tending

It is not often that I get to have five (5!) uninterrupted hours for anything.  Sleep included, ahem.

Yet this weekend, I had the beautiful gift of five uninterrupted hours for tending my soul.

The kind of tending that can only come with hours upon hours to put up your feet and share a meal, a brownie and a very long lingering cup of coffee with a friend who knows you well.

The kind of tending that can only come with telling story after story, sharing idea after idea, divulging dream after dream, and the graceful back and forth of conversation that is enjoyed by two people who truly care for one another, trust one another, and recognize the good the other brings to your own understanding of yourself.

The kind of tending, that once done, makes you feel as if your inner landscape is ready for growth.  The seeds are planted, the weeds removed, the gardener -- with a good dose of insight -- rested.

And we talked a great deal about growth.  That of our children, of our marriages, of our careers.  But mostly the growth of our understanding of ourselves.

So, it was lovely.  Lovely indeed.  The kind of lovely that makes you feel fully yourself again.

So, Hi, I'm Claudine.  I am myself again.  You have this dear friend of mine to thank for it.