Making Friends as an Adult

The other day, the NHK information program "Asa-Ichi" featured the topic of "making friends as an adult."

***

First of all, the definition of a friend varies from person to person, doesn't it?
Some people think that if you meet and chat, you're already friends, while others might think of someone like a best friend you can tell anything to.
You might consider people you invite or get invited by to go out for drinks or dinner as friends, and there's also the feeling that classmates equal friends.

Because I became mentally independent early on, I'm not very good at relying on or leaning on others.
I rarely ask for advice either. On the contrary, I might be more likely to decide things on my own and get scolded for it.

So, I don't have a best friend I can tell everything to, and since infectious diseases became prevalent and going out for drinks became non-existent, I don't invite anyone out either.
Before that, there were people I would go out with if invited and just go along with the conversation.
Generally speaking, do you call those people friends?
But when you're in an environment where you can't physically meet, you don't go as far as calling or emailing, so it's questionable whether you can call them friends.

Since I was a student, I haven't liked being overly clingy, and I never belonged to any specific group.
If anything, I was a lone wolf, and perhaps I was a bit insufferable.

That's why I haven't really felt that my friends have decreased or increased since becoming an adult, and I don't think I've ever felt like I wanted friends.
I had plenty of worries, but my confidants were always "books" or third parties who didn't know me well.

However, at some point, I started wanting to write down my thoughts on a blog.
Since the concept of a blog was born, I've tried various places.
But it didn't feel right, and I couldn't keep it up.
Maybe that's because I didn't know who I was writing to and couldn't find meaning in writing.

However, after starting note, I realized something.
It wasn't that I just liked being alone.
Deep down, I was wishing for companions I could convey my thoughts to, who would understand me!

I don't know whether to call such people friends or companions, and I feel like it doesn't matter either way at this point, but it is certain that I was wishing for interaction with such people.

The "Asa-Ichi" program at the beginning also introduced people who met on social media and became friends. It seems the number one trigger for making friends as an adult is hobbies/lessons, and the second is social media.
I think that's because you can easily understand the parts you can empathize with (thoughts and sensibilities) without being hindered by strange preconceptions.

For me, too, for people I want to interact with, their way of thinking and the sensibilities that seep through their writing are far more important than their personal details like name, age, gender, place of residence, or occupation.
It's strange, but you can somehow tell (or so I feel) if an article is fake, even if someone tries to write one.

I've met many wonderful people on note.
The people I have been fortunate enough to connect and interact with are my treasures.
I don't know how long such relationships can be maintained.
Even so, please let me call all the noters who are kind to me now my friends of the heart.

I thought about that because something really happy happened today.
One of my favorite noters, Wonnosuke-san, wrote about me in their note 1st anniversary article.

I am genuinely happy about things like this.
We have many similarities, and I often go to comment on their posts out of empathy.
It seems Wonnosuke-san thinks of me like an older sister or a mother, but I will call them a friend of the heart.

The title image was borrowed from "nouchi".

Feel free to leave a comment.
If you keep it light and casual, I'll reply in the same way.
You, the one leaving a comment, are also a friend of my heart.