We all project an image to the outside world.� The real us, the one who makes mistakes and has insecurities, shows weakness and falls apart, is not the person most people get to see.� Sometimes its hard to imagine a friend, who you� know well, doing a job well or in a professional way, because you can get confused knowing them on a more personal than a professional level.� Of course, not me, because i am smart like that *grins*��

Many friends I have don't know me in a professional capacity.� They see the Michelle who is inconsistant.� Sometimes extremely efficient, sometimes woefully unreliable.� They are then surprised, when they have worked with me on a professional level, that I am in fact quite reliable and efficient a lot of the time.��

What has brought this on today?� I delivered the quilts to a woman who commissioned Mags and myself to make two Queen sized quilts.� The woman is a mutual friend, who sees both Mags and myself in everything but a professional way.� She was surprised that she only waited a month for these quilts.� She said she didnt expect to see them for much longer, if at all.� She finds it impossible to think of Mags and myself as being good at what we do.� She sees the dizzy duo who drink too much and laugh too loud and generally seem to be unpredictable, and thoroughly unreliable.

So what exactly was she doing asking us to make quilts for her? was she patronising us? was she humouring us thinking she would never see the end results?� Of course, we had a job to do. Why wouldn't we do it.��

A good friend has the ability to see beyond the person shown to the world. Accept and respect that person but have the good common sense to know that what they are shown is not shown to many people. It's a gift, of trust.� And that the facade, while not being a false facade, is only the safety shell of self.� A friend needs to be able to see that too.� To relate to the facade to maintain the trust of the vulnerable honestly of the relationship.
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thissisaloadofcrapmichelle
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