Many of us often wish some of our friends treated us as kindly as we treat them. I, sadly, am of the other variety. I wish I was as good to my friends as they are to me. It’s not intentional. I am forgetful, easily distracted by glitter and shiny things, and other unhelpful qualities.

But I have a friend that, well, everyone should have. It doesn’t matter how badly I feel about myself, how ridiculously I have messed up, or how poorly I have behaved, she shines love on me until I feel better. She always sees the best sides of me. She always finds the bright spot in the dumbest of my errors. She doesn’t let me slide on responsibility, she just equally doses me with compassion, forgiveness, and understanding.

Needless to say, when you are working on something, have an idea, or an audacious goal she is the person you take it to first. When your poem isn’t fully formed, when your half-sketched outline is on the back of a takeout napkin but you’re sure it’s a good plan, she is the friend that you call. She is the one to whom you quickly text a photo. She is the encourager. She is the waterer of newly sowed seeds and fledgling plants. She is the sandman to your wildest dreams.

I appreciate that was a lot of preamble but I needed you to be clear about the kind-hearted soul that she is. I frankly don’t deserve her but I am going to do my best not to mess this up. I will tell you why. Other than all the great qualities I just named, earlier in the week I sent her the bare bones of my latest project. It is a serious work in progress. And by serious, I mean it’s half-formed, half-dreamt, and maybe a little more than half-a**ed.

She, of course, responded with utter joy and delight. 

Then just yesterday she texted me and asked, “How’s your gift coming along?”

At first, I thought maybe this was some sort of autocorrect mystery. You know how phones are… but after a moment I realized what she was referring to. She is so generous in spirit that she is calling my incomplete, mostly in my head project, “my gift!”

See, I told you! Everyone wants a friend like this. 

After I got over the surprise and kindness of it all I thought this how I strive to show up as a friend. And also I considered what would we be able to dive into if we considered our passion projects, our hobbies, or just-for-fun things our gifts?

As we head out into a July weekend, how’s your gift coming along? If you really believe you don’t have one, call me or message me. I will connect you with my friend. I promise you two things by the end: 1. She will be your friend. 2. You’ll have something you can call “my gift.”

Sunshine & Sarcasm,
Lowi & G