Self Advice

"The man who goes alone can start today."
Henry David Thoreau

I've had the companionship of many wonderful friends over the years... frequent moves multiplied the opportunities, donchaknow? Many adventures, many good times, many great memories. Cyberspace opened up even more opportunities to reach out and connect with friends, new and old... I honor them all and know I would be so much less without them. Life's real jewels are the friends we make over time.

Unfortunately, I haven't been good about keeping in touch... even the annual Xmas card list is shrinking due to my refusal to reply to cards that repeatedly carry only a signature and not even a few personal words. Sad to say, there are very few of my long time friends who took to the Internet as a communication aid and I've allowed a phone phobia to affect my ability to reach out. Add the fact that I abhor crowds and am rotten at small talk, am a social klutz and you get someone who finds virtue in quotes such as Thoreau's.

I remember coaching my young daughter with the advice that sometimes it's important to be your own best friend... and I taught her to crochet, play solitaire and anything that encouraged the imagination. Sometimes you just can't count on someone else to bring the fun. Plus, there may be plenty of people/family/cohorts around but you can still be pretty much alone. You can sulk and wait, or you can start off on your own. Well... can't always, but there will be a time when you can.

Guess I'm being a bit melancholy as an artist friend of 30 years prepares to move to be closer to her daughter. She makes me promise to visit her in Philadelphia and I do... wondering if I will. Yes, of course I will... we'll have a great time! But she "brought the fun" when there was a artsy reason to get out and about... she pushed me out the door when I would have simply spent another day in the studio.

I must make a point of listening to Thoreau...