WILDLY UNDERRATED

Recently, I heard the quote: “Friendship is a wildly underrated medication.” Attributed to actress, playwright and professor Anna Deavere Smith, it made me realize how much friends make all of the difference in our lives.

And although we are always seeking medications, rituals and potions that produce wellness and happiness, maybe we only need to look as far as the list of friends we have. Some of us have a lot. Some of us have fewer, but it is not the quantity of friends, but the quality of those relationships.

Being the only child of only children, friends have been particularly important because we were such a small family. To make it even more interesting, my parents were from Missouri and moved to Texas to pursue their careers and lives. We had one distant cousin who lived nearby, but the rest of our family were miles away. So, we got to choose the dearest of friends, who became our family.

Friendship is a two-way street. We care, love and give to each other in extraordinary ways when we develop deep relationships. We go through our triumphs, fears, losses and uncertainties together. We hold each other up when there is no way we can hold ourselves up.

It reminds me of the cowgirls I write about in my book, “Cowgirl Power.” The amazing women pictured above were friends, colleagues and life-long supporters. They really loved each other and rooted for each others' successes. They helped take care of each others' children, long before daycare. They pitched in if one was ill. Their guiding principle was that ‘girls compete with one another. Women empower one another.’ How true.

Nowadays, you can measure a true friend by the reaction you have when their name lights up your phone or your email inbox. When this happens and you feel that special bond, and a smile comes over your face, you are experiencing the joy that only a true friend can give.

As a Texan, “friendship” is even our state motto, adopted in February 1930. It was chosen because the name Texas or Tejas was the Spanish pronunciation of the Indigenous tribe's word, 'teycha,' meaning 'friend' or 'ally.'

Long live “Tejas,”

Gay Gaddis

Founder. Author. Artist. Trailblazer.

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