What is the last thing you learned?

There are a legion of answers to the question above.

One practical thing I learned, though not the most recent, involves internet searches. If you want to learn about the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, please do so. Only, don’t type that acronym into a search engine and press Return – just don’t.

Be that as it may, the question above asks what is the last thing I learned. I can specify one item – it is perfectly okay to have only a small circle of friends.

For many years, I desired a large social circle. I thought that having tonnes of friends would make me happier and more fulfilled. Do not misunderstand – having a large social network of friends is great. If you are able to fill a football stadium with people whom who consider friends, then more power to you.

However, if it turns out that you have only a small number of friends, then that is perfectly okay. There is nothing wrong with that. It took me a long time to learn that lesson. Greater quantity does not translate into better quality – just more.

Embracing depth of meaningful connections rather than numbers, having a small circle of friends enables you to form deeper friendships.

Currently, the attention of the world is on Iran, and the US-Israeli attack on that nation. There is a deluge of commentary about this new war. No doubt this topic has emerged in conversations between groups of friends around the world. Why did I mention this topic?

I am a nonreligious person, and I do not think that any single religion should be the sole organising principle of an entire society. I am not particularly interested in religious clerics, and that includes priests and ayatollahs. However, I have never joined, and will not join, the Iranian diaspora groups who celebrate this attack on Iran.

They are not friends, and never will be. If your values require you to dehumanise another country to the point of welcoming a bombing campaign against it, then you are no friend of mine. It is one thing to maintain an opposition to a religiously based political and legal system. It is quite another to become insipid cheerleaders for yet another criminal illegal regime change war.

If you celebrate the aerial assassination of political leaders, no matter their religious or ethnic background, you are no friend of mine. If that puts me at odds with the Iranian diaspora community, then so be it. If you are an adult, and still raise the flag of the Iranian Shah, then you are either ignorant or wilfully naive. The Shah’s monarchy was a vicious foreign-backed dictatorship which capitulated to outside commercial transnational corporate interests.

If you are nostalgic for that regime, then you are no friend of mine. Your values are those of an imperial weasel, a cowardly, craven abandonment of basic human decency and respect for sovereignty. That means you are no friend of mine. And that is perfectly okay.

I learned that it is okay to not respond or engage with everything on social media. The attention of individuals has become a precious commodity. Everyone from marketing agencies, advertisers, information technology companies, retail outlets – want to monopolise our attention.

You only have a finite amount of time and emotional energy throughout the day. Be selective with whom you engage. No, I am not going to waste my time answering all of the Iranian diaspora’s postings on social media. Yes, I defend my position. However, getting stuck hip-deep in the quagmire of a fruitless, thousand comment social media thread is not the best way to spend my time.

Appreciate the friends that you have. Certainly be open to making new friends, that is for sure. But I learnt that having a small circle of friends is precious and rewarding in its own right. No need to keep longing for more friendships.