Friends and family

Though this post isn't about a cell phone payment plan, as with that plan, these are the people closest to us as we travel through our lives. Blood is thicker than water, and I have wondered at those who do not maintain close relationships with their siblings, parents or children. What do they miss out on, and of what treasures do they deprive their family members?

Still, I'm afraid in even this I can not be certain. For there are nearly seven billion of us living our lives on this planet and how many have lived throughout the ages? Each of us has seemingly lived our own unique existence and I have often wondered how we can truly understand what and why anyone else has felt, or what they believe. Many have been put upon in horrible ways by their closest family from a young age and others have been deprived by fate of ever experiencing a family and the benefits I, and others, have come to cherish.

From the time I can remember considering my good or bad fortune concerning family, I have believed that I have been incredibly blessed and have been thankful to the God I believe holds such fates in his hand. I have tried to be a good member of my family, deserving of the love and decency which has surrounded me. In many ways I feel I have failed, and I could not tell you whether this is just an example of my being too hard on myself or a necessary honesty. Yet, I know I have done some things right and for that I am grateful. For it is said that whom the gods would destroy, they would first make mad, and I feel that my disregard for or bad treatment of my family would be a sign of my insanity.

Perhaps similarly, Emerson said that the only way to have a friend is to be one. Again, I believe I can recognize quite a few failures on my part over the years mixed with genuine efforts to be a good friend to a number of souls I have met. These people have rewarded my efforts. I look back fondly at times, but also have moments where my thoughtless behavior haunts me.

Friendship has never meant finding a duplicate of myself and I don't think that would work well even if I did. But shared principles matter and almost must play a role in why friendships develop between people. Still, it has always seemed wise to me to try to remember a line from an old Pink Floyd song.... "If I was a good man, I'd understand the spaces between friends." This may actually explain a point I made in my introductory post where I am not looking for friends who are merely echo chambers for my point of view. In fact, I've often envied the idea of being able to have long conversations with a friend who at times challenged my beliefs and left me with something to ponder.

Such would be a good and worthy use of this blog.