Francis Garcia | Week 11: The Power of Friendship (Ugh.)
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| Photo Credit: Food Network |
“What do we do?” asked the other person, attempting to stand strong amidst fear.
Then another brave individual stands up from defeat, gathers their other two brave comrades, and announces, “As long as we can rely on each other, there’s nothing we can’t overcome. I know what to do. We’ll use the power of friendsh—!”
Okay.
We get it.
The beautiful cliche called the power of friendship.
I love my friends, and this blog post is definitely not a hate post to them (although they would take it as such for sarcasm’s sake). However, there is something so wonderful about doing things with the people you enjoy spending time with; it doesn’t have to be as wondrous as how the movies and TV shows put it, but it does come with its own magic. With Valentine’s Day coming up, I want to direct attention away from the romance-romance and focus more on the platonic relationships we have made and committed ourselves to.
The beautiful thing about the power of friendship is that friendships provide a variety of emotional benefits to us social creatures, which then keep us up and going for better things. Such benefits include an emotional support net to fall back in after hard times, a stronger resolve in the difficult moments, the increased release of feel-good hormones like oxytocin (an important hormone that aid in primarily social and emotional bonding, which describes friendship in a general sense) and dopamine (a neurotransmitter that is associated with reward, pleasure, and motivation), and overall a sense of belonging and a better mental state as we spend more time with our friends. Also, can’t you tell that I want to study psychology in the future?
It’s through these benefits of friendship that we can do more than what we can do by ourselves. When friendships are healthy, they can improve our confidence and appreciate life as is despite its shortcomings. During this Valentine’s Day, let’s celebrate the power of friendship along with the power of love, even when both sound like cliches ruined by the big screens.
Hi Francis! I love this post and I think that we really should consider all aspects on Valentine's Day because they all are just as important! Romantic, platonic, familial, or any other type of love is important to have a good life in my opinion, so I think it's nice that you are focusing on the power of friendship, no matter how cliche it is. I really like that you show how even small moments like simply hanging out with your friends can make you feel happy and that friendship doesn't need to be as extravagant and wondrous as it is in movies and TV shows. I totally agree that having friends provides "a variety of emotional benefits" and allows us to have "a stronger resolve in the difficult moments." I also liked that you talked about the psychological aspects of friendships because it shows just how hard-wired our brains are to have friends and how we quite literally start releasing happiness around the people we love. Overall, I loved this post and look forward to reading more in the future!
ReplyDeleteHi Francis! I thought your blog was very timely, as you mentioned, with all the fervor of Valentine’s Day. I loved that you pointed out the importance of celebrating other crucial relationships in your life besides the romantic ones–like friendships–since that’s often overlooked. Your playful yet sincere take on the overused “power of friendship” joke made me laugh, and yet, you still managed to very beautifully reflect on the importance of platonic relationships. I loved how you depicted both the emotional and psychological benefits of friendship–like the reassuring feeling of having someone to “fall back on” or the release of “feel-good” hormones like oxytocin–and very effectively showed how having a handful of meaningful friendships can be beneficial for our mental health and our ability to face challenges (I can also definitely tell that you love psychology). Overall, the structure of your blog was very engaging, and I appreciated that you shed light on something so consequential yet so often overlooked by more conventional ideas of love!
ReplyDeleteHey Francis! People think that friendship means giving each other fancy gifts and going out on expensive outings, but it's more of a connection that gives each other the feeling of life. Friends bond over everything, whether it be good times, really bad lows, or simply a Friday night out to drinks after a long week. It takes on many forms, but they're there for each other regardless and in turn increases self-esteem. They reflect the attributes that you want to be surrounded by and filled with. They influence you in every way. Platonic love is just as important as romantic (if not more) because they are a life-long companion if you make the right choice. I love your notion of rejecting typical examples of what friendship should look like, especially on media, because the truth is there is no singular way to go about friendship. Nor is it linear in the way that it often teaches us the life lessons we need. When I hang out with my friends, we always bargain for cheap deals and take the raggedy bus to the middle of nowhere. Not because we hope it'll lead to an amazing destination, but because we have each other and we enjoy the process and the present. Your blog is very eye-opening because it allows appreciation of all types of love in the midst of Valentine's Day. I think it's a beautiful concept to elaborate on and you summed it up in a great way. I love the introspective and psychological take! Keep writing more!
ReplyDeleteHi Francis! I think that it is so important that you have chosen to focus on platonic relationship during a time that places so much significance on romantic relationships. I think for a long time, and especially in this generation romantic relationships have always been more coveted, while platonic friendship is often taken for granted. Friends are so important, not only for hanging out with, but also for, as you said, fulfilling your mental needs for connection. I also loved the humorous way you had chosen to address this topic. Yes, of course, the power of friendship is one of those things that gets such a bad reputation for its overuse and how cliche it tends to be. But I think you chose to talk about one of the undiscussed reasons why people even seek friendship in the first place. Thank you so much for sharing!
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