A Question of Famous Friends

Courtesy of Jz, "If you could pick someone famous, living or dead, for a friend, who would it be? And why?"

Dammit, this one is hard too!

Um...I really don't pay enough attention to famous people. A fact which is becoming quite clear because it's taking me days to write this post.

Alright, after much stressful musing, (because that's the normal response to a light-hearted question, right?) I have to say that I would pick the 14th Dalai Lama. Now, this may seem like an odd choice for someone as prone to cynicism as myself, but I remember being fascinated by him as a child, and I have always felt that he is one of those truly amazing beings that the earth is blessed to have.

See? He wouldn't even mind my bouts of temper!

It's amazing, right? The concept of a being willing to come back time and again with the sole purpose of serving humanity, a being who has witnessed so much destruction and suffering perpetrated upon humanity by fellow humans over the course of multiple lifetimes, yet still truly feels and expresses so much joy and wonder...

His philosophies, his ideals, his understanding of humanity, are so in depth, yet still...Still somehow he sees the beauty and the wonder while managing to acknowledge all of the ugliness in a way that is truly without dislike or hatred.
 
 There are very few people in the world that are truly inspiring beings--in their words, beliefs, who they are and how they interact with the world around them. I find him to be one of them. And we all know how I love a good dose of inspiration.