighter
And make my life lighter.”
I am inspired today by the book “Friendfluence” by Carlin Flora. The subtitle of her book is “The Surprising Ways Friends Make Us Who We Are”. I have just started reading her book and pulled the quotes in this post from it, but I am interested see what conclusions she comes to. I know that my friends have influenced me in what I read, how I write, and what recipes I try. I have friends who encourage me to exercise, friends I laugh with, and friends who most importantly are there when I need them.
I sometime wonder how I have deserved such friends—I am humbled by their friendship and eternally grateful.
I used to think I could stand alone and face things by myself. I cannot—I need my posse of friends to keep me from falling off a path that is at times rocky. They smooth the way.
Today, my bliss is in the celebration of my friends. Could you survive without yours?
Related articles
- Fifteen Reasons We Need Friends (psychologytoday.com)
- An Interview with Carlin Flora, Author of Friendfluence (psychologytoday.com)
- Quote from Anais Nin opens my eyes (spreadinformation.wordpress.com)
- Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief. (philosiblog.com)
On the Homefront 
Definitely not. My friends keep me going. They know me and care for me warts and all. They are a true blessing.
that is what we want–those who care for us and overlook those stupid warts that we all have
….and friends who tell me to each chocolate ALL the time!! LOL :). I definitely need and value my friends. I’m not what you would call an extremely social person with a huge group of close friends who has to socialiize all the time; instead I have a lot of acquaintances but only two best friends who I confide in all the time. I should clarify that – two female best friends. You see, first and foremost, I consider my hubby my best friend. However, there are certain things that men just can’t truly understand about women, and that’s where my girlfriends come in. I can tell both of them exactly what I’m feeling, and they always “get it”. If I have a problem they know just what to do to make it right or at least can give me a hug if there’s nothing that can make it better. And if I have good news, they are just as excited for me as they would be if it had happened to them. And now I have all of my wonderful blogging friends too – friendships that I truly did not expect to find when I started my blog – but now I could not do without all of you because you lift me up, support me, and encourage me in all of my endeavours. Even more importantly, you keep me laughing every day, and that gives me the best feeling of all :). Thanks for a wonderful post LouAnn, and thanks for being my friend!!
I love being your friend–and you are so right about good friends being there and understanding; like you my husband is my best friend, but there are just some things that men do not go through that we do–and that is where our female friends are so lovingly valuable
I never thought I could make such good friends just through words as we do in the blogging world
🙂 🙂 🙂
I’ve moved around so much that I don’t keep in touch with childhood friends. When I do see them, it’s like no time has passed usually. I’ve always been one of those people who had friends, “acquaintances” and then one of two really good friends, plus I have sisters who I consider my best friends. We’ve been living in our current place for almost three years and though I’ve made friends, I think it takes longer than that to establish true friendships.
The blogging community is a new kind of friendship. But anyway, I agree with you, friends if you have one or two that will be there for you no matter what, no questions asked, then you’re a very lucky person.
Nice post, my friend. 😉
I love the way I have made some really nice connections in the blog world–and I consider my sister a best friend too. Friendship is important and something I have started to realize as I have gotten older is that it also has to be fostered
I was reflecting last night on the friends that I have made through blogging….more friends in my life than I could have ever imagine having …Could I survive without any friends …I suppose that I would but it would be a dreary and sad existence….Diane
it would be a dull existence indeed–my friends have pulled me out of the duldrums more than once–I love the friends I have made through blogging — they seem very substantial and loyal
True friends are a gift, I feel blessed to call you friend, Lou.
And as I have said in these comments, you are my best friend too – love ya
Yes, I love my friends. and of course my best friend of all is my hubby. What would I do without him and his love? 🙂
those of us who have husbands who are our best friends are lucky indeed!
Friends are my foundation – without them I would crumble!
Cheers
CCU
do not want my favourite cookie to crumble!
You do have such an open warm heart, LouAnn. I can see why you have so many dear friends…
and you are most definitely one!
We’re a mutual admiration society!
that is wonderful to know 🙂
I’m like you in that I used to not like asking for help and assumed that standing strong by myself was a source of pride. But now I know that my friends, even without my asking, have always been there for me whether I was conscious of it or not. I’ve never had a huge group of friends but the ones I do have are the ones who still make the effort to maintain the friendship and when we talk, it’s like no time has passed.
that is true friendship–when they help us and we are not really aware of it – through our difficulties we have had friends come to our rescue in so many ways–I no longer beleive that (wo)man is an island
I couldn’t live without my friends, I keep them sane and happy and they keep me sane and happy. I couldn’t imagine surviving life without them 😀
me either — sane and happy are two very good things
Friends are treasures and as you wrote one can not live very well with dear friends, especially close ones.
so very true — we need our friends in so many ways 🙂
I love the quote from Anais Nin. I have this on my quotation page…absolutely true!
I’ve always valued friends, but I’m coming to realize you don’t have to meet someone in person to consider them a friend. Love the digital age! ~ Sheila
You are so right about that Sheila, I feel the same way–it is odd to call people I only talk to through the written words friends–but I think we hit a different understanding this way and it can be deeper–we get to show our true selves
I could never live without my friends. It’s nice to know that, at any time, I have someone I can count on to laugh or cry with me, talk to me or just simply hang out together in comfortable silence. 🙂
I second that–:)