In the Company of Friends
Earlier today when walking home from a meeting in my Santa Monica neighborhood, I saw a group of Mexican workers lying under a big pine tree. Apparently they were on their lunch break, resting, sleeping, or quietly chatting with each other.
Watching them gave me an instant sense of peacefulness and reminded me of the time when I went to high school in Chile. Twice a week we had afternoon classes and spent our lunch break with friends, venturing into nearby stores to buy food, sitting in groups on the school lawn, resting, letting the sun warm us, laughing, and chatting.
Remembering this filled my whole body with warmth and happiness. Being in the company of good friends can provide such a feeling of belonging and safety (In German we call it “Geborgenheit”). It really takes all the fear and loneliness away that at times invades our day-to-day routines of stress and hard work.
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Photo Source: Gwennypics via Flickr under a Creative Commons License
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