Synchronicities on Friendship and Women

I am currently reading a book called Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. It's about 2 girls who are contracted to become best friends back in the days when women had their feet bound in China. It was given to me by my own "laotong" (old same) lifelong friend, J. ;-)

Last week, I was reading this passage :

• "... a laotong relationship is made by choice. While it's true that Snow Flower and I didn't mean all the words we'd written to each other in the contract through the fan, when we first looked into each other's eyes ... I felt something special pass between us--like a spark to start a fire or a sees to grow rice. But a single spark is not enough to warm a room nor is a single seed enough to grow a fruitful crop. Deep love--true heart-love--must grow. Back then I didn't yet understand the burning kind of love, so instead I thought about the rice paddies I used to see on my daily walks down to the river with my brother when I still had all my milk teeth. Maybe I could make our love grow like a farmer made his crop grow--through hard work, unwavering will, and the blessings of nature. How funny that I can remember that even now! Waaa! I knew so little about life, but I knew enough to think like a farmer.
• So as a girl, I prepared my earth-getting a piece pf paper from Baba or asking Elder Sister for a tiny scrap of her dowry cloth--on which to plant. My seeds were the nu shu characters I composed. Madame Wang (the matchmaker) became my irrigation ditch. When she stopped by to see how my feet were progressing, I gave her my missive--in the form of a letter, a piece of weaving, or an embroidered handkerchief--and she delivered it to Snow Flower.
• Nothing can grow without the sun--the one thing completely outside the farmer's control. I came to believe that Snow Flower filled that role. For me, sunshine came in the form of her answers to my nu shu letter. When I received something from Snow Flower, all of us gathered to decipher the meaning, for she already used words and images that challenged Aunt's knowledge." (p.60)

At the same time I was reading this passage, a song came on Public Radio's Prairie Home Companion. The Flower Duet from the Lakme opera. This song synonymous with friendships between women ... If memory serves me, this song is usually sung as a duet between Lakme and her servant (and friend) Malika ...




It's times like this I know I'm in the right place at the right time, doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm so glad I can take time out to notice these synchronicities when they happen. It also makes me wonder how many I miss!