We live in a difficult world. Amidst miscommunication, abuse, lack of trust, discrimination, and cultural strife, prioritising peace appears to have a low presence in a global society. There is really no reason for the world not to exist in some harmonious form. International Friendship Day, held on 30 July every year, has been a constant reminder to us all that there is something good in this world.
The International Day of Friendship was proclaimed in 2011 by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures, and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities. Marking this day, the UN encourages governments, international organisations, and civil society groups to hold events, activities, and initiatives that contribute to the efforts of the international community towards promoting a dialogue among civilisations, solidarity, mutual understanding, and reconciliation.
Initially, the International Day of Friendship was established as an initiative that follows on the proposal made by United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), defining the Culture of Peace as a set of values, attitudes, and behaviours that reject violence and endeavour to prevent conflicts by addressing their root causes with a view to solving problems. It was then adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1997, after they proposed that friendship can inspire peace efforts between peoples, countries, cultures, and individuals, and can link up the communities, turning it into a special day to celebrate the special people in our lives.
While Valentine’s Day is an enormously commercialised holiday everywhere in the world, oftentimes, International Friendship Day goes overlooked. Fortunately, even though it’s not a hugely celebrated holiday in Sri Lanka, many who knew of the day took the opportunity to use International Friendship Day as a day to celebrate our friendships.
In an effort to make the day better known, several cafes, restaurants, and hotels jumped on the bandwagon this weekend, offering special deals for friends. Small things like catching a movie together, or enjoying a nice meal is a great way to honour those that have been there for us through good times and tough times and most importantly those we can rely on.
As we grow older, some friendships naturally become colourless, some have an expiration date, while others become toxic and we have to let them go. Either way, with the passage of time, the number of friends you have is bound to shrink, so Friendship Day provides the perfect opportunity to honour those who have stood by us and stuck around.
The importance of friendship
Having a support system of friends in today’s crazy world, especially with the increasingly volatile situation in the country taking a toll on everyone’s mental health, is so vitally important. Our friendships provide us a day-to-day outlet for social, creative, and intellectual stimulation. Personally, I can say my friends have been a pillar of strength to me during the rough moments throughout life. The bonds between true friends are so important that having close friends there for you through the good times and bad makes our lives much more meaningful.
Friendship is also the single most important thing affecting our psychological health and wellbeing, as well as our physical health and wellbeing. According to a study published by the British Psychology Society, spending time with our friends is proven to release endorphins in the brain, and make us happy. In the study, it was noted that good friendships may be essential for wellbeing at every stage of life as making friends is crucial for children in their development and ability to form later relationships.
Many other studies suggest that having healthy friendships could have a protective effect on health, and help us age better. According to this study, some research has even examined whether social networks could influence mortality, heart attack survival, depression, and anxiety, proving that our social networks and the ties we have with people can affect our moods, with some evidence suggesting that feelings such as happiness can spread through a network.
Old friends and new friends
While many of us are no doubt living a busy and oftentimes stressful life, we must acknowledge that we do occasionally need someone to talk to, and we need to be able to share our thoughts and emotions with a friend. As with all relationships in our lives, we must nurture our friendships, so let Friendship Day remind you of those special people. Even though you may not have celebrated it on the day, there is no expiration to a celebration of love and humanity – give your friends a call, send them an email, or write a heartfelt letter and let them know how much they mean to you. It’s never too late to let the people closest to your heart know how much they mean to you.
Friendship Day is also the perfect day to resolve to expand your circle of friends. Reach out the hand of friendship to your neighbours and co-workers. Consider exploring social media where you can meet others who share your interests. Websites devoted to social networking like Instagram and Facebook have become very popular destinations for those wishing to expand their circle of friends, giving users thousands of options to interact, such as messaging, email, chat rooms, blogging, discussion groups, and so on.
If you look for a social network geared to your interests and situations, and one where you will feel comfortable meeting others, it might turn out to be the perfect place to find a loving friend that shares the same mutual interests and can be there for you when you need someone to talk to.
As the saying goes: “A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.”
