friendship
C.S Lewis got it right: friendship is born when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one!"
Friends Drift Apart
As painful as it can be, connections fade. They disintegrate and eventually become non-existent in our day to day life. The older I've gotten the more I've accepted this. It can be difficult to accept because we often form our identities around our friendships or those we hold close to us. Even with family, we can drift apart or temporarily go through a period where we lose contact. We can certainly make the effort to stay connected, but often it just doesn't work. Why?
By Antoine D.6 years ago in Humans
My Only Wish for #Her
She was young, wild and so free spirited. Her shine was so illuminating , when she entered the room a darkness would start to vanish and her light quickly brought brightness to every space she entered. She is the girl shown in the picture, she goes by the “E”. E has always been a kool kid. I met her in her younger years. I remember one of the first times I met her, we would draw mustaches on our faces and go skateboarding along the coastline of San Diego . She was just hella fun to be around. I just knew she was some kind of special. Years had past and at the time I was managing the Big Easy Tattoo shop off of Canal street in New Orleans. She calls me out the blue and wants to fly out and Rome the streets of th Big Easy. Without hesitation, I insist she flys out to southern Louisiana. Being the kool kid she is, she brings a backpack full of medicinal marijuana candy and drinks. She opened my eyes and helped me see life from a new perspective. She helped heal my soul and for that I knew I was forever indebted. The time she stayed there in New Orleans she helped me big time with the tattoo shop and was inspiring to so many people that crossed her path. It was days after Mardi Gras, we hopped in my car and drove out to Paradise in San Diego. We both lived out of my car, couch surfed and after some time we went our separate ways once again. We both were living on a path of self destruction. Were both using crystal and put our values and goals on hold. She called me up one day and I never seen her so down and out and depressed and she wanted to die and commit suicide. In my mind, I was taking blame on her mistakes. I was a role model to her and I was not setting positive examples. Her spirit was heart breaking, i start noticing her cutting herself. I wanted to show her she couldn’t mask her beauty by covering her self with inflicting razor cuts, but I felt her pain ran much deeper than that. I wanted to bring light back into the eyes of her soul. So, i brought her to the beach, she put on a mermaid tail and I photographed her. With each photograph taken I can see the sand start to exfoliate and cleanse the dark thoughts that crossed her mind and started to letgo of the “E”go. I saw this young pretty girl lose such confidence in herself over the course of sands of time by drug abuse and people taking her kindness for weakness. My only wish for #her is she becomes the beautiful women that she is meant to be and her beauty keeps inspiring and her sou remains wild and free.
By Linda Arnaud6 years ago in Humans
My life hero is Rosita Ruiz.
Oh my!! Where do I begin? The person who inspires me the most, who has helped me overcome so much is Rosita Ruiz. She’s not only provided me the tools to be confident in who I am, but continues to push me out my comfort zones so I can continue to grow, and continue to believe in myself. I met Rosita while searching for vocal coaches online. We have built a strong lifelong connection of teacher, student, and friend. Before I met Rosita , I was in a sad dark place in my life. My life revolves around food. My life was an eating disorder. It controlled me. It nearly killed me! I suffered in silence for years. I couldn’t take it anymore. I reached out for help. That was the scariest day of my life. It was the start to a new life. A life of freedom from the disorder. While in treatment I found my love for music. I soon realized I needed music in my life to keep my mind free from the eating disorder. After treatment I found TakeLessons online. I signed up for group classes. I was mute for literally three months. Until the day Rosita called on me in class and offered to do every exercise step by step with me. That day was the beginning of a new friendship for me. It taught me to let go and really trust. Rosita continues to challenge my fears. She has never given up on me. She continues to show me that I can do anything I put my mind to. Nothing is holding me back. I am forever thankful for Rosita and everything she does for me. I can’t wait to visit her in April. She has stuck by my side for every battle I struggle with. She never stops helping. She’s gone above and beyond to make sure me and my son are ok at all times. I believe in angels. I believe that Rosita is a true living angel walking amongst our earth. If I ever have a off day , I listen to music. Rosita has helped me with many songs that touch my heart. Rosita also recently started teaching me piano. I’ve learned so much from Rosita. I’m happy to be alive enjoying music. For years I let the eating disorder consume me. I lived breathed slept in fear everyday. I never knew if I’d wake up the next day or be dead. I was always in pain. I was hurting silently. It’s tough when you grow up hearing negative messages from the people who are supposed to love you. I let the messages win. Calories in versus calories out. You are what you eat. You equal this many tubs of butter. It starts to become real life after so many years hearing these messages. I’m so thankful I had the courage to reach out for help when I did. I’m afraid I wouldn’t be alive today if I hadn’t reached out for help. Recovery was very hard. Recovery was so worth it. I’m Alive , free and living my dreams. Without treatment I don’t know where I’d be. Without treatment I would of never found my love of music. But most importantly, without treatment I would of never met Rosita. Rosita has changed my life. She has helped me overcome all my fears. Rosita will never let me fail. She will always push me to where she knows I’m able to be at. She has taught me to love myself for who I am no matter what anybody else thinks. I will will always look up to Rosita. I’m forever thankful she is my teacher. I’m linking my story of my eating disorder to this post. I want to help girls who are struggling. Remember it’s never too late to get help. Treatment saved my life and has made me the beautiful me I am today.
By Michelle Kachin 6 years ago in Humans
This is not the End.
This is a story that changed me life forever thanks to a amazing friend of mine. Her name is Christani short for Chris, if you ever got the chance to meet Chris you would see how amazing she is but i will have to say that i'm really lucky to be able to call her my best friend! Over the years of our friendship we have only became closer and I would like to share how she saved my life.
By Brittnie Libs6 years ago in Humans
Surprise
Judie and I were not anything close to being friends. We worked together. Our cubicles were next to one another. Since I was the older and more experienced worker, occasionally, she would ask for help with coding a case or some computer action that was rarely called for. I was happy to oblige. thing is... I would notice an item from my cubicle amongst her things: my folding plastic step stool, my ruler, scissors and on and on. I would ask for these things back when I needed them. She would calmly insist that they were hers until I showed her my name or initials somewhere on the items. I really believed her when she said that she thought these things were hers
By Madonna Kelsey6 years ago in Humans
A Dynamic Force
Give her space, watch her build. Give her an audience, watch her inspire. Give her nothing, watch her make something. Give her restraints, watch her be a society disruptor. Give her a problem, watch her engineer innovative solutions. Give her me, watch her elevate my mindset, propel my ideas and champion my passions. Have you ever observed a divine relationship? One, in all of it,'s intricate details so perfectly suited; it seems thousands of years ago, someone took their time to beautifully paint it in a book called “History.” That even now, hundreds and thousands of years later, we can still appreciate its value and beauty. With every observation a new lesson is learned, new perspectives are cultivated and nuggets of wisdom are revealed. It is safe to say, I can scream it from the moon, “That I am lucky to enjoy a friendship with such a dynamic force.”
By Daniela Embrack6 years ago in Humans
You CAN make friends through social media
As a theatre major I am told on a daily basis the importance of art in real time and some professors will take this to the next level and imply that social media is KILLING the "real way to create" or the "real way to meet people". I understand that there are many instances where this could be true. Some people do replace theatre or replace real life relationships for entertainment and friends that only exist on a screen, BUT "real life" and "social media" can coexist and even help each other.
By Athena Priftakis6 years ago in Humans
An open letter to a fractured friendship
It's an anxiety-induced feeling when something altered happens to what seemed like normal camaraderie. I've had moments where I couldn't have my chance to say something to fix what I didn't know was broken or it was altered by the former comrade. Over the past years, I've lost friends that I thought were going to be in my life for a long time, but it didn't turn out that way. When a friendship is over it feels as if there is no option to talk it through or resolve what happened whether it was a problem or a rift that split it. I've never gotten to have these moments of what I wanted to say to a friend that broke up something that wasn't even broken. I'm sure most people feel that way when something happens and there was never resolve. Even if it can't be mended but the hurt has to be heard. But what matters the most at the end of this chapter...
By Samantha Parrish6 years ago in Humans
Friendship, Love, and the Healing Power of Tango Shoes
My friend Kathy and I still laugh when my mom tells someone, “The girls met when they were three. They grew up together.” It’s true. I’ll never forget that day. We were three years old. It was the first day of preschool at a special needs elementary school. Kathy was clinging to her mother’s leg, peeking cautiously out at me from one side.
By Lori Melton6 years ago in Humans
