Friends.

Why do we have friends? They're fun and we have company when we are go out. They make life more pleasurable. It's good for us and our health to socialize. We can learn something about life and dating and men and work and kids and other things from them. And they are our mirrors.

If they're good friends, they tell us when we are out of line or if we are doing something potentially harmful to ourselves or others. If they are good friends, they tell us when we are wearing clothes that aren't flattering or if our lipstick is the wrong color. If they are good friends, they will tell us when we look good and this makes us feel lovely. If they are good friends, talking to them or being with them makes life seem more rich and more meaningful. And if they are good friends, they are the mirror to ourselves, allowing us to see the ways we grow and change. And if they are good friends, they share our joys and our sadness and let us share theirs.

Sometimes we meet someone who sees us in a way that changes our life. I had dinner with a friend like that tonight, someone from the group. We met just before WOW was formed and immediately it felt like I had known her all my life, like she was a sister and a female soul mate. Just like any friendship, ours waxes and wanes and we don't always make time for each other, but we know that the other is there and cares about us and that, when we do spend time together, it will be good.

She watches me and comments on what I am doing and helps me understand myself and it makes me feel more valuable, that someone so special cares to notice those things. She is good company and is willing to share her real self and her insides with me. And that makes me feel important. And tonight she was different. Sure, beautiful and full of life, but tonight she was different in a subtle way. She was more centered and more real and more calm, almost as if her mind was more focused and steady, not distracted so much by the everyday stuff,like she had come to feel more comfortable with her skin, like life wasn't so perplexing to her. Like she liked, or even loved, herself more. And she was aware of this, aware of her own changes, aware of her awareness.

So she was even more beautiful, this calmer and lovelier version of herself. And she gives some credit to the WOW group, that the speakers and new friendships and the path we've taken has somehow allowed her to grow in a way that has led to this serenity and self-awareness. I was selfish when I put this group together, hoping to make new women friends and have new experiences while I healed from a broken relationship. You women of WOW have enhanced my life in countless ways - some of you I know well and others I hope to know better, but I have learned about myself from each of you, like each of you allows me to see myself in a different light, and I am a better person for the experience. And lucky me, to have all of you in my life, especially this one friend, someone so beautiful and caring who allows me to know her and feel joy in the changes in her life. And see myself through her eyes.