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Aloha fellow learn-it-all 👋
Greetings from the windy waters of Kaneohe Bay, Oahu in Hawaii ⛵️
Twas a grey evening sailing out on the water last night. Winter weather has been upon me and my island readers, with clouds covering the sun and winds coming from all directions. I’ve been wearing layers for days. Thank goodness for the invention of fleece material led by Aaron Feuerstein in 1979 — it keeps me warm even while splashed. What a lifesaver!
It’s fun to be out sailing again. Observing a new culture on a boat. Meeting people with a shared passion of mine. My knees are a bit bruised, and my head is a bit sore from whacking myself with a winch handle, but overall, feeling swell. I got my best deep sleep score all week from all the fresh air. :)
Now, let’s dive into letter 201 from a learn-it-all. Enjoy!
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📸Photo of the Week
❓Question to think about
What does friendship and forgiveness mean to me?
📜🖋 Poetry Corner
Friendship means to Forgive
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedTo be a friend means
To sweep the glass, not just from the floor,
But from hearts, with laughs, healing more.
To make moringa tea to soothe a sore throat,
Feeling the moped's chill, you're my warmth, my coat.
To be a friend means
To listen without an agenda,
Not judging when she wears bright magenta
To massage inflamed muscles,
With hands gentle on weary shoulders
To look into her eyes with acceptance,
And exude understanding as she is.
I need all those things, too
so I'm lucky you found me, friend.
Like a parachute, you save.
You break my fall and call me brave.
You make me feel safe even as a fool,
Affirming truths I believe,
By my side, what a relief.
Thank you for taking a walk in my shoes
And seeing
My mind is fallible
My actions are flawed.
My ducks will rarely be in a row.
I am far from perfect.
And yet,
Instead of rejecting me,
We come together
Into an edgeless circle
smoothing out abrasions
Because life without friends
would be too bare.
To be human
Is to be imperfect.
You, my friend, make life happy
Eating pancakes, getting sappy.
I get where you are,
You pick me up,
And we warm ours seats in the car.
With friends like you, I survive.
With friends like you, we thrive.
To have you, my friend, feels vital to live.
Friendship means to forgive.
🔍Word to define
Forgive: To stop feeling angry or resentful toward (someone) for an offense, flaw, or mistake
Etymology
Old English forgiefan "give, grant, allow; remit (a debt), pardon (an offense)," also "give up" and "give in marriage". The sense of "to give up desire or power to punish" (late Old English) is from use of such a compound as a Germanic loan-translation of Vulgar Latin *perdonare (Old Saxon fargeban, Dutch vergeven, German vergeben "to forgive"). (source: etymonline.com)
🌟Quote to inspire
“With the exception of wisdom, I’m inclined to believe that the immortal gods have given nothing better to humanity than friendship.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero
🎧Listening
Go Solo by Tom Rosenthal
They say It's matter of time
A thousand days and the sun won't shine
Before I come back to you
I'm happy
Nothing's going to stop me
I'm making my way home
I'm making my way
For you, love, I will go far
I wanna be wherever you are
I'm know I'm coming back for you
Our love is a river long
The best right in a million wrongs
I know I'm coming back to you
🧩 Fun Factoid
In the Roman Calendar, March 15th, is the Ides of March, which marks the date Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, a turning point in Roman history, and the end of the Roman Republic.
🙏Shoutouts
- To for sharing the Cicero quote and paraphrasing its meaning as “Friendship is a gift to be given. A gift to be received.”
- To Hollie for inviting me to go out sailing with her, for taking the above pictures, and for reading previous iterations of this poem and encouraging me to play with my words more :)
- To Ellen Fishbein and for their input on this poem
I appreciate you reading this!
If ideas resonate, I’d love you to press the heart button, leave a comment, reply to this email, or reach me at vermetjl@gmail.com. If you forgot who I am, I welcome you to my online home.
Keep on learning 😁
Mahalo 🌺
Jen
PS - in case you missed last week, I celebrated my 200th letter and wrote some advice for my past self in week 1
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