“To know someone deeply,” shares author, Mark Nepo, “is like hearing the moon through the ocean or having a hawk lay bright leaves at your feet. It seems impossible, even while it happens.”

And yet, we have all experienced those moments in which our connection to another is so brilliantly defined. A sudden realization, breaking free, just as surely as that first light of day.

In looking to the eyes of another, we see the tattered remnants of our own past pain. In that moment our suffering becomes shared, as we realize – they’ve been there, too.

Though largely hidden, we’ve all been there. Whether disappointment, fear, upset, sorrow – or, our happiest bliss; we’ve been there, too.

“We carry whole worlds within us,” he continues “as we brush by each other in the supermarket to read mayonnaise jars. The entire drama of life churns in our blood as we rush underground to catch a train. We are always both so known and so unknown.”

It’s this dimension that becomes suddenly ‘known’, in which the greatest of friendships are forged. An inseparable, unbreakable bond – transcending every aspect of our being.

I had one of those moments just the other day, in which the conversation broke to natural pause – enough to say, “I’m so grateful to have you ‘near’.”

And, ‘near’ in a sense that only the heart may know; revealed only through our most cherished connections.

To know someone deeply, my loves – is to be reminded that we’ve all been there, too.

And, it is by far – the greatest treasure here on earth.