Heyaa
Today, I would like to share an image first.
Looks interesting, huh? Happy, carefree, fresh.
Is it a clicked photograph or a hand-drawn portrait? Throw around a wild guess if you want. If you donāt: This image is Ai-generated.
One of my friends generated this using Leonardo AIā¦Ā
And I use Leonardo for my merch store illustrations sometimes. I found Leonardo to be that good. A friend introduced it to me a few days ago.
Yep, I get helpful advice quite often. Abhijeet has been an amiable kid right from school (no brag intended).
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OK, back to my storyā¦
You know, as a kid, I was quite popular in school. Not as a bully. No, no, no, no. I wasnāt a bad guy. Not in my movie.
I had made quite a bunch of friends. I had friendly relations with everyone. Ummm, maybe I should rephraseā¦ I didn't have unfriendly relations with anyone.
Was it tough? Making friends? Nopes. It was quite easy. You asked for something. Did a bit of chit-chat, and voilaā¦ āWeāre friends.ā
The only problem was: asking. The introverted me had trouble approaching people. I still do.
Itās been over 15 years since I left school. And I havenāt made a lot of friends in these years. Not offline, at least.
With online social networking, though, I made a lot of friends. A LOT!
Some have become really close, while others are mostly work buddies. And then, there are a few with whom I can have random chats for hours.
The truth is: You need friends, whether you like it or not. Itās not that you need 150 or 50ā¦ whatever few you can have, you should have.
You need them for help, sometimes professional, sometimes otherwise.
They donāt have to be perfect or knowledgeable enough to help you out. They just have to be there and figure things out together.
You just talk about things, whatever you're comfortable with.
That's how things happen; thatās how ideas flow. You just talk, and you stop when itās time to stop. No hard feelings, no awkward byes.
Thatās how I come across new things. Thatās how I was able to set up the Book Blabber blog. And thatās how the merch store came into existence. Read hereā¦
All from random talks that lead to ideas and then execution.
You need friendsā¦ who support youā¦ who are ready to help you in need.
I donāt know if I am the best person to be called a friend. I donāt feel any attachment to most people. Still, I have got people who talk to me and share themselves with me. I donāt know why. Probably their definition of friendship is something I donāt know.
I have friends who are there for me.
Like one friend introduced me to Leonardo AI over a random chat (and upgraded my ātech stackā), another friend is helping me test my store and market it. A few friends gave me a shout-out, too. And my store has made sales.
Seems like I can make this store a profitable side hustle someday. Thanks to friends. Without them, I would have been a frog in the well.
So, even if you are an introvert, you need friendsā¦ a lot of friends. The real close will only be a few, of course, but many others will look out for you.
And that was all for today.
Bidding adieu.
Live long and prosper.
See you next week, with another story.