Friends

Kahlil Gibran was a Lebanese philosopher and my favorite work by him is called "The Prophet"

Kahlil Gibran-On Friendship

And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."
Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.
When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.
For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

Soo...I posted this because I have the BOMB ASS friends. My friends are not only smart, but they are motivated, dedicated, and ambitious. I can not think of one friend who is tooling away in a boring, dead end job with no big plans for the future. I can not think of one single friend who is not engaged in some hobby like running, art, language learning, belly dancing, academic classes, etc and people like that interest the hell out of me. You guys are so fcking intelligent and interesting to talk to. You know so much and we never have boring conversations.

I realized last night that I have friends writing books, traveling exotic places, publishing fascinating scientific papers, and assistant curators of world famous exhibits. What I love the most about these people are their aspirations. I often wonder what you guys will be doing in 10 years and excitingly enough, I can't imagine! Unlike most of middle America, I would be hard pressed to find them in the suburbs raising 4 kids and schleping them to soccer. Not that this is undesirable (barf), but I can't think of one friend (ok, except you Sheila) whose biggest accomplishment would be becoming PTA President. I have one friend who is off to rural Kenya to work for the PC and is bringing her small kids with her. In her words "This is the best education I could ever possibly give them." Word! So where will everyone be? I picture them in Africa, Europe, Anarctica, anywhere with cool professions. How exciting for me! They want to become great things and I have no doubt that they would be anything less! I love you all so much! Thanks for being my bomb ass friends.