Friends visited with me yesterday whom I have not seen for 14 years. They were like family to me but, as happens, we lost touch. We spent several hours reminiscing and reconnecting. It was wonderful. I feel like I have a part of my family back.
It is a welcome gift to have a new connection with these dear friends. We are more mature now, and the potential for a much deeper relationship is apparent. Already there is more authenticity because we’ve each grown more authentic through the years. There is greater mutuality because I am no longer the needy adolescent/young adult who demanded people to be a certain way, seeing folks as I wished them to be, which set them up as saints or villains. I set up these folks as saints, which placed an unfair burden on them and created a certain distance.
I am learning to let folks be and allow myself to be. In so doing, pretending or hiding aspects of ourselves is no longer necessary, nor is attempting to live up to expectations. This allows for far more authenticity and depth of relationship. The connection becomes sweeter and gentler. The burden to be other than we are melts away.
I have had this experience several times since moving back to Georgia. It is a gift I did not anticipate, and for which I am deeply grateful.
Thank you, Barbara and Randy!
