Friendship

Friendship... What words can describe this marvelous thing?

I'm writing this post today because it is the birthday of two of my best friends (twins), I felt like I had to share it with everyone, for I believe that what we have is true friendship, one that just doesn't wore off.

We've known each other since we were 5/6 years old, which happened 12/13 years ago. We haven't always been best friends, but we've always been good friends, and as time passed, we've grown, together, and this thing between us, this friendship, also developed into something even bigger than it was before.
It stopped being just a young age thing, where all that matters is that you like the same games, sports and such, so you can play together and have fun together,  for you have something in common; and it became something way deeper and more emotional than that.

Nowadays we're together every day, and we talk about simply everything, which in my opinion is amazing. It's nice to know that there's someone with who you are able to talk to, freely!
I've seen them cry, and I've been there to comfort them, I've walked through their issues and I've seen their happy smiles countless times. I've even carried one of them on my lap, to the hospital. And not only was that satisfying on it's own, but to hear their mother say "I'll never forget you holding my baby in your arms" just meant the world to me. For I try hard to be the best I can to these guys, they totally deserve it. They're impeccable, as persons and as friends. Just so you have an idea of how big our friendship is right now, it reached the point where one of them said "Dude, when I get married you'll be my best man". It may not mean much to some of you, but we were both 17 at the time, and from then till marriage is a long long time, and not only committing himself to making me his best man (which means he's sure we'll still be friends by then), he's also entrusting me with this huge thing, his marriage.

This might sound overused but... "I would give up my life for them". I know a lot of people say this, but not a lot of people mean it. I do mean it though, I would be capable of letting myself go for either one of them...

And this... this is friendship, this is something real, with all that's good and bad about it. Hopefully it'll surpass the boundaries of time and last even past our death, in any way possible.


To finish it off, I'll once again wish a very very very happy birthday to the two of them. I truly wish them all the best. They've come a long way so far, and together, let us go on an even bigger one.

Love?

We often ask ourselves, what is love? What is this so called “feeling”?

I myself have never been a big fan of it, and never have I ever truly felt it, at least so I think. Maybe I have, without knowing it was in fact love. What is it after all? I may not be an expert on it, neither is any of us, but here’s how I see it…

According to the ancient knowledge and what is taught to us when we’re young, love is something beautiful, something that fills the skies with butterflies and swallows, something that makes the sun shine brighter and the flowers look twice as beautiful. In spite of it all, no one has actually been able to define love, can it even be defined? Is love something real or is it just another “human invention” to serve as an excuse for why we do certain things?

It is true that we may feel closer to some than others, but when do we start loving them? Is love something that grows with us, gradually, so that every time we’re with someone, our love for that person gets bigger and bigger? Or is it something that just pops out all of the sudden and shows us a part of ourselves we didn't yet know?

Love is certainly a matter that raises a lot of questions, more than the ones we can answer. But what is it after all?

Is it love when you’d give your own life, to protect the one you “love”? Some people would just do that for about anyone. For some it’d be just a reflection of their soul, of their kind heart, a selfless act done for others. For the other part, it’d be a demonstration of no appreciation for their own life, a way out of the cruel world in which we live.

Is it love when you buy a lot of gifts and presents for the one you “love”? True love doesn't have anything to do with money, gifts, fancy cars and fancy houses. Love has to do with so much more.

“I love you”, in my honest opinion, should only be said when you love in him/her all that you adore and all that you hate. Only when you are able to surpass the boundaries of visual looks, flaws, qualities, etc…, and embrace it all as being a part of the person that stands right in front of you, you’ll be able to love that someone. But is this the definition of love? Is this even loving someone with your whole heart?

Sadly the term “I love you” lost its meaning with time as it became widely used. It stopped being used to show a level of affection so big that one cannot live without another. Nowadays it is synonym of a simple “I like you” or “I care about you”. It no longer represents a bigger feeling, a bigger need, a bigger dream. And just as the meaning of the term “I love you” changed during these past years, so did the meaning of love. Right now you may be asking “if we can’t define love, how can its meaning have changed?”. Well, although we can’t define it, we've a vague idea of what it is, and we can tell it has in fact changed over the years.

What happened to the “I'll follow you and make a heaven out of hell, and I'll die by your hand which I love so well” and the “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! / For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night” (both written by William Shakespeare). What happened to us? Have we turned into such hollow creatures that we can’t even love someone? That we can’t even woo someone like we did in the past? We, humans, turned love into something other than love itself.

But, the question still remains. What is love?

Maybe the answer to this question lies within each and everyone of us, for the definition of love can change from one person to another. What do you feel when you're "in love"? Is it happiness, calm, a feeling of safety and comfort? Or do you feel the exact opposite? Anger, Sadness, the feeling that it all will collapse taking you down with it?

Or...

Does love only reach its true meaning when it is forbidden? When it is something you cannot have no matter how hard you strive to achieve? All the famous romance novels will tell you it is, let's look at Romeo and Juliet for example, which is perhaps the most famous love related novel. Romeo's love for Juliet increases along the story because he knows Juliet is a "forbidden woman", and that the love they both share is prohibited.

But does love rely on something unachievable? On something that none of us can get? If this was true than there wouldn't be so many people getting married, being marriage one of the ultimate proves of love.

The truth is, love cannot be defined, for there are no words that can describe it, there is no song, no picture, no anything that can come even close to what love is all about. "And what is love all about?" you may ask. Well, that's something that you, and only you, know. Something that only you feel and express in your own ways.

I myself, like to do it in the old fashioned way, for there is no single person on Earth that can resist a good poem, a serenade or a shout-out from the heart.

I like to think of it as your heart being a maze in which you can only find a way out if you know love. Love is then the key, the key for you to find your way out of the maze, for you to know yourself better than you've ever known before. Love is the key that opens the gates of happiness, safety and comfort.

To finish it off, I'll leave you here with a "good morning" message I sent to a very good friend of mine not a long time ago.

"While the birds announce "good morning" the crystal droplets of pure dew trickle down the petals of the most beautiful flowers, that when in comparison to the beauty you, my love, own, they wither with shame of their existence. And while the nature does this, may the bees collect a sweet gift, for the sweetest of them all.

Good Morning!"

Now wouldn't it be great if love went back to being as beautiful as it was in the past?