Breakdowns, Break Ups and Definition

December 29 – Defining Moment Describe a defining moment or series of events that has affected your life this year. (Author: Kathryn Fitzmaurice)

[Again ... in this moment of truth, I will admit it is not December 29th when I write this, but it is still 2010 ... by at least eight more hours]

I was just telling a friend the other day (they all run together now, so I am not sure if it was yesterday or the day before ... or even how long I have been in NYC) that the painful friend break up I experienced earlier this fall, and the breakdown it engendered, were defining moments for me.

There was a lot of soul searching to be done ... and defining and redefining what I understood as "friendship," how I defined myself as a friend and what I was looking for in a friend.

This is not to say that I have definitive answers to these questions now... I do not. But I learned some important things about myself and applied a new found compassion to my soul ... it was painful. I will admit that I felt I had fallen a dark well for a long while.

The important piece was that not only did I already have the resources, internal/personal as well as real live friends I could call on ... I knew exactly how to access them.

It was like taking a deep breath, not the one you take and it catches because you have been crying and can't get your breath. It was the one that cleanses, renews and literally breathes life back into you.

Check the company you keep ... if you are not breathing deeply, they might not be the right people to spend time with....

[Not sure I did this prompt justice ... but I hope so. I am not meaning to be cryptic, but at this point, these are the aspects of the situation that seem salient. If you want juicy details, I think you will have to make them up for yourselves. I encourage this tactic, by the way.]