On life-long friendship
A small little pink Piglet once wondered along next to his much taller, bear-shaped friend Winnie the Pooh. “We’ll be friends forever, won’t we Pooh?” he asked. “Even longer,” Pooh replied.’
These two delightful characters from A.A Milne’s storybook series of ‘Winnie the Pooh,’ have captured the hearts of everyone; from children being read bedtime stories by their parents to the golden age generation reminiscing on their own childhoods.
These stories have captured our imaginations because through thick and thin and all the adventures in between, Piglet and Pooh stuck by each other’s sides. A true symbol of friendship.
As we grow through life, our own friendships come and go. As children we are surrounded by our friends day after day, playing, eating and learning together at school. But as time goes on, life gets busier, we move to different cities and countries, our plates becoming full with responsibilities of new families and lively careers. Friendships change and we change as well.
Over the years of our lives, meeting new people and making new friends encourages us to grow and broaden our perspectives. We learn about new things and have new experiences and it is okay that friends evolve with us and then depart.
But alongside this, there will always be those gold, diamond, sapphire, ruby and emerald friends. The Piglets and Poohs, the ones people who are always going to be there for you, no matter the distance or time spent apart.
We learn friendship should be about quality not quantity.
A real life example of a Piglet and Pooh friendship is the story of four couples, who have been best friends for 20 years, and who wanted to ensure they’d always have a place where they could escape everyday life and holiday together, especially as they got older.
They brainstormed over what they could do, thinking about acquiring a convoy of campervans or buying some land on the coast. The place would have to have hangout space for eating and drinking, but also areas of privacy where they could spend time with just themselves and their significant other. Under all of this, they wanted their home-away-from home to be as eco-friendly and sustainable as possible, miminimising their carbon footprint.
So with that in mind, they finally settled on buying 10 acres of land by the Llano River in Austin, Texas, got in architect Matt Garcia and set forth to design four “tiny-homes.”
The ‘Llano Exit Strategy’ was built. A 1,500-square-foot common area building, stands as the kitchen and dining room. The four cabins are 400-square-foot in size with spray foam insulation to control the changeable temperatures throughout the year, with galvanised metal siding to deflect against the harsh summer heat and sloping roofs which collect rainwater to irrigate the surrounding fields and native trees. Drinking water is also supplied by rainwater and a well, combined in a water treatment system.
For anyone thinking about creating a similar idea, one of the couples advised on the benefits of saving wisely, deciding on a budget you can all accomplish, not rushing into anything and instead looking around at lots of properties and on top of this — ensuring you all have a common vision.
What are some other things you can do to nurture your friendships?
We’ve come up with a few top tips to create your own Piglet and Pooh relationships:
1.Be grateful
It can be very easy to lose perspective in life and take the people who are always there for us for granted and it is always the people we are most comfortable around, who we let down our guard with, often showing our more messy human selves. Because of this it is so important to take a step back often and thank you friends for always being there, through both the sunny days and the rainy storms.
2. Show up
This is the most simple thing of all — show up to your friendship. Be there when they need you, call or send a message out of the blue, shout them a coffee or invite them round for dinner. Give your friend the kind of friendship you’d want them to show you.
3. Be honest
With true friendship you should feel utterly comfortable to be yourself. Be honest from the get go, on yourself, your opinions and feelings, past and expectations. Don’t try to be anyone but yourself, in order to fit in. There are so many people out there who will love you, just for your raw and real self, go out and find those people, rather than trying to be someone you’re not.
4. Put in the effort to make up over fights and disagreements
We all have different views on things and with any long and lasting relationship, we must accept and move past our differences, not giving up because of simple disagreements. Agree to disagree and always say you’re sorry. Forgiveness is key.
Friendships are one of the best things in this world. When you put in the time and effort to care for your friends, you’re guaranteed to have the best people who you can laugh and cry with, and adventure with through this extraordinary ordinary life.