Category: Friendships

My last post on The Benefit of Diverse Friendships explained that we become better men by having friends with a wide variety of racial, religious, socioeconomic, educational, gender/sexual orientations, nationality, ethnicity, age, and —yes, even political viewpoints. But when men are friends with a woman who is not their wife, there is a huge risk. This post explains why many guys must proceed with caution in friendships of the opposite sex.  Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus The New York Times #1 Best-Selling Relationship Book of All Time is Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: A Practical Guide for Improving Communication and Getting What You Want in Your Relationships. Written in 1992 by relationship counselor John Gray, the book has sold more than 15 million copies. Dr. Gray states that most relationship problems between men and women are a result of psychological differences between the sexes.

My year-long series, New Year; New Types of Friends now moves to examples of friendships in the world of music. From backstage hang-outs and long-time creative partnerships to enthusiasts who bond over a specific band, friendships over music help strengthen our social bond and connection as friends. There are several examples of friendships and numerous songs that teach us about companionship, camaraderie, support, and brotherhood. Although I’m not a trained musician, nor can I carry a tune, I do love to listen to music and will provide some examples to show how music helps develops close friendships. Music Strengths Our Social Bonds English composer, Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold (1921 – 2006) once said, “Music is the social act of communication among people, a gesture of friendship, the strongest there is.”  There are many reasons why music strengthens our social connections. They bond over a specific genre or band. They like

Friendship is a recurring theme in films by Walt Disney Studios, especially their animated productions. As I continue the subset of examples of animated friendships in my series, New Year; New Types of Friends, the friendship of Woody and Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story movies, shows us how moving a friendship beyond its comfort zone can provide opportunities to grow in character.   About Disney’s Pixar Pixar Animated Studios is a computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful feature films. Based in Emeryville, California, Pixar was purchased by The Walt Disney Company in 2006 from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, its majority shareholder after its spin-off from Lucasfilm Ltd in 1986. Pixar’s mascot Luxo Jr. is a desk lamp from the studio’s 1986 short film of the same name. The studio uses RenderMan Interface Specification a technology that turns three-dimensional scenes into digital photorealistic images.  Pixar has produced 26