Has anyone ever stopped and wondered what friendship is born from? Nowadays I mean. But then again this could be my inner me, looking for some validation. Friends have always changed as the years progress. People change, and the friends don’t change along with you. It always impresses me to see the friends who have been best friends their entire lives. It makes me wonder if maybe we did not try hard enough. But I digress. When you look back on our parent’s childhood, life was simpler these new spoils and luxuries we have never existed. There were no great outside influences, parents spent more time with their children, indoor “shiny balls” never existed. Kids saw the sun other than to go to school or “to go to the beach”. These friends never had the same distractions, temptations we did. They were sheltered, that is the best way to put them. Nowadays since these poor examples are being set from childhood, friendships are so strange. They are not like the ones you saw on TV. Not even by a long shot. With friends realizing the good in one another and sticking with one another through thick and thin. It does happen, but not nearly as often as it should. Adolescent years are a dangerous thing. Friends who have been there for you tirelessly become almost obsolete why because they are not”cool” enough. I’m sorry that I did this and to this day I can’t forgive myself. What happened to appreciating the good qualities in your friends? And what if they are not the flashy, boastful ones. That suddenly means they are not worth anything. As I was just telling my “dad” Kemoi, who never ceases to amaze me, not everyone can be extroverts. That makes no sense! All of us could not always voice our opinions openly and freely, because we also need to be able to retreat within ourselves and reflect. How can we live our lives openly all the time? A true friend. That is something we often wait until it’s too late to realize we had. I mean think about it: This obsession with fake friends…..It’s not logical!! But Lord knows that too often that humans act anything but logically. Do you think that you are so unremarkable that you will try to make as many “Friends” as possible. And then what will happen when your parents are fighting, or you failed an important test, or you are having “your time of the month” and you want to sit down and text that one friend you know that you can count on. You will have no-one. You owe it to yourself to find someone like that, for to have someone like that is a truly incredible gem in life.
Those in my form and my age group probably already know this. But I am noting a disturbing trend in the lower schoolers in my school, and other schools as well. The highly sexualized culture where clothes in stores either are above the knee or exposing breasts, shows are slowly appearing on children channels that emphasize the idea that having “boyfriends” and whatever is the most important thing. And now I sound like one of those cheesy articles where they are talking about the dangers that this will pose to the “next generation”, our generation, but unfortunately it’s true. I wish I could find some way to bring across this point. Because I firmly believe this is true.
But what will it take to instigate a change? Im honestly at a loss. But sometimes I find myself holding a book, and dreaming in my head of riding a bicicyle, and eating a 50c ice-cream cone, riding to my friend’s house to play jump-rope. The idea is almost nauseatingly pure, but it’s a nice idea.
But allow us all to be honest. Back then was not much better: racism was more apparent, wars were being fought as a result of countries pride and children were often heard wailing into the night hugging that ever-present teddy bear contemplating the fate of their parents. I cant help but think how this could have been a mechanism , the low crime rate, the “peaceful” life. No-one wants to think of the ugliness they know well is happening as they hear it on that quaint CB radio.
Life can’t be simple, but the true love of a friend can transport you to that same place. If only for a fleeting moment.
jodiponders
The Journey of Life 