I had brunch today with L, a wonderful friend I’ve known since we both worked in music publishing before I got married. We don’t see each other very often, and have very different lifestyles, but the things L and I have in common go deep to the heart of who we are.  We have been colleagues in a tiny team within a large organisation, stretched in the same yoga classes, meditated together, practised therapy on eachother (L is qualified in Thought Field Therapy and – like me – neuro-linguistic programming), laughed and cried together on personal development courses, and supported eachother as “buddies” on a year long online coaching programme.  We have both learned heaps from and have huge respect for “coach’s coach” Michael Neill, and our conversations are animated by a rich shared vocabulary we have acquired along the way.  Discussing an idea with someone unfamiliar with it helps deepen one’s understanding of and can allow a gradual expansion of the idea, but when two people share a common starting ground, that creative process can be swift and delightful, as limits are explored and transcended, and concepts are combined in ways neither person could have individually foreseen.  So were my conversations with L today – as much when we discussed men and make-up as therapy and life-goals.

And to go with these life-enhancing conversations – American pancakes, French toast, bacon, and eggs, washed down with bottomless cups of tea and lashings of maple syrup. (One knows the food must’ve been good when one finds oneself coming over all Enid Blyton.)

The perfect brunch in every way.