Love is the opening door
Love is what we came here for–L.Duncan/Love Song
So, I couldn’t bring myself to make a list of all of the people I love. Which is for the best. But then I was wondering if maybe I could make a list of the things I love about people I love.
Kindness: How can you love someone who isn’t kind? I can’t. Maybe other people can, but I confess I don’t understand how. Not everyone is kind all the time, but you’ve got to at least be kind most of the time. “If you wanna impress me” as Prince would say. He was talking about not talking dirty though.
Generosity: Almost all of my friends and family are generous with time, caring and often money. I hardly know anyone who is cheap in any way, even though some don’t have a lot of money they’re generous in other ways. It does make it hard to split a bill when there is twice as much money on the table as there needs to be and no one will accept any change.
Attention: Not a lot of people really pay attention. Not a lot of people really listen. It’s sexy as hell. It’s also a little disconcerting to have someone actually remember what you said, and use it against you on another day. Still sexy, but it definitely keeps you honest! Attention is a rare gift.
Being yourself: I have a few friends who have the gift of always being themselves. They are free spirited, funny as hell and a joy to be around. One of them sometimes has a rough life because he isn’t willing to behave conventionally, and he owns it. He’s not the most reliable person around. The others have a more balanced approach to being themselves–they still manage to have real jobs, and show up places they say they’ll be. They’re all great.
Reliability: This one is tricky. I just said I love my friends who are themselves and will not compromise on it. I do. But in my day to day life, people who do what they say and show up when they say they will are important! It’s hard to trust people who no-show when you count on them. On the other hand, it’s also important not to have any sticks in your posterior. A lot of us could stand to be more free-spirited. We’re not going to regret it if we don’t work as much, I don’t think.
Spontaneity: If you can be both reliable and spontaneous, I will probably love you. We all need people who can come over on short notice and help us finish a bottle of wine. Or a growler of IPA. Hint. Hint.
Liberal with compliments: I’m working on doing this more often. I’ll be brutally honest here and say I love getting compliments. I don’t care if they’re on my brains, excellence of reading comprehension, knitting, humor or beauty. Whatever. I’ll take it. I’ll try really hard to be gracious about it even. Tell me I have perfect eyebrows. I don’t care. I’m a compliment whore.
Oh my gosh, how could I forget smart and funny?!? They’re the most important of all!
I ran out of room because my friends have so many wonderful traits.
That’s a good problem to have, isn’t it?
PS I forgot creative! How could I forget creative?
Apparently the correct answer is: not only can I not make a list of all the people I love, but I can also not make a list of why!
You’re a group of people with infinite goodness.