Tag Archives: friendship

Reflections: More Rumi – On Friendship…

“What draws friends together does not conform to the laws of nature.” Rumi

Reflections: More Rumi – On Friendship…

Force of Friendship – Rumi
Remember the mouse on the riverbank?
There’s a love-string stretching into the water
hoping for the frog.

Suddenly a raven grips the mouse and flies off.
The frog too, from the river bottom,
with one foot entangled in the invisible string,
follows, suspended in the air.

Amazed faces ask,
“*When did a raven ever go underwater and catch a frog?*”
The frog answers, “This is the force of Friendship.”
What draws friends together does not conform to Laws of Nature.
Form doesn’t know about spiritual closeness.

If a grain of barley approaches a grain of wheat,
an ant must be carrying it. A black ant on black felt.
You can’t see it, but if grains go toward each other,
it’s there.

A hand shifts our birdcages around.
Some are brought closer. Some move apart.
Do not try to reason it out. Be conscious
of who draws you and who not.

Gabriel was always there with Jesus, lifting him
above the dark-blue vault, the night-fortress world,
just as the raven of longing carries the flying frog.
Excerpted from This Longing Transltd C. Barks & J. Moyne

What’s the one thing you hope other people never say about you? That friendships don’t matter. They DO! Friendships matter to all of us and especially during tough times… If you are feeling down or lonely, reach out and be a friend to someone in need… The heart knows when another shows sincere care.  Don’t despair.  Rumi is a master on dissecting love and relationships, and I have shared some of his poetry with you here. Enjoy! More below! ;-)

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Friendship…

“A single rose can be my garden… a single friend, my world.” Leo Buscaglia

Weekly Photo Challenge: Friendship… Begins with a kind word. Children at play

Weekly Photo Challenge: Friendship…. Man and his devoted dog.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Friendship… Play ball… two teens.

Friendship by Alexander Pushkin
What’s friendship? The hangover’s faction,
The gratis talk of outrage,
Exchange by vanity, inaction,
Or bitter shame of patronage. via famouspoetsandpoems

In a harsh world with its many ups and downs, friendship is a much needed lifeline.  We cultivate all sorts of friendships; some lasting and others temporary. No matter what type we have, friendships enrich our lives and teach us many lessons.

“Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend.” Plautus

Weekly Photo Challenge: Friendship… Hula hoop friends

Weekly Photo Challenge: Friendship… Lunching friends.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Friendship… twins with friend.

Friendship IXX by Khalil Gibran
And a youth said, “Speak to us of Friendship.”
Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the “nay” in your own mind, nor do you withhold the “ay.”
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed. Contd below

We turn to our friends for fun times and during fearful or stressful times. Sadly, it is often during our darkest hour that we get to know who our true friends are. Life is that way, and perhaps it is best to find out than to walk around clouded by our own delusions about our friendships.

“Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends.” Shirley MacLaine

Weekly Photo Challenge: Friendship… Zoo animal friends

Weekly Photo Challenge: Friendship… Fun event friends

Weekly Photo Challenge: Friendship… Sisters and friends

When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend. Contd below

When I look at the different groupings of friendships framed in the photos above and below, I am reminded of the beautiful gift of friendship and how much it sustains us. I’ve written about friendship on several occasions because I never tire of this fascinating subject and its impact on our lives. To have a friend is to be doubly blessed, and we don’t need an entourage for our friendships to matter. As Buscaglia said above, “…a single friend, my world.” More below!
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Friendship: It’s In The Cards…

“There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.” Thomas Aquinas

Friendship: It’s In The Cards…

“I always felt that the great privilege, relief and comfort of friendship was that one had to explain nothing.” Katherine Mansfield

What qualities do you value most in friends? Do you remember how you met your most trusted friend? Diahann is one of my most trusted friends, we have known each other since our college days when we worked at Saks, and we met before we met… No, this is not a typo. I repeat, we met before we actually met. Let me explain. Several years ago, some college friends invited me to a bric-a-brac/book fair somewhere in downtown Manhattan. I was glad to go because it was a warm spring Saturday and a good way to get off campus and head elsewhere.

We took the subway, got off somewhere in Greenwich Village and headed for the fair. Once there, we scanned the wares and made a beeline to tables and vendors that had things we wanted; some junk jewelry here, an old book there, even a few long silk scarves. As I paid for a beautiful silk scarf in peacock blue with splashes of white on the edges, a woman sitting at a small table with a sparkling ball caught my attention. I turned to get a better look at the sparkling ball, the woman caught my eye and beckoned at me… “Come, come get a reading!”

“When you choose your friends, don’t be short-changed by choosing personality over character.” W. Somerset Maugham

Friendship: It’s In The Cards…

“I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar.” Robert Brault

I was curious, and collecting my newly purchased scarf, I walked over to her table. I was not afraid. I figured she was the fun psychic entertainment at the fair. Now, I suspect some of you might think psychics are the devils work or hogwash, but I’ve met some amazing and truly gifted ones in my lifetime. I just didn’t expect to meet one at a book fair. Anyhow, we chatted, and I believe she told me she charged a nominal fee (Between $5 – $10) for a tarot card reading. What the heck, I thought, sure, I’ll do it. I sat down, shuffled and cut the cards, picked out 5 cards for a Horseshoe spread/reading and before I could say anything else, she was off and running; naming names, dates, events, people and places she had no normal way of knowing.

I’ll call her Gail, because I felt like a gale of wind had swept in and knocked me off my feet. She was that good. Then she said, “Your trusted friend Diahann will always have your back… She is non-judgmental, fun, honest, trustworthy, kind… a good soul” “What!? What!? I said. “Who is Diahann?” “Oh, don’t you worry,” Gail assured me grinning from ear to ear, “You’ll know when you meet her. It’s in the cards!” I left Gail that afternoon with my head swimming with data and details about my life and I filed the name in my memory bank. Sure enough, a year later or so, I met Diahann and she has always watched my back. So what qualities do you value in a friendship? More below.

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