The Importance of Friends

You'll have to forgive me if this is sort of "touchy-feely."


This past Sunday I went to visit my friends the Shimizus in the countryside of Hyogo prefecture. I've mentioned them before: Kurara is my former student and now friend, along with her husband Daniel and her parents and siblings. As usual, I spent a relaxing few days soaking in the peace of those hills and quietness of the air. As usual, I basked in the comfort of a family open to all people, truly open, regardless of race, color, or creed, in the truest sense of that phrasing. Theirs is a home that has adopted so many, and each time I visit, I know I am truly fortunate to be among those so blessed.

On this particular visit, I reflected on, obviously, the importance of friends. For better or worse, I've always felt I knew who my friends were, and who were, for whatever reason, close friends or just acquaintances. The difference between a friend and a close friend is a matter of degree, of course, and not one I disclose. The difference between a friend and an acquaintance is, I suppose, a combination of trust, loyalty, and reliability. I can have fun with an acquaintance, but I would not turn to one for help with a personal problem.

Once upon a time, nearly half my life ago, I laid claim to very few: I thought this made them all the more valuable for being of a select group. Perhaps had I stayed in Hawaii and lived there all this time, I might still think that. But as I have not, as I have traveled and lived in a rather broad range of places, I no longer believe that one must have a small group of close friends; that's merely typical. We all grow apart or grow close, but some bonds are there for life. I believe that. I have close friends scattered across the world, literally, from Hawaii to both coasts of the US and some in between, to Europe and east Asia. I am lucky to have so many truly good, wonderful people to call friends. Thinking of all these people, I realize that I must do some things right, to be so blessed. And I am all the luckier for those who feel the same about me.


"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."

~ Anais Nin
~~ The Diary of Anias Nin, vol. 2, page 4