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b"Nugget and pearl of wisdom from Santa Monica Days: Iraq and Iran \\u2013 the adventures of turtle/babysitting. Fawn\\u2019s Santa Monica friends (Anders and Liz), named their turtles Iran and Iraq to bring peace to the Middle East. The reasoning for the choice of their names was that every time they called their turtles lovingly by their names, they not only sent their turtles love but they held loving kindness for the Middle East at the same time. Words have power. Fawn and Matt begin relating words, numbers, zeros, ones and computer coding. Matt corrects Fawn and says as a programmer, he thinks \\u201call things are code, code is not necessarily math. It\\u2019s Boolean logic and saying it\\u2019s a bunch of zeros and ones fails to convey the true majesty that is.\\u201d\\nThis week\\u2019s topic is about the first time you felt the power of friendship and what it did for you and your life.\\nThe alliance that we talk about this week is all about the sense that together, you\\u2019re able to do ANYTHING. You can overcome racial injustice, you can overcome economic injustice. You're able to overcome any obstacle or any hurt in front of you, TOGETHER.\\n\\xa0\\nThis is why we began this friendly movement, because we\\u2019ve found that our society has really deteriorated as far as people really being together in neighborhoods, offices and at home, and how in-person friendships, walking arm in arm is now rare.\\n\\xa0\\nFriendship and the alliance that is created within that sanctuary are incredibly powerful and we wonder why it has disappeared and why we've become so disconnected. Together, we can create great beauty, peace and strength and have a kinder, healthier, richer, more compassionate world, and a stronger, more balanced society.\\n\\xa0\\nDo you have a first Alliance story? When was the first time that you felt the kind of friendship where you felt the power of a union, the power of a bond that made you feel invincible? What was it that drew you together? What was the common thread?\\n\\xa0\\nFeeling the great life pressures, not feeling supported and feeling upset and overwhelmed (and maybe not even realizing you have been feeling all of this), can wreak havoc on us, our lives, our health, and our relationships, and as a result, bad things can happen. When you\\u2019re in the thick of it, you don't understand that you're in pain because it feels normal until you get a break from it (if you get a break from it). \\xa0\\nSo we need to support each other. People do communicate their deepest pains. It may be subtly. It may be slyly. And if you're paying attention, you can pick up on it and you can ask the questions. \\xa0A friendship is a cocoon where you can grow into what you're supposed to be, within a safe environment. You're protected within this friendship, within this circle.\\nWe've all been disconnected. Come back and don't judge so much. Everybody's in pain. Don't judge it. Let's just be together and offer comfort. Let's provide a safe space for our friends to express the things they need to, and then in return, they will provide us a safe space so we can communicate the things we need to communicate.\\n\\xa0\\nMany of us have been treated \\u201cless than\\u201d, felt generally alone and absolutely isolated. It is a horrible feeling. How can we be heard and also hear our fellow brothers and sisters? It's about trying to focus in on what we can do. And here's the issue: we don't have a society where friends are a thing, (like real, for real friends, not talking Facebook friends but someone who has your back and can offer a shoulder to lean on).\\n\\xa0\\n\\xa0 When we don't have friendship, when we don\\u2019t have support, our capacity is limited, and we tend to lash out. This is why making sure that we develop bonds with one another is so important. It\\u2019s time to begin talking and paying attention"