Friendship and Inspiration are EVERYWHERE!

Do you ever have your head down, intent on getting your list done and without a lot of time for distractions?  In this busy life it is all too easy to rush through our days without our heads up nor an openness to what is within reach...that special and unnameable 'thing' that provides richness, wonder and excitement in our lives.

The biggest example of this elusive and wonderful 'thing' is 'people'!  There are an abundance of people out there who share our personality traits, our passions, our pursuits, our burdens, etc. but, if we have our heads down with only our sight on check-marking that last list item, we risk never meeting them, we risk a life that is 'less than'.

On a late summer evening, nearly two years ago, I hosted a pre-school board meeting.  It was as much a meet n' greet as it was a meeting!  That night I chanced to spend a few minutes chatting with the 'Treasurer', who was lovely and I remember instantly thinking "cool, I'm glad she's on the board!"  Fast forward a week or two to when we were again at a meeting and were trying to organize the 'staggered entry' for our eldest kids who were to be starting pre-school...she approached me to see if we could share babysitting for our youngest kids so that we each, as moms, could attend the first day with our older kids.  And so began our friendship and the friendship of our four children.

Very early in our conversations we discovered a shared love of photography and, even more amazingly, an interest in operating businesses in the realm of visual art!  This meeting has led to such an abundance of friendship, inspiration, and goodwill that I tear up just thinking about it.  Our kids interact like cousins and have learned so much from one another.  Jill and I have attended photography workshops and classes together and are constantly running ideas past one another and tips on how to do this or that.  It has all been so easy, so good, so rewarding.

I am busy...trying to keep a house clean (within reason for it has little ones running through it daily!), trying to keep my family on time, trying to create a successful small business, and trying to stay connected to the family and friends that I sincerely admire, love, and appreciate.  I know it is hard to remain open to what 'might' be out there, around the corner, but I feel that the friendship described above and the countless others that I hold dear (new and old) are testament to doing our very best at paying attention to what is out there waiting and available to us.

May this holiday season give you time to ponder what might be waiting for you around the next corner...I wish each person reading this a life filled with new people and experiences to enjoy, together with the pleasure derived from having people in your life who have always been there and shall always be there.

Friendship, kindness, consideration, generosity...may we each give freely and receive even more abundantly.

Life is good,


Lori