What is it, really? Not the word. The thing itself. Can you be friends with your own blood? Your mother, your brother, the one who knew you before you knew yourself? Can you be friends with the one you share a bed with? The person across the desk, the one you see more than your own heart? And what about the four-legged ones? The ones who never ask for an explanation, just your hand on their fur? Here is what I have learned, after all these years of stumbling and getting back up... My heart does not know how to sort people into boxes marked "family," "colleague," "stranger." It just knows you. It just knows here. If you are in front of me, or even just somewhere in this same strange, beautiful world, and there is a spark of recognition between us..ah, you too, then you are my friend. Some come and stay. They plant themselves like old oaks. I lean on them. They lean on me. Seasons change, but the roots hold. Some come and go. They pass through like migrating birds. For a while, we fly together. Then the wind shifts. Their path bends away. And that is not loss, that is life. I bow to where they are going. They bow to where I am staying. No bitterness. Just gratitude for the stretch of road we shared. And some I have not seen for years. Decades, even. But if my phone lit up tonight with their name, and they needed me, I would move. Distance is not real. Time is not real. What is real is this...I remember you. You remember me. Nothing else matters. Friendship with family is a different river. It runs fast in places. Rocks underneath. Old wounds floating to the surface. But here is the thing, the love is under all of that. Always was. Always will be. The challenge is just the weather. The love is the ground. With a spouse? That is friendship that has learned to cook together, to cry in the dark together, to argue and return like two old trees whose branches have grown into one. With animals? That is friendship without a single lie. They do not pretend. Neither do I, when I am with them.

Hi Everyone 👋 "Lean on me, when you're not strong / And I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on / For it won't be long / 'Til I'm gonna need somebody to lean on." This song is a spiritual teaching disguised as a piano ballad. And the teaching is this... interdependence. We've been sold a lie. The lie that says you have to be strong. Self-sufficient. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Don't need anyone. That's not strength, that's isolation. That's a fast track to burnout and loneliness. Bill Withers knew better. He knew that we take turns. You help me today when I'm drowning. I help you tomorrow when you're drowning. And neither of us is weak for needing it. That's community. That's loving kindness in action. Not "I'll fix you." Just "I'll walk with you." So today, ask yourself... who do you need to lean on? And who is leaning on you? Don't be a hero. Be a friend. It's harder. It's better 😊 Here is the song Lean on Me With Love ❤️ Always Mark

Hi Everyone 👋 One of my interviews at the British Normandy Memorial Standing with Giants Installation today 🙏🏻 Lest We Forget ❤️

Hi 👋 I'm heading back home for a few days from my Standing with Giants Installation. So, I'm going to do an impromptu live video call at the following time:- Join Here 18:00 CET 17:00 GMT New York 12:00 Denver 10:00 Miami 10:00 Chicago 11:00

So with my love of helping you evolve your creative potential. I also went to university for a degree in geology and that led me to a large collection of crystals. So I have a variety of Purple Fluorite that needs a home they can go as is or I can attach a copper tree to them for you. Meaning & Energy Fluorite is a stone known for clarity and mental enhancement. Its ability to assist the clearing of negative energy and aiding in decision-making has made this a favorable stone to work with. This powerful crystal is known as an absorber of negative energy, specifically within one's aura and mind.(Reference from https://thecrystalcouncil.com/crystals/fluorite?srsltid=AfmBOooyG02gPZ9n3FrBj8smywRxF8HUIzmOmS7ErM84s1uRIIsCkIsP ) I have some photos of some purple fluorite I have available and I will include a photo of what I did with some green fluorite.