Emersonian Friendship #3

Last Thursday I spent one whole school day being an "Emersonian Friend." Because he outlines so many different ways to be a good friend, I had to narrow it down to one. I decided to be completely straightforward and honest with everyone. That does not mean I went around telling everyone how I felt about them, but if one of my friends was being irrational or asked my opinion on something, I would tell them. It seems like a fairly easy task, but when you get down to it, it's hard to be a voice of reason and reality when things get stressful. 

This was a very stressful week for a lot of people; the first week back from Thanksgiving break and only two weeks left before Christmas. I know many people were worrying about upcoming cumulative test, sport games, and just an overload of work in general. One of my friends, lets call her "Marina," was having a tiny mental breakdown during one of our free periods. "Ah, I am going to fail Chem, not get into college and die!" Now obviously, we both knew she was not going to die just because she failed a test. But I felt it was my duty as an Emersonian friend to be sincere with her. As Emerson said "A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud." So this is exactly what I did. "Marina, you are not going to die. You have studied hard for this test and if you do not do well it is not the end of the world. I am sure there are some extra credit options. One bad grade on a test does not mean you won't get into college." My advice to her was to calm down because to be stressed before a test is not good, and to take each class one step at a time. I relaxed her a bit, but still she was stressed.

This day showed me how important some of Emerson's points on  friendship are. Not just being sincere, but being honest when people asked me how I felt, or how their hair looked, or simply listening to them while they rant was really helpful for my friends. I could see potentially how being this honest towards people could cause problems. Sometimes we need to tell a little white lie just to make people feel better, although I am sure Emerson would not agree. Imagine a world based upon Emerson's Friendship Essay. It would be totally different. People would be way more down to earth and no one would worry about hurting someone else's feelings because they were just being honest.