There are quite a few kindred spirits in my life, a person who shares beliefs, attitudes, feelings, or features with me. My friends often share similar tastes in books. Our lists of favorite books overlap consistently. The conversations, both FTF and via Voxer and social networks, are passionate. But every once in a a while, my BBF (best book friends) and I part ways. One of our group is not awfully fond of books with kissing in them (shades of Alexander from the Judith Viorst books who does not like kissing in movies). I have other book buddies who do not seek out sci-fi and others who adore sci-fi. Some of the group love GNs and others not so much. Even individual titles can evoke different responses. So, why do they remain kindred spirits?

1. They (we) are readers. Readers do not necessarily like the same things in books. Sometimes we have our personal favorites, but no matter what we read, the books whisk us away as soon as we step inside.

2. They (we) are passionate in the discussion of the books. Even if someone loves a book and I do not, I admire the passion of the other person.

3. They (we) allow for disagreement. There is no taking sides, no right or wrong.

But I started this post to make a slightly different point. Let me see if I can make the connection. I follow lots of different folks on social media. Not all of them are from the same religion, political party, or background that I am. Some of my friends are incredibly conservative. Some post freely about any topic. Some hardly post at all. Sometimes I see a post from someone that makes my hand hover over the "unfriend" command. And then I pause. Does everyone I follow and friend have to serve as an echo chamber? Do we all have to be like minded? If we are, how do I ever see the larger world?

I bring this up because often blogs will include a side bar of Kindred Spirits, Like Minded, etc. How sad that they narrow down voices of those who might add a new layer to the discussion at hand.