The Secret Of Life

  People change people. I learned that from a teen tv show - one of my favorites - and it actually stuck with me the way I think it was supposed to. Everything that makes us ‘us’ comes from and in spite of every single person we ever met. I like to believe our personalities come with us from birth, but people are what makes us human.

  If it’s true that your circle of friends can say a lot about you, would you want to be surrounded by people that think like you do? Or are you a believer in the law of opposites attracting? If it’s true that you can give people the power to change you - making them friends - who would you pick make you better? How would you like to be changed?

  I’m fortunate enough to hold close to me many different hearts that have been through my life. It’s always been easy for me to make acquaintances - I give in way too easily, I melt to soft touches and kind words; I let people pull on my sleeve and take my heart with them. I like making friends. Friendships speak to me in an emotional extent, and although I keep in mind to circle myself with the good ones, they all shaped me into the person I am today.

  Most times, it’s unnoticeable how someone could affect you personally. It takes time to understand how people shift us, for worse or better, and sometimes we never get there. But that realization doesn’t really matter. What matters is what you get from the ones that choose you back, and then back you up. 

  I’m lucky to make friends with people that are just like me, from my own school or from the other side of the world, and even if we don’t have the time to properly get to know each other, I’m just lucky that I got to know them at all. They change my life, constantly, and make it worth it. To have the certainty of a steady friendship - that beats any hardship. 

  Twin flames, kindred spirits, soulmates. We look for both compatibility and complements in one another, until we click and tie a knot to a bond. We search unconsciously for life mates and best friends, to only realize we found them when we stray away - real friendship feels so comfortable you don’t notice at what point it’s become home.

  The undertone of affection is love, and the fundamental value of love is friendship. The strength of the foundations of any relationship relies on friendship - on finding your people. Companions, partners, safe havens. Establishing a meaningful connection requires yielding and trust and confidence. And if it’s not that deep - in contexts of rush and impermanence - at least the underlying love exists.

  You never forget a friend - a real one, that is.

  People come in and out between hours and years - and smiles and tears - and we stick to those we can’t live without. We tend to choose people that bring out what we like about ourselves, and if it happens the same way in return, it’s fate. Things happen when they’re supposed to happen, and it’s the same to whoever shows up in your path. It's about what we do for each other, what we bring to their lives and what we take in return.

  Change means uncertainty, but uncertainty means growth. We don’t evolve as people, as humans, without it. And we do need company to do so - people change together. Everyone gets a scar from knowing each other. I’m glad to be changed by the people I know. I feel special in having remarkable people as my friends, in different circles and places and time periods.

YSS Program, Summer 2022.

  I know it will hurt when I leave this place. I also know it’s not only because of the way I tend to get emotionally attached at the slightest sense of permanence - but because of the people I’ve met and the person I’ve become: scarred for life with the imprint of other souls. I’ve known these guys for three weeks, and I know I’ll keep them in a special place of my heart even if we never see each other again.

  That’s the secret of life. People change people. For extra credit, it's what us does for them. That’s what Cory Matthews taught me when he met the world. Learning from the people that surround you, the people you care about - that’s way more important than anything else there is to learn. We are who we are because they are who they are, and everything they did for us.

Girl Meets World (2014), Disney Channel