Wellness and Spirituality are Intimately Intertwined with Friendship!
The most called-upon prerequisite of a friend is an accessible ear.
Maya Angelou
Friends are precious, no doubt about it. Like my friend with the hot tub! LOL.
The very fact that my friend has been ozinating her hot tub for years and years speaks volumes! Everyone should know that ozinating is the only way to go when it comes to hot tubs and swimming pools. Chlorine is a poison. Ozone is non-toxic…and sterilizes water masterfully. Whole swimming pools are ozinated and you can drink the water from them…..But don’t just take it from me. My friend could tell you all about ozone too!
That’s what I love about this friend. In addition to ozinating, she and I are “into” so many similar things: meditation, exercise and spiritual studies, environmental causes, UFO’s, self-help and development; vegetarian and organic cooking; using stevia instead of sugar. We have so much in common and we could talk endlessly. We grew up three blocks from each other and our elderly mothers are bridge partners. When I was in eighth grade, my friend gave me Issac Assimov’s Foundation Trilogy to read. We were not always “close” like we are now but we went to the same elementary school and graduated from the same high school. Then she went her way. I went mine. I left for 28 years and came back to the old neighborhood. She only left to go to college, then came back, married and divorced, raised two kids, started an appraiser business and did quite well. And I came back three years ago to care for my parents. Now, on Friday nights on her ice cold deck, next to a roaring creek, we assess life and the universe.
My friend recently started to keep a journal, putting all her dreams and goals and other thoughts down on paper. I’ve kept a journal on and off for quite a few years but at Christmas time, I went into a slump. Listening to her enthuse about her journal inspires me to take pen and pad in hand again. (Although now that I’m blogging, it’s kinda similar.)
When I left my home in West Virginia to care for my parents three years ago, I left my best friend behind, my husband. Coming back to my home town was a bittersweet affair. Renewing my friendship with my hot tub pal has been part of the sweetness of it. I appreciate so much the hours we spend comparing notes, laughing, discussing her daughters, my sons, all the men in our lives-past, present and future….our dreams, our ambitions, our goals, our hopes and fears, the latest news and current events….You name it. We hash it over, if I’m lucky, in the hot tub once a week. It’s SPECIAL!
I’ve asked my friend to be in a rock band. She plays the piano. She said she would. But neither of us actually have time for that. But the point is…she said “yes.” So that’s a real friend, no? She’s still a dreamer, an aspirer, and enthusiastic about the adventure of life. And I love her for it!
So today, I sing praises for such a good friend and for all the other friendships of my life.
“Alone we minimize possibilities, together we are limitless.”… Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha
Adios, mis amigos,
Elizabeth/Du’Tsu/Spring Frog