Aspen and I have been so busy raising our three boys that we haven’t been very social. The boys do have a few ‘aunts’ and ‘uncles,’ friends of ours that can stand loud, rowdy but loveable little boys. We’re close with some of our neighbors too. But aside from that our social life is minimal.

However, there are a few folks that we do see regularly – John Bob, our computer genius friend; Ariana, my incredibly gifted daughter and the boys’ half sister; Curly, our gardening wizard; Doug,  our gifted writing friend, and Judy, our all around wise woman friend. There are more but not a lot more; and we don’t even see the folks that I have mentioned very often.

As I think about all of us, I begin to see that each of us has found a unique way to live free while still supporting themselves. Each of us has found a way to actualize our dreams and live the life we have envisioned for ourselves. This has certainly reduced the stress in our lives.

Most, if not all of us, have survived serious physical or mental traumas. All of us have survived them, have actually come out of them more centered and conscious than before.

We are all survivors. Aspen and I are definitely survivors. Since she was a little girl, Aspen has been severely deaf in one ear and moderately deaf in the other. I almost died as a young boy from an infected mastoid bone, meningitis, pneumonia in both lungs, and polio, all at once. All of our friends have survived equally threatening physical and/or mental traumas – and all have overcome them!

We all have overcome these traumas by becoming more conscious about ourselves, our bodies, and our relationship with Spirit. To survive, we have had to learn a lot.

This knowledge of bodies, health, illness, both physical and mental; the examples that we offer by our lives; all this is bringing our friends and us together, I sometimes wonder why. Sometimes I think I know. I do know this – we are definitely helping each other to survive. Maybe we can help others too.