Friendship

As I sat down to respond to today’s reverb10 prompt, I find myself almost struggling to identify one friend that had changed me or my perspective on the world.  The fact is that it is really the sum of the whole, the net effect of each contribution, via interaction and relationship, of those I count as friends that has helped to shape my perspective on the world this year, and in ways that are difficult at best to put into words.  It is the essence, the intangible nature of these influence that have made an impact upon me and the adjustments to compass this year.

I also have to acknowledge those who are in my extended circles of interaction, namely through the (few) social networks that I am a part of.  While I have been more of a passive participant, or better yet more of an observer, the contributions of these people comprise a significant portion of that which has changed my perspective on not just my world, but the world as a whole.  I have honestly come around full circle, back to traditional foundations of my upbringing, but at the same time with it a completely new perspective made possible by deepening understanding of this old wisdom, combined with what is new and changing, and the possibilities that exist now but never before.

This has all happened at a gradual, almost evolutionary pace in that it is really only in reflection upon this past year, and on this particular prompt that I can see how these people have all had an effect on me, how I think and the decision I have made.  I look forward to this next year and not  simply more of the same type of interaction, yet a deepening growth in the friendships I have and an reciprocal contribution to those friendships in hopes that I may positively impact them as much as they have me.