Things Of That Nature

Friends

morethanwatershadows:

i love friendship.

i love when people consciously cherish their relationships, and i love those first few conversations when you begin to think, “Oh yeah, we’re good together.” it’s like a piece of your life puzzle has fallen into place. no friendship is an accident, and all friendships play a part in shaping our lives. 

we’re no one without our friends, really. i mean, sure, without ever being impacted by someone else you’d be as truly and organically you as possible, but no one would know. friends enhance our lives, pay attention to us, are benefited by knowing us, get us into trouble, keep us out of trouble… a million happy glances and belly-laughs can’t be born without friends. 

i’m glad for all the friends i have. it’s easy for me to call people friends, because i like a lot of people, and i’m told a lot of people like me, and even if i meet someone for the first time and we hardly know each other, i’ll still say, “This is my new friend, So-&-So.” sometimes i never talk to that person again, but i know that if i ran into him or her in an airport someday, we’d hug and smile and feel happy to see each other, and sometimes that’s all a friendship needs to be.

i think it’s important to keep an open mind about friends. you don’t have to tell each other your deepest secrets to be considered friends. you just have to know that you’d do whatever you could for each other to make life better, that you genuinely love one another, that you like being around each other. it’s not some planned, inner-circle/outer-circle thing. you just like people and everything falls into place.

you’ve got your real close friends (mine are  my sisters) who know you inside and out, and have always been there and will always be there.

then you’ve got those you meet and instantly connect with, whom you write letters to and forget to send them for 2 weeks (but she doesn’t mind), who you just adore and you’re getting to know them better and better by bounds every time you talk.

you’ve got those who seem a little more distant at first, and you’re apprehensive about delving right in, but as time goes by you begin to make  out their character and you realize how great they are, and you’re so so glad you kept an open mind about them.

there’s the ones who really never get too close, but you’re glad to see when it counts.

then you’ve got your drifters, who swoop in for a time and change your outlook on a lot of things, and do a whole lot of good for your soul, and then the next thing you know you have no idea what ever happened to them, but you’ll never forget them.

i don’t know too much about broken friendships; i’ve only ever lost one friend in a brutal way. it’s not something i can imagine going through very often, which is why i don’t understand friends who fight. i’ve never fought with a friend- i just don’t see the point! disagree all you want, but friendship is above trying to convince someone to see your side. my dad always says that instead of trying to make people understand us, we should try to understand the other person’s perspective. 

that’s the way to keep friends. to be understanding and compassionate, to give advice and to take it. to love unconditionally, and to consciously cherish the presence of these people in your life. 

I love Makoto Shinkai’s films. His tales of love and loneliness, though heart-breaking, are beautiful in every way. His art is unlike any other anime I’ve ever seen; the way he gorgeously lights each scene is incredible. The narrative of each film is heartfelt and touches even deeper than relating to personal experiences. There is passion, and though he breaks your heart, he also shows a glimmer of hope. In the end of “Voices of a Distant Star” the characters share a thought:

“We are so far apart…but maybe thoughts can overcome time and space… If only one thought, what would it be?”

“It would be… I am here.”