I’ve never had a lot of best friends. Throughout my life, I’ve had a couple here and there. The longest friendship I’ve had in my life, from childhood, dissolved over politics a couple years ago when she couldn’t accept I didn’t have the same beliefs as her. Others have just come and gone.
Nan McCarthy and I hit it off when we first met over 10 years ago (wow, has it been that long?) and since then, our friendship has solidified. It started over art, which was kind of funny (to me) because our styles and mediums are so different. She’s a photo realist acrylic painting and I’ve evolved from a looser (still like sharp lines, though) charcoal landscapes to pastel painter.
But what’s amazing, too, is we can comment on each other’s work and make suggestions, and yet, if those suggestions aren’t followed, it’s OK. Through her, I’ve learned to be confident in commenting on art as I try to purposely find positive artsy words for any artist I speak with.
This has been exciting. Any comments I make are totally my personal thoughts and if the other person doesn’t agree, then that’s OK. Suggestions are opinions and opinions are a personal view. I don’t hold any kind of a grudge. I never intend to tell someone what to do, so there are no hard feelings if my suggestions aren’t taken. We all work at finding our on way.
Painting, to me, is another part of the journey of life, and I am willing to take a detour from a previous thought if it hits me. Even a suggestion that doesn’t resonate, could trigger me to be open to something else. An inner reaction of, “I don’t want to do that,” could lead to another idea, another path to go down, and that’s exciting… and sometimes, I have to think about things for awhile before deciding which direction to go in.
Nan’s and my friendship grew stronger when we found we have a lot of similar beliefs and yet, even where we do have a couple of differences, we totally respect each other that that is so. We can pretty much talk about anything… and we do. Never have I ever felt any kind of put down or heard anything like, “How can you possibly believe that?” which I’ve heard from others in the past. Never has she ever told me what to do then act insulted if I don’t follow her dictates (as I’ve felt from other so-called friends in the past.)
Our friendship totally allows me to be me, as I allow her to be her. How special is that! I feel I’ve been missing this kind of friendship my entire life. It’s hard to find the right words to describe this and give honor to her.
Thank you, Nan McCarthy, for being my best friend!
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