Everyday Canvas

Friendships

Prompt:
If you're getting together with friends, do you prefer one on one situations, group situations large or small? How important do you feel it is to keep a social network?

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As human beings, inherently, we all are social creatures. Our quality of life and well-being depend on our relationships with others. This might be through physical interaction or online sites and friendships. In fact, I find I can relate better to some of my online friends than to some of the real-life ones. I guess that has to do with being like-minded.

About getting together with friends, it depends on the group or the single friend. I really like both. With a single friend or a small group, depending on the other person or persons, I can learn about them and interact with them better, but a large group can be just as fun, too. As they say, the more the merrier.

Almost any kind of friendship, for me, offers emotional support and companionship, be it in a group or one-on-one. I believe it is the perspective of another person or persons I am after, for a deeper understanding of life, for celebrating achievements, and for providing encouragement concerning everyday struggles and joys. These types of interactions contribute greatly to personal growth as they lead to gaining insights into different cultures, new interests, and new goals.

Also, it is essential to strike a balance between online and offline interactions. Face to face meetings, for example, provide more nuanced communication, reading body language, and emotional bonding than the online interactions. Friends who provide a listening ear, advice, and a different perspective can be invaluable during difficult times. Yet, some of that can also be found in online friendships, too.

To wrap it up, online or offline friendships, whichever or both, do enhance my quality of life, and I feel very lucky to have gotten to know all my friends everywhere.