365 Project: Day 97

You don't have to see my whole face to recognize the sadness and worry captured in my eye. I heard some horrifying news today about an old, dear friend of mine and it just crushed my heart. My attachment to and love for my friends is very powerful. It takes a lot for me to let someone into my life and really consider them a close friend and I consider those friends to be my family. They are a part of me and I would do ANYTHING for them. When they're hurting or going through something terrible in their lives, I feel it in the deepest part of me. I get this overwhelming compulsion to help them and comfort them and be there for them. Knowing that they are beyond my help is devastating to me. I always want nothing but the best for everyone and I personally know so many people who are in a lot of pain right now for various reasons. I feel so helpless and my heart is just breaking for them.

I've got this sinking feeling that something is going terribly wrong in the world right now. I feel it in my gut. I feel like something just isn't right. Yes, I realize that its a cruel, cruel world and bad things happen every day. But I feel like its different. Something has shifted. Natural disasters, economy, hardship, suffering, heartbreak, politics, bad relationships, bad choices. We are living in a very sensitive time. People are distraught. People are on edge. People are at a breaking point. I keep hearing sad story after sad story, not just about the world in general, but from the people in my life. People need help. So, what can I do to help you?

365 Project: Day 60

I have made it 60 days into this project. I can't believe it. Thats approximately 2 months! So, in celebration of that, I thought I'd create 2 pictures of 2 of me.

My friends are incredibly important to me. I'm extremely picky about who I really let into my life. I make friends easily, but I let very few people close to me. One of my closest and oldest friends is coming to visit from New York today! I'm really excited. We became friends in middle school when we were paired up to write movie reviews for the school newspaper. The two of us were the wittiest and most sarcastic 13 year olds you'd ever meet. Even now I'll go back and read our movie reviews and laugh.

We stayed close all through high school and even though we went our separate ways in college, we never lost touch. Even now, we'll go months without seeing each other or sometimes without even talking, but when we find time to get together again, we pick up right where we left off.

She is one of the very few people in my life who:

A) Just gets it. She always has. Whatever it is I'm thinking or doing or going through in my life, she gets it. Even when she doesn't, she at least tries to understand.

B) She is someone I trust without hesitation. I can tell her absolutely anything and not have to worry about being judged. With her, I can just vent.

C) I can always expect an honest response. I appreciate it when a person can be blunt with me and give me their real opinion with complete disregard for my feelings. Only a real friend will do that.

There are millions of other things that I love about her, but those three things, as simple as they may be, are very hard to find in another person. I value those things about our friendship. We've been through a lot together over the last 13+ years. There have been a lot of really good times and a lot of really bad ones. Only she can understand where I've been during the hard times, because she was there with me. No one else can ever understand the things that have bound us together. Our friendship has stood the test of time and distance. She will always be a part of my life. I consider her to be more than a friend, I consider her family.