Long time no see- My Japanese friend 亜美 (Ami)

Life is a journey. We meet certain people at several points in life, make friends which may last forever and some not-so-much. Sometimes even the closest of friends can become strangers in the long run for no reasons at all or for reasons best known to a single party. Life is such that not everything can be controlled and we can only enjoy life while it lasts and observe as events play itself out.

While scanning through my Mega Drive for some of my pictures from the year 202o, I saw a lot of pictures from myself and best friend, as well as some from a friend I had met on an online language exchange App- Hello talk. I was improving my Japanese at the time, it was a perfect opportunity since the Covid-19 lockdown killed every activity and made life boring.

I had to keep myself busy by by interacting with Japanese peeps that were interested in improving their English speaking skills hence it was a win-win situation or something called a 'Quad pro quo'.

I met a beautiful young lady with whom I became friends with. We shared thought and experiences as we had something in common- Depression!

We both had great skill set and had lot of people looking unto us but the only problem was the depression which constantly pulled us down and messed with our self esteem to a certain degree. I guess we got close due to what we shared and maybe because it takes a depressed person to understand a depressed person.

She was a very talented artist and spent most of her time alone with her art work as it was her own way of recharging her social batteries.

Going through my drive brought memories of the time spent together on the virtual space. Hence, I'd be sharing some of her art work here to show just how talented she really is.

Painting on mirrors were her thing as it was her own way of expressing herself and maintaining sanity. We all have our own way of escaping reality, This was hers! She always wanted to be someone else in some far away place as she was tired of seeing the same toxic faces.

On completion, the below was sold for about ¥100,000 (Japanese Yen) at an art exhibition.

Another painting on a mirror!

And lots more.

My favourite painting of hers along with the process was when she got hired by a music band to paint a cover photo for an album they were releasing. She was optimistic at the start but she encountered a problem of feeling she wasn't good enough even when she had all the talent one could ever wish for.

The problem with depression is that it makes you feel like there's something missing in your life even when there's none. You'd constantly feel like a part of you has been taken away and you want it back so badly that you'd begin to hate yourself and the people around you.

I've been there and I'm still there so I know what it does to you. At some point it looked like I was developing a personality disorder and my self esteem was going down the drain.

According to her, her closest friends had left as well and I was the only listening hear for whenever she wanted to talk about anything and everything. It wasn't easy for her.

Unfortunately, being a virtual friend was a limitation as I couldn't be there for her when she needed a friend to be physically present.  

I didn't get to see the completed cover photo as our friendship went down the drain not too long after. The distance was a problem.

I haven't heard from her in a year now but I sincerely hope she's fine and okay wherever she is. I miss her and hope to hear from her soon.

I'd take a leap of faith in a few days and will try contacting her to see if she's doing great since I still have her direct contact. I miss her daily and I'd I sincerely hope she is okay.

All artwork belongs to my dear friend 亜美 (Ami)!

Regards!

Kristoffer!