Mad Friends

I keep finding myself thinking back to quotes by one of my all-time favorite authors, Jack Kerouac. Kerouac was a free, but highly troubled soul. I love his anthologies and prose. He had a way with words that seems to go straight to the artist’s soul that resides deep inside me. He has many quotes that touch me, but I think my absolute favorite has to be,

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue center light pop and everybody goes ‘Awww’”

This is a quote that I try to live by. I try to include people in my life that keep it exciting. I surround myself with people who are “mad”. Now keep in mind, the “mad” Kerouac uses is the old use of it to describe someone who is a free spirit, they live by their own standards and do not let society dictate who they should be. They are their own person and find delight in the simple things. A cold beer and a voice was all they needed. It meant they were interesting.

I tend to gravitate towards people who are free spirits. They are who they are and will not change for anyone. I love my friends for their differences. As I sit here on my deck drinking my coffee and writing I find that the one thing all my true friends have in common is that they share a deep commitment. That commitment is to many things, their friends, their families, their faith, their community.

I have friends from all walks of life. I do not sit and classify them as upper, lower, or middle class. To me they are the “rebellious rebeler”, the “faithfully committed”, the “everlasting prankster”, even to use one of Kerouac’s nicknames for one of his friends, the “holy goof”. There’s the one that’s always there, the one that always makes me laugh, the one that’s always drama, the one that just goes with the flow. Then there is the gamer, the good ‘ol country boy, the county girl, the redneck.

They have a wide assortment of interests. Conversation is never boring with any of them. Thank God I’m versatile. Our conversations can go from discussing current events to why someone’s poop is a certain way (you know who you are!) then to who we think is the sexiest actor in a matter of a couple of minutes. These are just the conversations that I can speak of without breaking confidentiality. Many of my friends work in medical, you should hear some of the stories we talk about.

My friends may be considered weird by many, but they are mine. My friends are my family and there is nothing I wouldn’t do for any of them. They keep me sane. They keep me grounded. They keep me laughing. Most importantly though, they keep me, me.