I often wonder if some people mean what they say or if what they say is for the general public's approval. Are they saying what they hear their peers speak, doing what is comfortable in the opinion of a friend but uncomfortable to them, following in another's heart's desire.  Do they look at the lives of others and try to replicate it, grasping at the ideas from another's mind,  laying themselves out to become an exact copy.  Do they see this group as better then that group, when really that group is amazing in itself, just different.  
So many times we cookie cutter our lives, thinking that a row of the same is beautiful when really giving your toddler a ball of dough and saying "do whatever you like with it, create any shape that pleases you" is more interesting and much more intriguing.  
My friend Emily and I have this common thread, one single thread that attracted us to each other but the other pieces that form our ball of friendship are different, going in so many different directions, made up of varying hues that create this vastly colored, interweaving, amazingly designed sphere that will always keep us connected.  
Whenever I try to replicate Emily's thread, trying to make the color, the texture, the weight the same I am doomed for failure, my energies wasted, but when I view what she has and make it my own, when I use my ideas to create something uniquely mine we can stand back and view what each other have and be amazed. Celebrating our difference, becoming better as women, learning from each other and building our friendship. 
I love the old, historic districts of towns, the homes are unique and intricate and vastly different from their neighbors but still they reside on the same street, in the same neighborhood, located in the same town.  
 Shouldn't we aim for that, beautifying our world in our differences, showing our strengths, coloring this planet in our different variations.  Escaping the cookie cutter, bakery box image that we sometimes get pulled into.