Are you missing yourself? (Day8)
The article I read today is "About the loneliness when I cannot meet my friends" (友だちと会えないさみしさは).
Written by Fumitake Koga (古賀史健) the author of "The courage to be disliked". (嫌われる勇気)
He wrote about his own definition of friends and the reasons why he felt lonely when not able to meet friends.
"In my definition of a friend, is someone only with whom I show a unique version of myself. " (ぼくにとっての友だちとは、「その人の前でしか見せない自分」がいる人、なのだ。)
To be honest, this sentence is hard to translate directly from Japanese. I guess it is also close to these examples:
🐕 I act differently around different people.
🐕 The people I'm around determines my personality.
Then he further explained that "The loneliness when unable to meet such friends is also the loneliness I feel when I'm unable to meet the unique me." (そういう友だちたちに会えないさみしさは、「その人の前でしか見せない自分」に会えないさみしさでもある。)
Simply put, it means "I miss myself".
I guess he wrote this article because he has been long locked at home recently due to the coronavirus.
I totally feel him. 😭😭😭
Sentences & words pickup:
1. 認めるのは癪な気もするけれど、ときどき会社に遊びにくる今井くんも残念ながら、友だちなのだろう。
（ It is annoyed to admit, but Imai who sometimes visits the company for fun, unfortunately, might be sort of a friend as well. ）
2. そして大先輩でそう呼ぶのはおこがましいとは思いつつも、糸井重里さんも友だちだ。
（Although I think it is presumptuous to call a greatly senior person this way, Shigesato Itoi is also a "friend".）
3. もっとたくさんの自分と、つまりは友だちと、会いたいよ。ゲラゲラ笑って、おいしいごはんを食べたいよ。
(I want to meet more of myself, in another word, friends. I want very much to laugh and eat delicious meals with them.)
Word collage
1. ~しか見せない
only show something to someone
2. でもある
also
3. 癪
cause of offense; annoyance
4. おこがましい
presumptuous; impertinent
5. ~つつも
despite, even though
6. ゲラゲラ笑って
laugh
Word collage
