Recently, when moving to this strange place, somebody (well, more, or different than just somebody) said “You need friends, a friend there, somebody …”. It employed my thoughts for some time: just recently I experienced both the importance of having friends and the fact that I do have …; but i was also getting aware how different the meaning of having friends, friendship etc is. And not least her “You need friends, a friend there …” employed my thinking as I was becoming aware of the tricky relationship of friends – as backing, stronghold, escape … – in a society that is “un-friend-ly” in some respect.
In a completely different context I was then reading about five senses
the sense of limits, the sense of moderation, the sense of action, the sense of responsibility and the sense of solidarity
(The Declaration of Philadelphia Today; lecture by Alain Supiot (Institute for Advanced Studies, Nantes, 24 March 2010; lecture, part of the ILO century project)
The real challenge is reading all five factors together, in a truly relational way.
When will the time be coming that we (re)gain society as friend, allowing us simply having friends, instead of needing them?
COMMEDIA DELLA VITA OR PÁNTA RÊI'S FIRM GROUND 