Friends and Family

I’m very lucky.

I have a small but loyal group of friends and a small but loving family. I’m guilty at times of taking these easily, if not for granted, nor making the time to see them when I should.

This time of year highlights these facts of course, and I take some solace that I’ve seen a little more of my friends this year than I’ve managed previously. As for my family, well I sometimes fear that I’m becoming something of the ‘absent son’. My parents are very independent but each time I visit, about once a month these days, I notice more and more how things are changing.

And don’t ask me the last time I saw my sister.

These thoughts are not new, they always surface at this time of year along with promises to do more, take more time, see more of everyone.

However they are definitely coinciding with other thoughts around materialism and my ongoing and growing lack of desire for ‘things’. I’m in the middle of de-cluttering my flat, throwing out (or passing on) the things I’ve accumulated that I don’t need or don’t want, and generally have a desire to make life as simple as I can.

My hope is that simplicity will allow me the energy and time to focus on the important things, the people I love and care for.