My Hope – Friendship

My Hope – Friendship

#100DaysOfBlogging Day 1

“A single rose can be my garden; a single friend, my world.” – Leo Buscaglia

There’s this innate need for a friend in life. I mean other than ourselves. We have to befriend ourselves, then and only then can we become friends with someone else. There are situations we can’t talk to family about, and it’d eat us slowly if we kept to ourselves. It’s easy to tell ourselves to “let it go” and “move on”, but far more difficult to do it because the morale is down. Who is a friend then?

I’ve had friends come in at various stages of my life’s journey. They’ve each made their own mark on my life. One of them has even possibly saved my life. But no friend is really in our journey forever. Just as I’m on my life’s journey, they are on theirs. At times, they’ve left me on my path and gone back to theirs. Some of them have continued on their journey and not come back to check. Some have continued to flit in and out.

And then there are those few who have been on their journey, but come helped me get back up when I’ve fallen. They’ve stayed, putting their time on hold, and made sure I’ve the strength to “let it go” or “move on”. They’ve given me their smile, and helped me find the path I’ve lost. They’re the ones I’ve shared my dreams with, the dreams I’d been told by many were impossible to realize. They have this ability to see past the faux smile and extort the reason for my sadness out even without me realizing it. They know what I’ve been through, and connect to it.

They sync on some level with me. I have something in common with them. It may be as simple as the love for roasted corn or rain, or how much we love our siblings. It may be the way we connected the first time we met, and how we’ve been there for each other during the highs and lows through college and even after. It may be the patient lessons through table tennis, or the initiation into poetry. It may be how we talk about food and books when we meet. It may be the support shared for a football club, or the honest feedback about each other’s writing. When I talk with them, I am at ease right from the start. I don’t need to ask them if I can come over. I just make sure they’re there. Yet what they have in common is they’ve been there when I needed them the most.

I’m yet to meet some of them in life, but yet, we’ve connected… through books, through words, through chats. Just meeting a person and getting to know them in person doesn’t mean they’ll be our best friend. I’ve had friends who I’ve met in person stab me in the back, and virtual contacts remain acquaintances. As someone once said, friendship isn’t about who has known you the longest, it’s about who has told, “I’m there for you” and proven it. They are those who have made me laugh even after I’ve felt sure I’ll never smile. I can cheer for them in public, and tell them where to improve without mincing words. They do that for me too. It’s interaction that develops that trust over time, makes the virtual into real for them. They know me for who I am, and accept that “me”. They aren’t just best, they’re awesome; and I’m blessed to have them in my life. That friendship is HOPE.

From 23rd September, exactly 100 days are left in the year, the idea is to write on each of these days. A few other friends chose their own themes. I thought I’d collaborate with Aniesha bon on the challenge. We’re choosing topics on alternate days, and each day, we’re writing on the same topic too. She chose the topic HOPE for Day 1.

(© Vinay Leo R. @ I Rhyme Without Reason, 23^rd September 2016)

Vinay Leo R.

Poetry & writing are to me, a breath of fresh air in a life that is sometimes covered by the smoke of sorrow or self doubt. They also become the sweets I share to celebrate when life offers me a reason to. But most of all, they are to me, my life. For each word I write is a piece of my heart, a thought that just had to find its way into the world.