"There is a voice that has no name. It comes with evening or behind the rain. I have no time now to stop and explain, I just keep movin' 'cuz it helps to ease the pain."

That is a song lyric, I have no idea who wrote it or where it came from, I learned it in 7th grade choir and have never heard it since. I have never forgotten it in all these years.

I'm feeling a little reflective and little bit liberated today. I just want to tell you about my friend, Sharon. Almost 20 years of friendship and we are still golden and true blue. We don't talk or see one another more than about once a month. We are very close personally, but don't stay so connected as we do with our other friends. We're cool with it.

This morning, Sharon called to declare that it's time to plan my birthday celebration. Our tradition has been to skip the actual date and plug our party into an ordinary day. We decided on spa time in January for mine this year.

We talked awhile about all sorts of things and I was again reminded of how much I've appreciated her friendship all these years. It's really something.

After we hung up, I thought a long time about my personal investments in friendships. Some are much too high, along with my expectations for them. My heart reached a place today where I can finally release that depth of emotional dependence on some, and revitalize several stable and time-tested relationships. In essence, I feel peaceful about rebuilding my walls of guarded protection and will not let them fall again. It is a little sad, but necessary and liberating.

I call it social housekeeping and it must be done, I need it.