To live and not to wonder about the cause of life itself is like not having lived at all…
Why are we here? Where did we come from? Where do we go from here?
Day 34 of 365
Image is of an old friend in the forest
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Tag: friendship
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Today was a one of reconnecting with friends that I was never really disconnected from. Time and distance vanish at moments like these and only the value of a good relationship stands out at the end of the day.
And along the way I got to explore Industry City and Greenwood Cemetery, both places most definitely worthy of a long walk in the chill of a sunny winter day.
Day 24 of 365
On a planet of over 7 billion people, we end up connecting with a minute fraction of humans throughout our lives. The parents we are born to, the family around us, the friends we make at school, the spouses we end up with and a handful of others along the way. Is any of it destined? Do events lead us to meet who we were meant to meet or is it all random? Do certain people sing our tune? Is chemistry involved? Are there invisible silver threads between us and a few others?
Another piece fo the fascinating puzzle we call human life…
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We are born alone~
Alone (O-Lane), the planetary lane, the way of the planet, how we are born and how we die. These truths are what make human connections we build while alive so utterly important, otherwise life would be nothing but a long cold walk. Our friends make it warmer, infuse it with joy, with pain, with sadness, with passion, with challenges, with drama and most importantly with companionship along the way.
Where the seconds melt into minutes, and the minutes into hours, where conversations flow, where bonds are made, where friendships and money are made and lost… the village card game.
The towers of even the most formidable kings and queens have been known to crumble and fall when built on shaky foundations and glued with questionable principles. Life is like that. Friendships are like that too. It is in New York that I made real friends, where friendships were nurtured and grown that were able to withstand distance, time and change. It is a lucky human who can say I have people in my life that I believe in, count on, trust and can always reconnect with. It is one of life’s most precious gifts.
Like old friends they walked down the mountain road, a man and his helper, friends after years of long lonely walks, man and bull finding a common language, because that is what happens when closeness heralds warmth between planetary beings.
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Day 20~ March 20th~ Egypt
All rich moments in life become richer when shared with a good friend, a companion…
The journey to Egypt was a unique adventure in so many ways and most of the uniqueness came from the great feeling of sharing and fraternity with friends of like minds searching together. The stories of that trip are divided between the memories of 25 or more friends, and the story would best be told if they were to be quilted together. This is why in my heart of hearts I know that my story is incomplete, and that to add to it the accounts of my companions, it would crystalize into a multifaceted gem. We humans thrive on companionship, on relations with other humans who walk similar paths and on the exchanges we can have with people that we feel kinship with.
I do miss Egypt so much but I miss the friends who were with me on that trip even more. This post is dedicated to them, my companions in Egypt.
There are friendships that defy all odds because they were simply meant to be. Lea’s friendship with Laura is such a strong bond. Laura was born in Bangkok, and moved to China when she was less than 2. This is when her friendship with Lea started. They were inseparable even at that age and for the 3 years that followed. Then came the sad day that Laura had to move to Singapore and I imagined that things will settle with time and distance into a distant childhood memory. But no, they managed to stay in touch and strive to meet, connect and continue a powerful relationship as if they still lived across each other as they always did. Today, Laura who now lives in Hong Kong came to visit and Lea was in heaven as they are to spend a week together rebuilding and reinforcing their 6 year old friendship.
photo taken: Lea and her friend Amelie waiting at the airport with their welcome sign for Laura and Sophie
One of the cons of an expat life is the constant change a family has to go through. Your friends come and they go. Deep friendships are naturally formed with people since all are away from home, from extended families, and they cling to each other in search for a sense of belonging, comfort and support. And then the time comes for one of the families to move, leaving a hole behind, an emptiness, a missing piece of a puzzle that needs to be rearranged once again.
I have watched Lea go through so many strong friendships since we moved to Shanghai now more than 5 years ago, from extremely powerful bonds that still endure across distances, to fleeting ones that got forgotten, but somehow the need is always there for a new friendship to grow.
I watch her today as she declares a new friendship and prepared the ground for yet another year of shared adventures, celebrations, ice creams, lollipops and sleepovers…