My tribe

Over the years I've known many people who've talked about the importance of finding your tribe - of the people with whom you have a natural affinity; a shared set of values; a common heart. And while it is also true that there are times when it is important to widen your horizons, to seek out and speak to those who don't necessarily think the same as you; there are indubitably times when there is great comfort and safety in knowing that you are not alone.

This weekend, my small group of old school friends and I had our annual lunch. We pick February because it's cold, and wet, and miserable and a nice, cheering get together is just what we need. We certainly did a good job of picking cold and wet, with Storm Ciara battering the country, and most of us being soaked in the short walk from various car-parks to the restaurant we were meeting in.

I spent a while after leaving school remembering only the down sides, and holding onto a deep and lasting hurt that still hurts, despite my efforts to let go. But then we started to arrange these reunions, and, after many years spent actively not seeing my school friends, I was given the chance to rediscover why we were friends in the first place. And discover that, even at the tender age of eleven, I had been able to find my tribe. I'm not sure what it was in those eleven-to-eighteen year old girls that clicked, or what we saw in each other then that has matured into the compassionate, decent women my friends now are. But I am deeply grateful to still know these women. To know that across all the years, and the different paths we have taken, there is a common thread of humanity, and empathy and goodness that runs through all of them. I am proud to think that these women are my tribe.

My friends run food banks; they're social workers for those struggling with substance abuse; they're judges on benefit tribunals, trying to see justice done;  they're teachers; they're psychologists working with young adults with special educational needs. They're people who give to the world. They're people who see inequality and want to erase it. They're people who strive to leave the world a better place than they found it.

I found this weekend a reassuring and uplifting experience. My tribe are good people.