... the reason life works at all is that not everyone in your tribe is nuts on the same day (Anne Lamott)

On today's run, I began to smile as I knocked the miles down and I was reminded of my tribe.  My tribe consists of 5 families that these days don't see each other as much as we used to but nonetheless, we have basically grown up together.  We met when I had a 2 month old baby and pre-baby me was really still a kid. Motherhood was the catalyst to adulthood for me.  And these friends have weathered me trying to figure it out and still love me.  And I have weathered them working to figure it out and I still love them.  I have hurt their feelings and they have hurt mine at times, but real forgiveness is always there and we move on with our hearts open to real friendship.

Even my gmail account knows who my tribe is.  I type one name in and it has this cool new feature that suggests other names that often are emailed in conjunction with the first name - and every time when I email 1 tribe member, all 4 other families pop up as suggestions to include...and I almost always do.

We never claim to have the answers or to have arrived.  Instead we recognize that we are always on a journey working on understanding ourselves, God, parenthood, life.

I love my tribe because I have never witnessed any of us ever putting anyone down.  It's just not how we roll.  It's friendships built on the belief that none of us know what we are doing and we are OK to help each other figure things out, and change, and figure some more things out, and change again.

I love how safe it feels to have friends like this that accept and give space for me to not be perfect. 

I am sorry that this world is full of so many chatty, degrading people but thankfully, I have been able to surround myself with an amazing tribe.

Wherever you are, it is your friends who make your world.- William James