Exactly a week ago, my group of friends from high school decided to go on a spontaneous day-trip to the mountains.

Three of us left our lives in Manila to settle back into our hometown because of the pandemic, so almost all of us are finally in the same city after years of only seeing each other during breaks. Even then, we’ve all become adults and have our individual lives going for us, so we honestly don’t really see each other so often.

This made our mini reunion all the more special to me, not only because were we finally complete (at least for the ones in the Philippines), but also because I finally got to replenish my soul with deep and authentic connections.

With the dawn of the internet, we’ve been given the opportunity to effortlessly connect with other human beings and significantly expand our circles, but I personally think it has lowered the quality of friendships and relationships. I was in the mindset that the more friends I had, the happier I’ll be, and it took a lot of growing up for me to understand that superficial and futile connections could never satisfy.

Lots of pauses and painful reality checks made me realize what my soul was truly longing for—depth not breadth.

I learned that talking through a screen can only compensate for my longing up to a certain extent, but the tactile authenticity of being face-to-face with another person genuinely hits different. There’s a certain warmth and comfort I feel when I’m physically around my safe friendships that a video call or chat could never give. Sitting across a friend in a coffee shop and catching up even just for 30 minutes feels completely different from talking to a friend on Zoom for hours on end.

To me, relationships are only ever worth holding on to when they’re safe. It’s when you can be your most authentic self without judgement, and wholeheartedly express yourself without fear.

I consider myself extremely lucky to have found that in my group of friends who’ve known me from when I had zero clue about my identity, seen me at my worst, but stuck with me nonetheless. I realized that it was a choice each person had to make to continue to journey together, but I also still find it serendipitous to have even crossed paths with these souls who’ve already made such a profound impact in my life.

They say friendships tend to become secondary to romantic relationships, but to me they should be given equal importance. This isn’t a brand new topic and what I shared here are views most of us all already know, but I still think it’s worth reiterating that authentic friendships also deserve the kind of discourse romantic relationships get.

So yes, to whoever is reading this, it’s your sign to call a friend, schedule a hang out, and meet up. Promise it’ll be worth it.