TGIF #1

Today is Friday Friends! This is the first of my Friday postings that is all about friends and friendship...

A friend has many different meanings and they play a multiple of roles in our lives. Sometimes friends come and go, sometimes the friendship we forge with certain people grows, and we count them as something a little more, sometimes even like family. In the pantheon of friends, and as human beings, friendship is a relationship of give and take; it may well have its roots in our primitive origins: the old "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" paradigm. There is an entire psychology and philosophy behind what friendship is and what it means, as humans we like to label and define the things of our lives, as we did in our earliest cultures when we strove to find the meaning behind that which we didn't always fully understand. We often put a value on our relationships, a definition of the worth of what our friend is to us, as if it is something to barter for.

Generally we accept certain people in our lives because we share common thoughts and interests, and being the social creatures we are, we need relationships to fill varying needs and wants in our lives. We all see the world through different perspectives: similar schools of thought and meaning and contrasting, so too we see and regard friends and friendships in different lights. We all have to decide for ourselves what is important and of worth in the friends and relationships we cultivate. There may very well be truth in the idea behind reaping what you sow. So what is a friend to you? What does friendship mean in your life?

For myself, I am attracted and drawn to a wide range of people who not only share something of similar interest the likes of mine own, but people who exude other factors that make me stop and think, wow! My truest and best of of friends are those who may be like a brother or sister, someone who I can share my unabashed thoughts and feelings. I am blessed with a wide range of people who I call Friend, and they play different roles and have different meanings and places in my life. One friend isn't so much more special or of more worth than the other: just different. I try to take the people in my life as they are, and for what they mean to me, without putting a restriction and label and price tag of worth on our friendship.

I invite all the people who are my friends to comment on this post with their thoughts on friendships, and what sort of things they have going on in their life that they are passionate about and want to share with new friends. Every Friday I want to share and help connect more people and their interests, and I will be adding your links and sharing the posts every Friday. I hope to see the list grow and help to widen the circle of friendships between us all...