Friends

There is a saying, "Tell me who is your friend and I will tell who you are."

I don't believe in this saying anymore because sometimes friends come in our lives without invitation and you accept them as they are or not.

Alex. An old hippie and a lost soul. Alex is our neighbor and a friend.  He is the only one who talks to us.  When our dog Tasha died he brought to us a bottle of wine and spent with us the whole evening talking.  

Alex is a loner but sometimes he tries to reach people, mostly homeless and help them. Thus, last summer he brought Teddy the Boy help him to plant some trees and to do landscaping. 

Teddy the Boy.  I don't know for how long he was on the streets and how he managed not to lose his kindness and trust with people. Teddy's mother was very poor and she died from pancreatic cancer. Teddy never talked about his father and I never asked him. 

Kimberly. She is homeless, a drug addict and Alex's girlfriend. Something is very touching and fragile about her. I like her a lot. When Kimberly has a fight with Alex we bring her to the old hotel where she can stay till ten o'clock at night and then she is out on the streets again. She is young, in her early thirties.

These are our friends.  If we honestly ask ourselves which person means something to us, we often find that it those who instead of giving advice or solutions have rather chosen to share our pain and wounds and who care. 
Yes, friends care...

One Little Step Toward Being Brave

For a long time I believed that vulnerability is a weakness, until I took a deep breath and  posted here on this blog my first painting.

Next day I regretted what I have done. I wanted to delete it immediately. Then something  happened. I thought about being vulnerable but also about being brave and I am not the bravest person in the world. Posting my first painting was one little step toward being brave.

We are all vulnerable.  

You are vulnerable when you are standing up for yourself, 
when you are asking for help, 
when you share your art or photography with the world, 
when you are writing on your blog about your illness or struggles with addiction hoping that someone out there will understand what you are going through,
you are vulnerable when you go to gym in not perfect shape to get healthier, 
when you ask for forgiveness.

Do these sound like weaknesses? I don’t think so. Vulnerability is not weakness, it is courage.

I am trying to embrace my vulnerability and be proud of it.