<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>WIRL Project &#187; Friends</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.wirlproject.com/tag/friends/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.wirlproject.com</link>
	<description>What It&#039;s Really Like.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2026 20:27:17 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en-US</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.37</generator>
	<item>
		<title>L: Longing &#8211; What It&#8217;s Really Like</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/l-longing-what-its-really-like/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/l-longing-what-its-really-like/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2015 13:59:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Brody]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home/Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love/Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work/Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ABCs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Appreciation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Destinations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Friends]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Friendships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grandparents]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Homegrown]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Long Lived]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Longing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[respect]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rural Living]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small Town]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Temporary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Beautiful Struggle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Town]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=8757</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This post is part of a series titled, “A-B-Cs – What It’s Really Like”. Each week a new letter and its word will be revealed. Each word’s explanation will illustrate significant personal meaning, application and ultimately demonstrate, What It’s Really Like…  This will only take a second. Usually when you long for something the feeling is often short-lived and temporary. What happens when the longing feeling has been lingering for a long, long time? I’ve been longing for: &#8230;a place where mulch beds outnumber pine straw landscaping &#8230;where the most popular cars are not Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus but instead Ford, Chevy, and Barely Runs &#8230;places where I don’t primarily need GPS to help me find a destination &#8230;a place where 12 mile drives aren’t 45-60 minute commutes &#8230;a family get together not requiring 6-months of planning &#8230;Grandparent visits &#8230;small town diners with placemats that advertise businesses I recognize &#8230;a profession in which you are respected and appreciated &#8230;an occupation with clear, reachable directives not moving targets unattainable of achieving &#8230;outdoor spaces for my sons to play that aren’t the size of postage stamps and restricted by uniform picket fences &#8230;“running to town” &#8230;seasons &#8230;start to finish rainy days &#8230;the smell of fresh cut hay &#8230;summer fires &#8230;autumn leaves &#8230;hoodies and sweatshirts &#8230;homegrown friendships &#8230;the beautiful struggle of rural living &#8230;Home.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.wirlproject.com/l-longing-what-its-really-like/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>I Chose to Love</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/i-chose-to-love/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/i-chose-to-love/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2015 08:00:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Heather]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love/Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Confess]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[constitution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Friends]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gay Marriage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Homosexual]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[love]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marriage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Same-Sex Marriage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Secret]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Supreme Court]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=7290</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This past Friday was a huge day. In case you&#8217;ve been without any sort of contact to the outside world, on June 25, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that the constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. “No longer may this liberty be denied,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority in the historic decision. “No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were.” Marriage is a “keystone of our social order,” Justice Kennedy said, adding that the plaintiffs in the case were seeking “equal dignity in the eyes of the law.” I have to admit, when I woke up on Friday in my hotel room in Detroit (I was away for a Direct Sales event) I immediately had tears streaming down my face when I read the news. FINALLY!  Friday&#8217;s ruling made my heart happy. Why? That&#8217;s easy, because I choose love. I chose to love when I was in college and a close friend opened up and told me that she was in a relationship with another female. She was the first person that I knew personally that was out. I remember the look in her eyes, the fear that I would turn my back on her when she announced her secret. I remember her telling me how it hurt when she heard other friends talk about gays. I remember her telling me &#8220;I didn&#8217;t fall in love with a gender, I fell in love with a person, with someone&#8217;s heart. Love does not have a gender&#8221; Wow. I knew from that day, that I was an ally, an advocate of love. Straight love. Homosexual love. Genderless love. Just Love.  I chose to love when I sat with another friend while she came out to her parents. I held her hair back when she was so worried about what the conversation was going to be like that she physically made herself sick worrying about it. I remember closing my eyes and wishing that I wasn&#8217;t hearing the words correctly that were coming out of her parents&#8217; mouths. The words of disapproval, ignorance, and hate. I held her as she broke down after the conversation and we spent the night watching Super Troopers and Napoleon Dynamite hoping that laughter would help erase the previous hours. I chose to love when another friend came out and after a year of harassment and hate couldn&#8217;t take it anymore and took his own life. He was only 22 and the words and actions of others over something they thought he &#8220;decided to become&#8221; could not be pushed out of his mind. I chose to love when a friend from my hometown expressed how much he needed to move to a town with more acceptance. So he packed up everything that he owned and with a close friend moved west, where he felt more free to be who he was. I chose to love when a relative brought his boyfriend to Christmas dinner this year and quietly introduced him as &#8220;a friend&#8221;, it was his quiet way of coming out to those of us that picked up on it. After a late night Facebook conversation with me assuring him that it did not change my opinion of him, he admitted how fearful he was that it would change how others in the family looked at him. It broke my heart that night&#8230; not because a relative was gay, but because he was so afraid that those that love him would change their minds once they found out who he loved.  I chose to love when I watched the documentary &#8220;Bridegroom&#8221; and bawled during 95% of it. (It&#8217;s on Netflix if you haven&#8217;t watched it.) I cannot imagine having to fight to see my husband in the hospital or to not be able to have a say in his funeral if something happened. I cannot imagine not having basic rights as a spouse. I do not expect everyone to believe the same things that I do. However, I do expect others to understand that everyone should have the same rights. September 10, 2011 (yes, 9/10/11) was an amazing day. It was the day that my husband and I got married. We were able to stand in front of our friends and our family and declare our love. We didn&#8217;t have to worry if our marriage wouldn&#8217;t be accepted or honored if we left the state. For the longest time, I couldn&#8217;t imagine my friends and family not having that same right to share their love with those that they care most about. And now, because our country chose to love&#8230; I don&#8217;t have to imagine that anymore. &#160;]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.wirlproject.com/i-chose-to-love/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>BlogU: A Wealth of Technical Knowledge and New Friends</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/blogu-a-wealth-of-technical-knowledge-and-new-friends/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/blogu-a-wealth-of-technical-knowledge-and-new-friends/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2015 03:00:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest WIRL]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Challenge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work/Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Animals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BlogU]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Challenge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Friends]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Friendships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Notre Dame]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technical]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wealth of Knowledge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Challenge BlogU]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=6965</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[First, congratulations to the BlogU15 staff and organizers, nicely done. My husband and I are frequent conference attendees and have had the privilege of working behind the scenes at conferences, there are a thousand moving parts and never any down time for the organizers. Everyone was so kind and generous with questions and responsive to making the conference experience enjoyable. I hope everyone is able to rest this week, you poured so much energy out into creating very welcoming spaces, no small feat. I loved that BlogU15 is held on a campus rather than a hotel, the grounds at Notre Dame are beautiful and within a half hour of arriving I had discovered the beautiful chapel. The chapel became my quiet place when I needed to pull back and reflect on why I write. Beauty calms the spirit, and the discovery of Mayer of Munich stained glass windows was an unexpected joy of the weekend. Many of you know that I attended the BlogU15 conference as my personal challenge for 2015. I tried to be diligent about emptying myself of expectations of the conference so that I could have open hands to receive the unexpected. I struggled with that and was grateful for the generosity and conversation with Susan Maccarelli of Beyond Your Blog on Saturday morning. I was able to “re-boot” so to speak, refresh my browser, and start the day new. I had a beautiful day Saturday. I am so grateful for the time with Jen Kehl ofBeyond Blog Design in the Design Lab, I knew as I walked away from that time that I had been given a great gift. There were so many classes that I wanted to attend, like all of them, having to chose was very difficult. I came away from each class content that I had chosen the right one, still wishing I could have squeezed in others, and always wishing I had taken better notes. I would have to say my favorite part of the weekend was the new friendships that I brought home. I had the great privilege of meeting sisters from Canada who graciously indulged me in my love for dogs. It is hard to explain how exciting it is to find kindred spirits and to be able to talk for hours about dogs, horses, and rescue animals, about animals who have touched our souls and changed our lives. I met another amazing woman, a photographer, writer, a woman full of passion and spirit for her book and her garden, another kindred spirit. All around me I met gracious and generous women, women who listened to each others stories, women who were not afraid of tears and emotions. I came home with a wealth of technical knowledge, most of which I have not unpacked yet. What I have unpacked is the memories of conversation and cupcakes, memories of an impromptu Q&#38;A on Instagram, thank you Malan for your patience! And I came home with a sense of peace about my writing, my voice, my blog, why I write, why I will keep writing. I very grateful and heartfelt thank you to everyone at BlogU15, wishing everyone a very restorative and peaceful summer! &#160;  *This WIRL was originally published on Back of the North Wind. &#160; Join The Conversation! Easily contribute your story here. &#160; About the Author… Terri Jackson is a writer, wife, and mother of two sons. Her oldest son, Justin, was killed in a vehicle accident September 27, 2010. Terri and her husband, Doug, have been married for over thirty years, her blog tells the story of their struggles, tears, and the joy and humor of learning to live again after the unthinkable happens. She has been published in “We Need Not Walk Alone”, the national magazine for The Compassionate Friends organization. Terri has discovered a love for being a canine foster parent for rescued Shepherds, home brewing beer and mead, and hosting book studies in their home as she explores her new “normal.” Her blog can be found at www.backofthenorthwind.com.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.wirlproject.com/blogu-a-wealth-of-technical-knowledge-and-new-friends/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Blog Conferences: What They&#8217;re Really Like</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/blog-conferences-what-theyre-really-like/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/blog-conferences-what-theyre-really-like/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2015 15:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest WIRL]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology/Web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Challenge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Baltimore]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BlogU]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Find your Tribe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Friends]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[My People]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stop Second Guessing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Challenge BlogU]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=7015</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I was a first time attendee at BlogU last weekend in Baltimore. When I checked in, the guy at the front desk asked whether I was traveling for business or pleasure and I wasn’t sure what to say— obviously this is all very fun, but I also want to write for a living. I navigated this dichotomy by saying something along the lines of “I’m drunk right now!” Thankfully I’d been driven there by McCall of the Wild, a kind soul who had the misfortune of trusting me with her GPS and who answered “no, it’s okay” when I offered to shake my fist at someone in the parking lot. I quickly met up with a slew of strange people I’ve been talking to on the internet for the last 18 months. I was hoping some of them would prove to terrible humans so I wouldn&#8217;t feel bad blogging about them.  But unfortunately for my blog fodder, they were all badass and wonderful. Being back on a college campus was a little weird, since I associate that time of my life with depression and loneliness. Thankfully the only time I felt that way was when I wandered around the dorm hallways at 1AM looking for “friends to have fun with” and was pretty sure everyone was hiding in their rooms enjoying contraband without me. Turns out they were doing what sane people do at 1AM, which is sleep.  The next morning they got to wake up to messages and Snapchats like “hey why you no like me?”  I was told to prepare an elevator pitch about myself and my blog. Thankfully I never had to actually use it because the conference was so small it felt like I already knew everyone. For those people I forced myself upon without the warning of an elevator pitch, I am truly sorry. I was too busy talking about underwear and trying to remember the Hail Mary prayer to tell anyone about my niche.  A lot of hugging happened, which is strange for a girl who didn’t learn how to hug until she was 24 years old. I used to let people think I had some sort of personal space issue and didn’t like to be touched. The truth was I didn’t know how it all worked— You press your body up against another body? Which parts are supposed to touch? Is there anything I shouldn’t touch? How long does this touching go on? In addition to getting lost, watching Chrissy bleed, and taking offensive photos with Jeff&#8217;s bizznass cards, I did actually learn a few things. It turns out Jen Mann is a freaking boss who tells it like it is&#8211; with no fluff or bullshit. She walked us through her entire process of writing a book and how she navigated getting published and finding an agent. She even topped it off with an obscene hand gesture. Not getting this on video is my biggest regret from the conference. There were so many people I finally got to meet— like Samantha from Scary Mommy who is so kind when she both rejects and accepts my submissions. (She also made me feel less disgusting about the fact I live in a flea infested home.) I’m hesitant to admit that I roomed with Jana from Stop Me If I Told You This because now she knows all my secrets and has seen how neurotic I am right before I pretend like I have self confidence and any clue what I’m doing. I could go on forever about all the amazing people I got to hang out with, but I don’t want to lose you on a TLDR because I’m just about to get to the good stuff. Behold, I give you the overall takeaway from this weekend: Do Yo Thang and Be Generous With Each Other. It’s tempting to try and copy whatever’s working for someone else, or to modify your own style in order to become something you think more people will find appealing. We need to cut that shit out. Every single one of us has something to offer by virtue of being the only one with our story and our way of seeing the world. Stop second guessing yourself. If you want to say “fuck” say fuck. If you want to say “bag of cunts,” that’s okay too. Especially if you’re Nicole Leigh Shaw  and/or a dolphin. It was repeatedly said that &#8220;a rising tide lifts all boats.&#8221;  Bloggers&#8211; and people in general&#8211; need to stop viewing each other as competition and realize the value of finding your tribe and building each other up.  The reason this weekend was so damn fun (despite occasional social anxiety and &#8220;oh my gah does anyone want to sit with me&#8221; moments in the cafeteria) is because these are my people.  The value of that is not lost on me and I plan to work harder at making sure I&#8217;m contributing something towards that rising tide. Bloggers&#8211; and people in general&#8211; need to stop viewing each other as competition and realize the value of finding your tribe and building each other up. After this weekend, there are a lot of photos on the internet that will probably prevent me from being employed at some point in the future. Speaking of employment— I apologize to everyone who casually asked where I’m from and had to listen to me stumble over some sort of vague and ambiguous answer. I try to conceal my location so as not to get fired (though I’m sure I will still be fired eventually). It makes me feel deceptive, and I don’t want to lie to you because you’re all my favorite people. Someday when I’m finally terminated or incarcerated and my workplace makes the news for all it’s bullshit, they will make a Wikipedia page about me and it will list my birthplace and we can all laugh about the good old days when I thought I could keep a secret. For those of you who were there this weekend, it was awesome to meet you and/or stare at you awkwardly from a distance because I was too intimidated to approach you. If we didn’t get to meet then that’s a damn shame and we will need to rectify this first thing at BlogU16. For the rest, I need you to do one of three things: 1. Come to BlogHer in a month.  I should be there because I&#8217;m not pregnant with an alien/don&#8217;t have cancer.  Huzzah!2. Come to BlogU next year.3. Send me your address and stock up on Nutella. I’m coming to visit and I can’t bring my own jar because the TSA confiscated it, those bastards. &#160; Join The Conversation! Easily contribute your story here. &#160; About the Author… Aussa Lorens is author of the blog Hacker.Ninja.Hooker.Spy. where some mistakes are too good not to share. Her work has been featured on Cosmopolitan, The Huffington Post, Thought Catalog, Narrative.ly, and Scary Mommy. She is a BlogHer Voice of the Year Readers Choice Award and an Indie Chicks Badass Blog Award winner for 2014 and 2015. You can find Aussa on her blog, AussaLorens.com, on Facebook, or Twitter: @AussaLorens. &#160;]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.wirlproject.com/blog-conferences-what-theyre-really-like/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
