Thoughts on healing; 3rd in series

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival."
- C. S. Lewis

This is the Gods honest truth. And by the grace of God and sheer dumb luck I have had the most amazing friends put into my life. Friends who take me and sit through doc appts with me, visit or call, send silly texts to cheer me up, run me around or just talk to me.

Or, like one friend, he knows, or should know who he is... Comes to the e.r. in the middle of the night to help console his friend.

I've never forgotten that friendship or the unspoken bond that we've always seemed to have. Even after being out of touch for years, his unexpected smiling face reminded me how much I missed talking to and chilling with this great guy! Just like the cliche great friendship, after not speaking for ten years... Each time we have, its like nothing has ever changed. He's still that inspiration, voice of sanity and relaxation. I always feel so confident and empowered after speaking with him. I hope that I provide him with some semblance of the same. I love you! And I love all my friends! You are all the key to survival, and that's the truth!!!

Beyond the status update: Are we really happy?

How often do you see your friends post how great things are in their life? About how awesome their bf/gf/spouse/significant other is to them, the cute thing their kid just did or how great their co-workers are?
How often do we see happy little pictures posted of sweet moments, kind gestures, and fun times posted?

How often do you do this yourself?

For me, its ALL THE TIME!

I would hazard a guess, and pretty much guarantee that for every positive status update there are 20 more that are less than wonderful.

And here's the thing... If we are only communicating through facebook, email, instance message, and text, we miss what's really going on in the lives of people we care about. You can't decipher meaning behind words with no voice to match the tone to. And that can be detrimental. The strength of the relationship will likely weaken with these impersonal forms of communication; and while our "friends list" may keep growing online, it could quite possibly be decreasing in life.

So my plan...for every person I contact frequently by these impersonal means, I'm going to start replacing one text or whatever with a phone call or a visit to them. I'm starting small, because I've depended on the other forms for so long that it'll be difficult. But I think it is important to get back to the basics, hear a voice, see a face, and share a meal. I want to truely know what is going on in peoples lives...not just what they plaster to paint a better picture.

Will you join me and do the same?

What are some ways that YOU can get back to the personal side of communication?