NOEMAYA

I have had a wonder-ful inner life, in the literal sense of the word. Starting as a child and well into adulthood and even now, I have been visited by the most fascinating thoughts and insights, about the external universe and its laws, the inner life of the mind and consciousness, and of the mystery of life and the nature of reality. Given all the suffering, I won’t change this life with anything else. I’d choose it again exactly as is. The wonder is worth the pain.

But wonder often strikes one in solitude, when one is detached from the ordinary and stands at the edge of the abyss. One finds wonder in the desert night, but that same desert, in its frigid nights and blazing days, and its strange creatures and beasts or prey, can swallow a man into irreversible chaos. Wonder and insanity dwell in the same place. That same abyss at the edge of which a man stands in wonder, can pull him into itself. Our friend Nietzsche is a great example of such a victim.

So, what protects a man from insanity if he chooses to have a wonderful life? Answer is: Friendship. An open heart where love flows, and this flow of love among men, this not only safeguards a man’s spiritual journey and protects him from chaos, it also allows the wonder to propagate backwards from the periphery to the center of the community where not just one man but all men are elevated to a better plane and perspective. Our friend Socrates is a great example of this kind.

So, make and keep quality friendships, cherish them. Remember, open heart doesn’t exist in the singular; it’s rather plural. There’s no such thing as one open heart, but there are open hearts. Heart is a collective organ.

Let’s celebrate friendship today, and all days, by being a good friend.

I’m an old school writer; “man” or “men” both mean the gender-neutral mankind.