Of blogs and friendship.

I am very happy with my blog follower group and more pleased to know that it continue to grow. I think they have to be the most cheerful and supportive group that I have encountered. It's truly a breath of fresh air to see people just hanging out, having fun, learning crafts and supporting one another. Some of those who often write a nice comment in my page had not registered as a follower, but I know they are.

It was only late last year when I started writing a blog due to an urging of a friend. Yes, I sometimes write in a personal fashion, and I love it when people can connect to that. I never anticipated a medium where a written word could be read by so many people... This somehow leads to a sense of familiarity, which is expected, and eventually, a sense of intimacy - like friendship. I know that inside the heart of each regular reader of a weblog are the same feelings we felt when we are developing a friendship.

It is indeed amazing how technology makes people stay so in touch. I could say too that this medium allows people to be curious about other people and we just want to find out so much about them. What also strikes me is how willing people are to be so open about their lives and work. But then this same medium is also ripe for a false sense of intimacy – and friendship being one of them.

I have learned some tough lesson that unfortunately it seems, you only learn by living. Naah, television doesn’t teach it, schools don’t teach it, and if you’re above a certain age, our parents didn’t teach it either. You have to learn it by living, by thinking of someone as a friend, only to find out they don’t think of you as a friend. Of course, it can be devastating, I know, I’ve been there myself.

I learned that a friend is someone I can trust to be with me when I am at my weakest and most vulnerable. And they are people who, no matter how painful it is to see, are willing to be with me when I am so helpless and weak. It’s not about whether you are trustworthy, or whether you are friendly, it’s the actual act of trust that is the basis of friendship. If I trust you to be truthful, then you’re a friend. If I find I must be careful how I say things, then it’s something other than friendship.

I am glad that I have gained imaginary friends whose blogs I read everyday. I have never met these people but we are friends in my mind. These people I have gotten to know through this relationship continue to enrich my life so if you are reading this, you know who you are and why I consider it an imaginary friendship worth protecting.