Who is a friend?

A person who you know well and who you like a lot, but who is usually not a member of your family. Someone who is not an enemy and who you can trust.

That is the definition from Cambridge dictionary. Since childhood, I have very few friends. But I know people who have a lot of buddies. They hang out, party hard, roam like birds, text like typewriters, share things like the stock exchange. I sometimes envy them yet I like keeping things small and simple. But one question always pokes my mind, who is a friend? Is friendship an emotional need or social need?

To my knowledge questions like these don’t have a perfect answer. But they have perspectives. Perspectives are what make the answers. So there is a unique perspective based answer from every person. How you see it, shapes it. Who is a friend then? One who completes the way you see as a friend will be your friend.

It is both social and emotional need. Friends make you socialize and many types of research prove that socializing boosts confidence and keeps good spirits. Many prefer sharing secrets with their friends to their parents and siblings.They seek emotional comfort in sharing. But the levels of sharing and socializing also differ from person to person to comply with their perspectives.

Time changes, so do friends. Once best may become strangers, once strangers may become the best. No matter what, we need friends to fill gaps. Do you like a sorted Rubik’s cube with same colors or the unsorted with different colors? Be it a single person capable of multi-colors or many with unique colors; it’s your choice, but you need colors to make your life beautiful.