Travel Interlude (IV): Whimsy Imagines

 

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The older I get, the more I embrace whimsy.

I embrace it because - as I continue to discover - my interests and passions are inherently whimsical.  They do not fit into the modern world at all.  They likely will not move me forward in "the world".  They will certainly not enhance my bank account or my career.  They might enhance my social media standing, but only with those that value such things.

And what have I discovered?  That those who value such things are the sort of people whose opinions I actually care about and in whose lives I am actually interested in.

So go be whimsical.  And then have the courage to build your life around that whimsey.  It will likely be far harder, but will also likely be so much more fun along the way.

Travel Interlude (III): One Friend

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Friendship is an odd thing - as more than one person has said, it can sometimes seem like walking down an aisle, randomly grabbing someone, and saying "This one.  This one is the one."

Most of those that have been or become my good friends over the years are not ones that I would consciously have chosen at first. They very often seem like a set of random events in meeting among the hundreds of people that we encounter in our lives.  There is something - some interest, some spark - that moves it beyond the greeting phase to the "Hey, this person seems like someone worth spending time with".  That moment is often lost to the history of friendship, but there are times I can still remember it happening: the moment where The Director introduced me to Uisdean Ruadh in the Spring Semester of our freshman year of high school, the moment at work where Rainbow and I started taking a walk at lunch, the moment when The Shield Maiden moved beyond just another throwing acquaintance to a friend.

What  difference those friendships make.

My friends believe in me, sometimes more than I believe in myself.  My friends have listened to me rant and rave and helped me come out on the other side, if not better than at least feeling heard.  They lift me up when I down, remind me of the things I have done when I can only think of the things I have failed at.

How empty my life would be without them.  

And what a testimony to the fact that one person, one friend, can truly change a life.