Making and Keeping Friends

It can be hard to know the difference between a true and fake friend at first. However, once you know the difference between the two, you should try to make friends and keep them. Maybe making friends is hard for you because you're shy or naturally quiet. Even if you're not shy, it can be hard to talk to people you don't know well or who make you feel nervous. The fact is, most adolescents feel shy some of the time and some feel shy a lot of the time. There's nothing wrong with keeping to yourself when you don't feel like talking. If you want to have friends, you have to be friendly. That means being kind and thoughtful and learning to talk and listen. Talking without listening isn't really a conversation at all. It's just exercising your voice and mouth. If you don't listen to the person you're talking to, you aren't likely to make or keep many friends. Another way of having friends is by sharing.

Once you start conversations, keep them going by telling others something about yourself. Other kids are more likely to talk about themselves if you share something about yourself. Sometimes, sharing means telling others about what your opinions, interests, plans, and feelings are. Lastly, to be friendly, you should speak kindly to others and of others and be polite. Saying things like please, thank you and excuse me is very important. It also means showing respect and treating people the same way you'd like to be treated. Nobody likes to be bossed around. Sometimes you may need to be assertive, and sometimes you may even need to speak to people in a strong voice to stop them from doing something harmful. But even then you can be polite.

Polite, respectful talk is one way to exude kindness. Kind talk is more than that too. Kind talk is going out of your way to help others through your words. It means giving words of support to people who are lonely or sad and giving sincere compliments to others. You can show friends that you really care about them through your words. Kind talk is adding kindness to someone's life with your words, especially when they don't expect it. But it can even be more than that. It can also be adding kindness through your actions by doing favours for others. By taking these steps, you will be learning how to make and keep friends. But you will also learn who can be trusted with your friendship and who can't. Both are important to be assertive and self-confident. Irene S. Roth writes for teens, tweens, and kids about self-empowerment. She is the author of over thirty-five books and over five hundred online articles. She also has four hundred and sixty published book reviews both online and in print.

The Magic of Congenial Friendship

We, as social animals need company of each other to share our happiest, grief-stricken, difficulties and easiest moments. Consequently, it leads to either celebration or empathetic moments in return. Whatsoever way we may think to be independent, we are either directly or indirectly dependent on each other on this planet. Basically, it is a give and take relation that drives us to be dependent on each other. Hence to bring an equilibrium in this relation we need to be empathetic, altruistic and compatible. There are two ways to defy the above relation - one by denouncing our physical possessions to go on to become a hermit, or by being greedy to possess all physical things that come on our way. Nevertheless, these two exceptions would lead to an hostile atmosphere resulting into a chaotic situations.

Thus, such a dependent and jovial atmosphere is the need of the hour; because, this blooms into a harmony that has more value than gold or platinum. The above friendly relations which include compatibility resulting into a congenial atmosphere could be viewed with a small story. The story revolves around a group of six friends who met in a two year education program in a city in India. They were from different parts of the country, having a considerable exposure towards potpourri of cultures across the length and breadth of the country. Naturally, this portrays their eclectic knowledge about various topics while still being down-to-earth.

A common thing that bound them together is weekend parties and spending time together after the supper. Nonetheless, their cultures were different; however they share the common thoughts of being together for their better understanding, non-regionalism and maturity-in-thought. During the two years of stay, never ever have they involved themselves in a turmoil situation on petty things, and whatsoever may be the issue. They respected each other while trying to be empathetic, sympathetic and friendly to each other. Obviously, such a behavior has developed a congenial system among them portraying their compatibility for each other.

Moreover, the exciting thing among them that bound them sturdy is their exciting bike trips they have had during the two year stay. These trips have been exciting and have been drawn as successful ones by their peers in their batch. The point to be emphasized and to be noted here is that despite being different on the basis of caste, creed, gender or region of a country, we need to be empathetic and sympathetic to each other so as to maintain a congenial relationship. Eventually, this would lead to a compatible dependency which culminates into a harmonious and jovial atmosphere.

Look, Listen, and Learn From Friends

As children we develop friendships that we vowed no matter what, we will be friends to the end. We were sincere in the very idea and thought of that pack. However, life begins to happen, and other things begin to happen at the same time. When you are children all is wonderful, colorful, and free. We see the bluest sky and the greenest trees. Our friend is right no matter what they say or do, and we just admire how they can tell a lie and make it sound so true. Innocence has long been lost and almost forgotten. Though we try to keep things as light-hearted as possible; life is uncomfortably black and white most of the time. The colors have been meshed into an unrecognizable color that we can't readily name; so we find ourselves spontaneously making up a name that appears to fit. No one wants to say that this is not right, or this is wrong, or even question anymore "WHY"? Nooooooooo, we just mindlessly and "purposely" get-in-to-fit-in and in some arenas this seemingly is the only way to acquire the desired end goal of us all.

However, this compromise puts us at of risk of being just another face, another number, another... just the same old "here's another one'. Don't get-in-to-fit-in, dare to be different, even if "different" to today's standards is not popular. I can be me, you can be you, we can be us, and they, can be them; and everyone can accept "who each one is", but not necessarily "what" we all may do. That is an individual choice, and personal conviction of whatever "that" is that we, they may do. If you don't like "what I do", simply 'don't participate', if I don't like what you do... I simply 'don't participate'. My end is mine alone, and I am very confident about my end.

Your end is your end, and I hope you are as certain of your end. My end is "eternal" bliss, for I have experienced a small glimpse of this bliss on this sided of measured time. I have also experienced "a glimpse of and been impacted by unrest, unfaithfulness, unloved, unforgiveness, pain, sorrow, confusion, despair, illness, hopelessness, and boy have I seen my share of death; but, the promise of "eternal bliss" has overshadowed my heart, soul, spirit, and mind, til my only outlook is "inner peace", and "unfiltered joy". Some of my childhood friends are no longer hear on this earth, some of them have gone on beyond this world. None of them have come back to tell me where they are, but, for some I already know, because they made it very clear while they were yet alive; where their eternity would be.

This I am assured of and this you can ponder... #if you my friends went to heaven, they don't want to leave; and if their eternity is in hell... #they can't leave. I leave you with this... If your friend(s) say to you that they have found inner peace, unspeakable joy, and life is good, though they may be financially struggling; and you on the other hand have $$$$$$, but you are miserable, no inner peace, and you find yourself envying your friend(s)... DON'T! Ask them... how is it you can be broke, alone, and at peace... they may just tell you... "I have unspeakable joy"; that I can't explain but it's something that has helped me, and me it has surely sustained.

The Responsibility We Have to Friends

Deep friendships mean abysmal betrayals, when, for some reason, the relationship ends. Inevitably every close relationship, friendships particularly, are affected by conflict, and ultimately some skirmish occurs to test the strength of trust between two buddies. There's deep hurt, sorrow, anguish, and loneliness. But things can get even more complex if one or both begin to interact from a platform of that hurt.

It stands to reason that it's when we're hurt we have more capacity to hurt others. And when the other person is hurt they will not respond well to our hurtful comments and behaviour. Friends really have a responsibility to one another, and if one doesn't take responsibility surely it's up to the other. What an irony it is that one person from the eroded friendship must take the role of being a friend. But what is the role of a friend when they're in conflict with another friend? Well, the obvious thing to say is this; if they don't act as a friend, the friendship has no future.

Not just that, the friendship will ever more be a source of pain that cannot and will not be reconciled. Bitterness is bred on the spread of relational distance, the refusal to vulnerably admit and lovingly address hurts. A friend must act beyond their feelings of sadness and anger from betrayal, and genuinely reach forth to their friend as if the hurt hadn't occurred in the first place. That's right, for one attempt, or perhaps one more, it's the godly thing to reach out and endeavour to understand the hurt in our friend.

This is helped by getting the log out of our own eye first (Matthew 7:1-5). It would be a waste of their time and ours, and potentially catastrophic to an already damaged friendship, to reach out without being ready to assume our own responsibility for what went wrong. Remembering that the premise of this article is the initial interactions to get the friendship back on track after conflict, reconciliation can start with us. Redemption is in our hands if we walk humbly with our friend.

5 Genuine Reasons Why We Lose Friends

Most of us are unable to retain friends as we grow older. The reasons are countless and few of them are genuine too. So if you are the one who feels guilty for losing childhood friends or school friends then you should not as it is absolutely normal. Let's find out the reasons why we lose friends. Changing Priorities In every phase of life, we have different priorities. Since your life is changing, you have to go with the flow. Be it studying abroad, professional life or getting married, the priorities need your focused attention. You must have realized that something you had at the first place on your priority, it has become now second. In most of the cases, that first priority even no longer exist. New Role of Life When you are on your journey of a new parent, the world seems like upside down. It is the time when your priorities changed immediately.

Like most of the new parents, your key priority also becomes taking care of kids. No joy can match the bliss of seeing your child growing up. It somewhere affects your friendship and you tend to lose friends. That is the point when you no longer have time to catch up with friends like you used to. Added Responsibilities There is a time in life when you have more responsibilities and have no time to hang out with friends. It can be the time once you get married, or prepare for an exam or a promotion at work. This way, you have less time for your social life which in a way has an impact on your friendship too. You cannot overlook new responsibilities and on the other hand, you don't wish to lose friends. Refraining from Toxic Friends Your friendship was started on a very good note. But with the changing time, some friends unknowingly develop a toxic relationship.

You may find some of them have developed interest in you more than a friend. This may turn you off if you were serious about friendship only and did not wish to think otherwise. We also tend to discover few things about our friends' character that may not go well with our values. In such cases, it is hard to retain even our best friends. Moving to New City This could be one of the most genuine reasons for losing away friends. When you move to a new city, there are lots of challenges ahead. Settling down in a new location may take time which is sure to affect your friendship to a certain level. Moreover, you get in contact with new people and then find it hard to stay connected regularly with friends of the old city. The above list shares some of the most genuine reasons why we lose friends. However, a good friendship is not worth losing at all. Try your best to keep it alive and stay connected with old friends because they are the gems of your life that add value to your existence.

Botticelli - Enduring Artist of the Renaissance Period

The Renaissance produced some of the most prolific artists that are still heralded today as the great standard of talent and execution. One of the most prominent artist's on this list is Botticelli (1445 - 1510). He encompassed a style of painting that emphasized a pure state-of-mind and a preference for nostalgia that has made him the "especial object of Pre-Raphaelite admiration in the nineteen century... " 1 However, outside of his own lifetime, Botticelli became the "The Forgotten Florentine", as his work "suffered centuries of neglect before it was rediscovered by the Victorians." 2 Like many of his contemporaries, Botticelli had an expressive, even emotional aspect to his painting. He was energetic and intense but simultaneously refined in execution. A grace was exuded through his linear presentation of design and blend of clear colours that enhanced delicate natural details. With an evocative sensitivity toward the artists of the Middle Ages, Botticelli combined all of these attributes in his remarkable works. This is most evident in his major paintings of Primavera and The Birth of Venus in addition to a number of other images that were equally outstanding. Before exploring these creations, it is helpful to become acquainted with the background of this famous artist. Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi was born in Florence in 1445.

 His family affectionately nicknamed him Botticelli which is an Italian rewording of the word "botticello," meaning "small wine cask"; this name would remain with him forever. His working-class family prided themselves in providing tanning and quality weaving goods that were highly sought after at the time. Although quite poor, the family was close-knit and existed in happy domesticity. Botticelli was a talented but restless child and his parent's decided to remove him from school and instead send him to work as an artist's apprentice. His training began with the goldsmith, Maso Finiguerra from where he progressed to the studio of artist Fra Filippo Lippi in 1461. The majority of Botticelli's experience was painting frescoes for Florentine churches and cathedrals which eventually led to working with the painter and engraver Antonio del Pollaiuolo. In addition to learning his craft from these artists', Botticelli also made valuable connections to wealthy and powerful families. Confident with his talent and ability to secure commissions, Botticelli established his own workshop in 1470. It was at this time that he received his first appointment and had the opportunity to exhibit his considerable gifts. His first patron was the Merchants' Guild for whom he completed the painting of Fortitude for the Council Chamber.

This was secured for him by way of his Medici family connections - the most prominent of Florentine families. During his career, Botticelli was engaged by several noteworthy patrons, including the wealthy Medici Dynasty, Pope Sixtus IV and writer Dante Alghieri. It was through these clients that Botticelli completed some of his greatest works which transformed him into a highly regarded artist of the day. The Medici family had a significant influence on the success of Botticelli and throughout his working life they provided him with a steady tributary of clients. In addition, the Medici's themselves were highly desirous for numerous original Botticelli paintings. Of these works, Primavera (above) and Birth of Venus were two of the most outstanding that Botticelli created for the Medici's and they were displayed in the Medici Villa Castello.

The interpretation of these pictures has made reference to the long, slender proportions of Venus together with showering her in soft golden light that "may depict Venus as a symbol of both pagan and Christian love." 3 These two paintings helped to establish Botticelli as having both secular and non-secular abilities with his painting. Once the Sistine Chapel was complete in 1481, it was the duty of Pope Sixtus IV to assemble a special group of artisan's to decorate the interiors; Botticelli was one of them summoned to contribute. Delighted with the opportunity, Botticelli went to the Vatican in Rome and there he executed The Punishment of Korah, The Youth of Moses and the Temptation of Christ. After a year in Rome, Botticelli returned to Florence in 1482 and he became more sought after than ever before. His work at the Sistine Chapel brought him an abundance of new commissions that ranged in subjects from secular to religious subjects and took the form of banners, wedding chests (cassoni) and paintings.

His renditions of Madonna and Child images were particularly renowned and his studio created many reproductions of his own originals as they were too popular and hence financially lucrative not to exploit. Botticelli also hired several assistants and prospered to a level he never anticipated. During this time, Botticelli also embarked on illustrations for writer Dante Algheri's most prolific work, The Divine Comedy. Commissioned by Lorenzo Medici for these images, Botticelli spent time from 1480 to 1500 working on these drawings, however they were never completed. By 1490 Botticelli fortunes changed and calls for his works, particularly religious subjects diminished. This was due to the Medici family being expelled from Italy and the Dominican monk Savonarola preaching major moral and religious reforms. These events had a profound impact on Botticelli and his work reflected his state-of-mind. He refused to adapt to the realism of anatomy that Leonardo Da Vinci used or to the latest subjects heralded by the new artistic elite. He instead wanted to stay in the romantic reflection of expression from the past.

Throughout his lifetime Botticelli remained in his home city of Florence and in the house that his father purchased for the family many years before. When his father died, Botticelli continued to live with his brothers in this home. Given his loyalty and love of his birthplace, Botticelli was more disturbed with the later developments in Florence. He suffered decades of decline and when he died in 1510, he was buried in his lifetime parish of the Church of Ognissanti; sadly, no mark of the grave remains today. Botticelli's genius was re-discovered during the Victorian age and admiration for this work continues to the present.

For those possessing artistic appreciation, it is easy to understand why. Some of the most outstanding features of Botticelli's style embraced a variety of remarkable techniques. His early influences from the artisans that he apprenticed with greatly affected his work. Botticelli's treatment of fine details, especially his rendition of halos was exemplary; his fine work to augment the most "exquisite brushwork in a delicate mesh of gold." 4 Botticelli was considered the master of line as he was graceful and disciplined in what Sir David Piper called "the seductive charm of his flowing line." The effort Botticelli placed in creating distinction and beauty in his flowers, garments, facial expressions and other subtle but refined subjects was extraordinary. It is no wonder that he is regarded today as one of the most brilliant and enduring artist's of the Renaissance period.

Affordable Handmade Canvas Paintings

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If you think the colours would soothe and suit the space of your decoration then you know you have chosen the perfect one. For most of us canvas paintings are expensive affairs. But, how would it be to have those affordable home made canvas paintings that you can buy online? Yes, it does make sense doesn't it? Top quality modern art and abstract art forms on canvas at affordable prices may seem a little surreal. But indeed they are not! They come with an affordable price tag that might even surprise you pleasantly. If you are an ardent lover of art and paintings and wish to have a couple of handmade canvas paintings for your drawing room then you should start looking for them on the web. Yes, you heard it right! You do not need to go to an art collector or an art gallery. Only a few clicks on your mouse will take you on a journey to the places where art meets technology and let you choose from an exciting and enchanting collection of modern day art forms. Buying a canvas on the web is an easy and exciting prospect.

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