international day of friendship

BY HELEN CARPENTER, NEW SOUTH WALES-BASED MEDIA STRINGER

Today, Thursday July 30, we mark International Day of Friendship. The United Nations General Assembly set this date in 2011, establishing it as a day for people across the world to reflect and appreciate the relationships in their lives. It’s also an opportunity to promote and encourage peace, happiness, and unity in the world. International Day of Friendship is an important recognition of friendship and it’s a symbol of coming together that values connection. It also promotes an understanding of diversity as friendship provides us with an opportunity to learn from friends who come from different backgrounds, enjoy different experiences and ways of living or who may have different beliefs and perspectives.

What does friendship mean to you?

Is it a connection with someone you see or talk to every day?

Is it the people you work with?

Is it the person you don’t see or hear from for a while then out of the blue you connect and immediately pick up where you left off – a special bond that transcends distance, time and place.

Friendship can take many forms, but each form is special in its own way, as we are all different and our friendships and relationships are unique.

Wikipedia defines friendship as, “a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an association and has been studied in academic fields such as communication, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and philosophy. Although there are many forms of friendship, some of which may vary from place to place, certain characteristics are present in many types of such bonds. Such characteristics include affection; kindness, love, virtue, sympathy, empathy, honesty, altruism, loyalty, generosity, forgiveness, mutual understanding and compassion, enjoyment of each other's company, trust, and the ability to be oneself, express one's feelings to others, and make mistakes without fear of judgment from the friend. Friendship is an essential aspect of relationship building skills.”

Friendships can help us navigate life’s stresses, and they can provide significant support when life throws us challenging situations such as health issues, work problems, extreme life events and moments of anxiety. Friendships are also important for our mental health; the old saying “a problem shared is a problem halved” comes to mind. I find that sharing problems with a close friend can provide support and the input of trusted friends can help me work through complex issues.

International Day of Friendship is a day to celebrate and acknowledge the importance of our friendships and relationships within our lives and it’s an opportunity to remind our friends what they mean to us.

I encourage you to utilise this special day to express your gratitude to your friends and reflect on the value friendships add to your life.