Learning all the time.

Some of my favorite friends are the ones in depression. I've come to realize that. Or maybe to accept it. To like 'em. Because they present me with the opportunity to study depression. To become analytic about it. I experiment. With psychoanalysis. To see if I can nudge them out of depression. Usually not. But hey, it's worth a try. And maybe I succeed. In little ways. Hard to tell. Because they mostly seem to lapse in and out of depression. Meanwhile, they take my efforts in varied ways. Some plead with me to shut up and get out of their lives. Others welcome me. Still others are merely blah about it all. But the good thing is that they keep me out of depression. I try to avoid the traps. By watching and learning from them. In a sense, they are my teachers. I'm a friendly observer. Learning. Learning. Learning all the time. --Jim Broede