Survival Value

It's that time of year.  This morning, on the briefest of perambulations, it suddenly dawned on me that winter is well and truly here.  I felt it (on my nose) and smelt it (in my nose).  I have bought a new pair of boots and everything! 

 

 

And so, as I prepare for the conclusion of the year that has been, there suddenly feels to be an increase in pace.  I know my diary more intimately than I might ordinarily (3 weeks' in advance).  I have a finite number of appointments available between now and the 2013.  It's a strange, yet oddly familiar space to be occupying.  I have been somewhere similar before and feel pleasantly comfortable here.

 

I have not yet sent any cards.  I'll get round to it shortly.  I have bought the stamps in readiness.  It's one of the few seasonal traditions I observe annually.  I have plenty to report, but do not intend to compose a missive.  Everyone that needs to know anything noteworthy, probably already does.  It feels as though my friends have remained close this year.  Or maybe I to them. 

 

Friendships feel so precious just now.  In the midst of what is for me, always something of a reflective period, each and every one of my close friends feature very prominently looking back over the last year.  Time spent with them has such enormous value, that defies quantification.  And then there are those times inbetween during which I feel connected to a sense that they are there, and that they care.  That's simply invaluable. 

 

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, or art.  It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival." 

C. S. Lewis

 

Relationships fascinate me.  They challenge and reward me on so many levels.  On every level, perhaps.  Today I am so very grateful for those special people in my life I feel honoured to call my friends.  Old and new, they each occupy a space in my life and, just as importantly, in  my heart.