I had wanted to put up a post immediately after watching this, but as usual I was too lazy/lacked the motivation to get it out. Please watch the clip before reading further; the part I’m referring to is the first 8 minutes of the clip.
In case you’re wondering, the clip is from A Million Stars 5 (I can’t type Chinese here so here’s the English title), a Taiwanese singing competition. Basically this episode was titled “Our Music Story” in English, and it involved having each contestant pick a song that held the most meaning to them. Some of the stories were rather touching; one sang a favourite song of her dad, who passed away when she was just 8 years old; another dedicated the song she sang to this disease-riddled old man she was caring for in hospital. What touched me the most though, was the above-mentioned clip featuring this contestant, who by the way is one of the better contestants in this competition. Her story went like this: She once had 2 very, very good friends (seen in the picture right at the start), and they were inseparable all the way to high school, where they drifted apart because of very minor issues, and eventually lost contact with each other. Eventually, she managed to get into contact again with the girl, and it was then that she found out the guy, the final person in the original trio of inseparable friends, had passed away. In addition, she recounted how she once made a promise to the guy that should she ever get to fulfill her dream to sing on stage, she would sing a song just for him. The song itself wasn’t very spectacular, but it was really emotional, and it was really touching.
In my previous post, I had written about how a particular supper with friends had made me feel distinctly uncomfortable. To my pleasant surprise, I later found out that some of my closer friends still visit/read my blog occasionally, despite my infrequent posts. One of those who read it was person K, and he told me something about Freudian classifications of human character. Apparently, he believed that I had a dominant superego character, and he cited my tendency to put friends first as evidence why I was that. Which set me thinking: Do I really put friends first? Why? And it was with these thoughts in mind that I watched this clip, and it really struck a chord with me. Sometimes, when friends get too close, we start getting irritated with their flaws and idiosyncrasies, and sometimes the closest friendships can end over petty arguments. However, is it worth it? Do all the shared experiences and bonds amount to so little that it cannot stand such small tests? I guess it’s the reason why I have never really hated anyone, or have fallen out with really good friends (only once I believe). Yes I whine, I complain, I doubt (like in the previous post), but in the end, I still regard them as my close friends, my brothers. Friendship is quite the marvelous thing, and I really think that issues such as awkwardness or tension (especially for ex-crushes or just ex-es), or even pride, can be overcome with a bit of initiative and effort. I guess it would take something really bad though, for a friendship to be not worth continuing or reviving. Most of the time it is not the case.
I’m not sure when my next post will be, but the next post should be about my thoughts on being called “immature” by this close female friend of mine, and why I actually agreed with her (albeit with a pang of reluctance and indignance). In addition, I think I might be getting a full domain site on my own soon, just to please my exhibitionist self I guess.
And oh! I forgot to mention, that contestant is now my favourite in the tournament. And if you want the song just ask me. I have it.