Friendship Appreciation Month

Last week a close friend of mine and I made plans to hang out on Saturday. She said she’d call me to confirm the place and time on Saturday morning but when the time came and she didn’t call, I took it for granted that she was just busy and she’d call me back when she unbusied herself. I mean, it had happened before, so no worries there, right? It was only later that she messaged me to let me know that she was in the hospital and was waiting to be flown out of the country for further treatment. You cannot imagine the state of shock I was in. In that instant, my mind replayed so many memories of our friendship. Sounds a tad melodramatic, no? But in that moment, it dawned on me how devastated I would be if I lost her. Thankfully, she is making a lot of progress and is doing much better now. I’m still on the edge though – until she’s out of hospital.

Of course this whole episode made me think how much I take for granted where my relationships are concerned. I get so busy with the goings-on of life I forget to invest time in, or at the very most, keep postponing catch-up sessions with my friends. Making time for people is important – it’s cliche because it’s true. I reckon it shows just how much you love and appreciate them, even if it is just to sit and listen to the little every-day things that keep them busy, the things we consider mundane. Or even sit in silence with them. It’s a lot easier to think about someone and leave it at that. This month, I’d like to go a step further and get in touch with them.

In light of all this, it has been decided that January 2013 will be Friendship Appreciation Month (FAM) on this blog. If not for anything, to remind us all how precious the people in our lives are and to show our appreciation for them. Of course, FAM cannot go without a line-up of activities to mark it’s passing. So here they are;

• Attach a friendship postcard to a sidebar widget of your blog with the title Friendship Appreciation Month
• Send said postcard via email, text, facebook, twitter, etc to all the invaluable people in your life and let them know how much you appreciate them
• Write something good about 2 or more of your friends on your blog, in your journal or on a sticky note (it should be more than 5 sentences long) everyday for the entire month
• Every week, make it a point to meet at least 2 of your invaluable people and let them know how much you appreciate them
• Get in touch with someone you haven’t spoken to in a while and make them smile
• (and any other act of appreciation you can think of to show your friends how much they mean to you)

There are no rules and no specific format; it’s really simple. I’m hoping to gain a lot from this particular project and intend to connect with a good many hearts this month. Please join me if you can. Here’s to the people that make everyday worth living – even with the busyness that comes with living, we try our best to make it work.

Don’t be surprised to find a little note like this in your inbox soon enough

If you’re reading this (whether or not we’ve been introduced), I’d like you to remember that someone out there values and appreciates you.

Thanks for visiting!

Only love!