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Friends, witnesses of life
According to dictionary.com, a friend is someone whom one knows, likes, and trusts. In this broad definition, a friend can be an acquaintance, a colleague, a neighbour, a relative, or even a lover. Friendship, as characterised by type, duration, and intensity, can be made in all manner of ways.
Almost seven years ago, a friend I've known for half of my life but hadn't seen for a third of my life, asked me when we met for the second time in our lives the point of keeping in touch. Our lives did not intersect in anyway, yet we continued to correspond in spite of it.
"Friends," he observed, "are witnesses of life."
They witness events in your life, whether you are participating in them or describing them. And over time, the course of your friendship, they bear testimony to your account of reality, of what happened and how you felt in those moments.
What is also common across the different kinds of friendships is that element called sharing: sharing a secret, witnessing an event together, sharing a passion, being on the same wavelength, reciprocating, empathising with another's concerns, recognising each other's priorities, and understanding what pleases or displeases another.
As Carole King and James Taylor, so aptly put it, "You just call out my name, and you'll know wherever I am. I'll come runnin', to see you again."
6 April 2004 Tuesday
Related journal entries:
Comfort of old friends
Family of friends
From neighbours to friends
Friends like family
Friends near and far
To each her own
According to my friend, the Danish poet Troels Kløvedal said that friends are witnesses of life.
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