This post was not going to be a poem. I’m not a man who writes poems. I do not have that level of abstract thought. However, the way this post is structured may read like one, so we’re calling it a poem!

This poem is called no man is an island. It is about friendship and how we become a reflection of the friends we make over time.

A solo trip to Barcelona this summer inspired this post. Most of the trip I had this nagging feeling that this would be more enjoyable with my friends. The saying no man is an island kept coming to mind.

No man is an island is an idiom taken from a 17th century sermon by John Donne, Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral & a fellow poet (wink wink nudge nudge)! The phrase means that no one is truly self-sufficient, everyone must rely on the company and comfort of others in order to thrive. I believe this to be true.

We need others in our life for life to be truly complete. This doesn’t take away from independence itself, there is a belief that to do truly great things you need to remove yourself from the status quo and delve into the deep dungeons of your true being. But what’s the point of doing all that if you don’t have anyone to share it with, if you know what I mean?!

Ok enough rambling, over to the poem. This poem is a reflection on how I’ve been influenced by my friends.

• From you, I understood what it means to have an unwavering kindness & curiosity of others

• From you, I understood the true importance of family

• From you, I understood that it’s not always friendship at first sight, sometimes it’s even disdain

• From you, I understood that I do not have to love every aspect of a person to class them as a friend

• From you, I understood what deep focus and going after your goals in silence means

• From you, I understood that I can truly love a friend as I do family

• From you, I understood that the strength of a friendship is not always based on proximity

• From you, I understood the importance of not compromising, not backing down from what you want in the face of adversity

• From you, I understood the power of individuality, expression, and all that other hippy stuff

• From you, I understood wit, dry humour & why I don’t have either

• From you, I understood the nuances of what it is to be a man and how to navigate life as one

• From you, I understood how to sell myself, and why the ability to sell oneself is a skill everyone should have

• From all of you I received friendship and that is the greatest gift I could ask for

After reading this I hope you put some time aside to reflect on how your friends have influenced you as a person, hopefully your list is as long as mine.

I can’t wait for some of my friends to read this & try to guess if I’m speaking about them, only to find out that I was just speaking about myself all along 😉

So that’s my solo trip to Barcelona summed up. Maybe solo trips are wildly overrated or maybe I chose the wrong city to venture to on my own, who knows!

Side note - I find it ironic that I’m currently reading a book called stay true, that is about friendship, gifted to me by a friend!

HAPPY NEW YEAR - One of my resolutions is more writing, so here we go, slow & steady!