Not all of us are lucky enough to be born with a playmate from day one like my twin grandchildren. It brings me joy watching them have all that hair-raising fun. But that doesn’t mean we can’t find friends with similar horoscopic bonds born around the same time we decided to plant ourselves on the Earth plane, right? I was born in May of 1958 and I know there are others out there who may just be my astrological twins. Truth is, I have always craved soul-friend types of relationships, but now I expand my definition of what that really means. Since moving to an integrated community last year, my life has been pleasantly enriched by all the new friends that have entered my life regardless of age or culture.
In my home town, I have wonderful classmates who are of the same culture as me. Basically, we are all the color of snow and have knelt at the same altars where our parents guided us to be. Now I’m getting the opportunity to know people from many cultures and my heart feels more alive. When I asked my Vietnamese friend to tell me something in her native language, she said words in a singsong voice that sounded beautiful to me. It brought tears to my eyes when she told me it meant ‘true friend’. Normally I don’t like to cook much, but I joined a cooking class to be with her and two Hispanic friends, just to be around their uplifting presence. We laugh at life together and have pure fun.
I know I have also made a few cultural blunders during my attempts to speak Spanish, not realizing the subtle nuances in meaning when applying my English definitions to sentences that really only make sense in my own head. I also learned that there are some blatant differences in the manner in which men interact with the women in the south compared to what I was used to living in the northern US. However, I feel that all my mistakes were truly innocent and I am now a bit wiser about how to interact with most of the people I am fortunate enough to make friends with. So it goes ~ fortunately forgiveness is all part of being a true friend and I believe that grace has been given to me.
I am starting off this new year with a deep sense of gratitude for all the diverse soul friends I get to interact with on a daily basis. May we all remember the pleasure of being with the playmates we grew-up with as children, and expand that joy within new diverse friendships we are lucky enough to be accepted into. Life is enriched by joining with loving souls who care about bringing happiness to each other. Yeah, I’ll probably still keep stargazing for that twin flame though.
Pen Augustin is author of Waves of Light and The Priestess Tale series. Pen loves to give messages about how we can heal ourselves and bring balance to our beloved planet. Living near the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan, she enjoys spending time in nature and communing with the local wildlife.
Love this, Pen. Thank you for your beautiful perspective!