Some friendships are seasonal. Mono no aware teaches: (1) a friendship that fades is not a friendship that failed — it was true to its season, and its season has passed, (2) honour what the friendship gave you — the conversations, the support, the laughter — these are not erased by the ending, and (3) let go without bitterness — the person you were friends with has changed. So have you. That is not betrayal. It is life.

Going Deeper

Explore this concept further in The Japanese Art of Mono no Aware by Takeshi Mori.

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