Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit. – Aristotle

Mary Ann, the charming lady who masters Maryannaville and makes me read the most extraordinary prose every once in a while, who temperate my wildness and often gives me a kind advice, the type of advice only true friends can give, honored me with an inclusion in a very special meme: “Who Is Part of My Life?” – originated by Lauren of You Can Be a Part of My Life:

Post a quote that speaks from and to your heart and dedicate it to at least three other bloggers.

I started with Aristotle and I dedicate this quote to all who read this entry to the end. It’s long for a meme, but it comes from the heart.

I don’t need to ask questions – I already know the answers. I have Mary Ann in my life, I have Pearl and Deborah – extraordinary women who make the web a better place, I have Alina and Liz to cry and smile with and the list could go on and on. But Mary Anna’s meme made me ask myself a different type of question: am I a part of your life?

When someone visits eWritings, reads my stories and makes a pertinent comment, I know the answer is yes and I find the power to go on. Working together on the web is so rewarding. The trick is to find a way to accept people as they are and to open your mind to new horizons of knowledge. We come from different places, different cultures and different environments. We are not all Americans, all Australians, Germans or Romanians. We need to learn to accept this fact, but we also need to realize that on the web we are just people. There are no real geographic locations on the Internet. When we exchange our thoughts, all that separates us is the comments box. Distance is relative. You are here now, reading. You are a part of my life already. Like it or not. I am a part of your life too.

Everything we do has an influence at a certain level. Life on the Web is not the same as life in the physical world, but sometimes it feels more real. It’s a paradox for many, but let’s remember that there is basically nothing stronger than the human mind and the human soul. Every time I talk to any of the people I wrote about above I feel their hearts. I know that they are my true friends and I know that I can count on their help anytime. I think that this is the level of “being part of each other’s lives” we need to strive for. Everything else is superfluous.

Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends. – Shirley MacLaine

I think the main reason why people fail to be friends is fear. We are afraid to open our hearts, afraid of the truth. We often misunderstand “privacy” – some of us think that by not opening our hearts to other people we are safer – harder to get hurt. I happen to think that there is nothing sadder than a lonely heart, one that never shared a dream, and one that never saw a dream broken. How do you learn the real value of being alive when you don’t live? How do you understand light without darkness? But most importantly: how do you escape the quick sands without a helping hand?

To my friends who offered me a helping hand when I needed it, here is the quote that passes the meme to Lillie, Laura and Yvonne:

Here is the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: if you’re alive, it isn’t. – Richard Bach.