We spend a lot of thought on the kind of people we are around, what kinds of friends we make and what company we are usually in. Everybody wishes to have a deep, rooted and peaceful bond with their friends but what most people tend to forget is the relationship they have with themselves. A friendship which absolutely comes at the top of the ladder — loving our own self. We are loving, kind and considerate to our friends, but I don’t think we give that liberty to ourselves. We would not want to be friends with someone who constantly makes us doubt our worth or someone who casually makes us feel inferior. We will cut them off as soon as possible but we do not do the same when our conscious puts us down. We do not protest against our mind which makes us feel bad, which makes us feel unloved, which makes us feel unworthy. It is important to recognize the fact that the love we look out for from the rest of the world is actually stored within us. Nobody can make us feel loved if our self imagery puts us down. The calendar piece for the month of September shows bonding with self in the most creative way .

The woman is sitting by herself, playing her ukulele. She is sitting peacefully practicing something she loves. Something that makes her feel connected to herself. The bond we create with ourselves goes a long way, once a person starts loving their persona and self, they understand the basics of friendship and bond. People who do not heal from inside do not give out love outside. It takes a lot from us to be friends with ourselves, loving ourselves unconditionally. You do not just love yourself when you are at your best, but it is about holding yourself together at your lows. We do not abandon our friends or parents when they are suffering in life, do we? Then why is it acceptable to beat ourselves up when we struggle and fail?

A lot of friendships come our way but friendship with self is always present. The chance to create a bond with ourselves never leaves, it stays with us till death. While some may argue how humans are social beings who constantly require warmth from a community to survive, it’d be wise not to negate how one’s own mind needs to be in her/his/their support to lead a healthy life, both physically and mentally.

There are ways how psychologists suggest we can practice self compassion. One of them being aware of self-narratives because they influence how you process experiences, turning neutral events into emotionally charged stories that dictate your feelings and actions. For example, self-narratives are the internal stories you construct about events, such as framing a ₹18,000 fraud as “I’m a careless idiot who ruined everything” instead of “Criminals exploited a common scam tactic.” These stories arise from cognitive biases and past experiences, shaping your emotional response. Negative narratives amplify shame, guilt, anxiety, and self-blam, leading to isolation or hesitation in pursuing action. For instance, replaying “I should have known better” heightens stress, disrupts sleep, and erodes confidence in handling next steps. In scenarios like these, feeling your body through mindful awareness fosters self-compassion by grounding you in the present moment, interrupting harsh self-judgment, and inviting kindness toward your physical and emotional experiences.

Take one or two minutes when you wake up to incorporate a quiet intention. An intention can be very healing, will make you feel like you have more control of yourself, and it is a powerful form of self-care. You will realize that you are imperfect, you fail at things but it is important to remember that everyone faces difficulties, they are part and parcel of life. Just because life fell short of set agendas, doesn’t mean you should get angry and hate yourself. Always remember impermanence. Whatever you are going through will end and the time will always move on. Nothing is permanent in life but the fact is that life isn’t permanent either so there is no reason for us to bottle up negative emotions about something we can do nothing about.

It’s safe to say that all compassion begins with self compassion. Healing others begins with healing oneself and as long as we are actively contributing towards mending our relationships with ourselves, our surroundings change for the better too. Like how we are asked to put on our own oxygen masks first in an airplane and then help others, it is important to be compassionate to ourselves before we are compassionate to others.

Self love can be anything— to a dancer, it can be performing their favourite choreography, to a singer, it could be the first song ever sung, to a poet, it could be their poem describing all their emotions. It can be anything. Being compassionate to ourselves is very rewarding. It preserves us from comparing us to anyone else. It preserves our sanity and mental health. To all our readers, compassion can be learnt at any stage of our lives— best or worst, doesn’t matter. We deserve to heal. We deserve the love, not only from our surrounding but from within. For every down in our lives, there is a moment where we lift up. Always remember, that the hard time too shall pass.

“In traveling, a companion, in life, compassion.” _Murakami

What requires more traveling than the journey of life itself?! You travel from ups to downs and then again to ups, you grow as you go through the highs and then the lows of times that matter and times that crush you. Along the way, it’s almost a miracle to find a true companion, someone who worships you and by the term “worship” I don’t mean anything fancy or what the word conventionally portrays but instead just the way of instilling the faith that one can achieve anything in one’s life.

Whenever I think of the companionship of a partner, I think of the life of Dipali Borthakur, “The Nightingale of Assam”, recipient of the Padmashree Award and her husband, Neel Pawan Baruah, a renowned painter and member of the Lalit Kala Academy. Like any other Assamese kid of my age, I grew up listening to “Xunor Kharu nelage muk biyar baabe Aai” and felt something so profound that I continue to struggle for the right words to describe it. Only as a teen I found out the love story of these two great artists through a television interview. I remember being fascinated by them! Living at a time where people forsake you at the first sight of discontent and discomfort, the unconditional love shared by them feels almost dreamy yet inspirational.

Borthakur, in the prime of her career, was diagnosed with motor neuron disease which slowly robbed her of her ability to sing and eventually to speak, at the young age of 27. The progressive neurological illness confined her to a wheelchair. Amidst all this, I would like to believe that it’s fate that made Baruah spot Borthakur at his relative’s neighbourhood. The girl in a wheelchair made his heart skip a beat. He fell in love with her, her courage, her resilience and her ability to smile and shine despite. They got married in 1976. “My father never opposed my decision as he could understand what love is being a poet himself. We never craved anything materialistic, but only wanted peace and understanding,” said Baruah in an interview with The Times of India.

They remained married for 42 years until Borthakur breathed her last in 2018. Their story is cherished by many and remembered by all for its quiet strength and sacrifice. This changed my equation of love forever. In a patriarchal society where we usually assign the role of the nurturer to mothers and wives, Baruah’s devotion to his wife is deeply inspiring.

It’s also important to mention that companionship doesn’t necessarily come from a romantic partner. I keep reminding myself how when I’m looking for love and fail to find it, it means that I haven’t looked within ourselves. Again, I’m my oldest friend and friends are our oldest love. bell hooks in the introduction to her book “All About Love” mentions, “Everyone wants to know more about love. In the realm of the political, among the religious, in our families, and in our romantic lives, we see little indication that love informs decisions, strengthens our understanding of community, or keeps us together. This bleak picture in no way alters the nature of our longing. We still hope that love will prevail. We still believe in love's promise.” And we should. Friendship has to be the most precious, unconditional source of love and companionship.

Dolly Alderton says that “nearly everything I know about love, I’ve learned from my long term friendships with women” giving the perfect synopsis to her memoir, Everything I know about love. I, too, strongly believe that the truest love we can experience in our lives is through friendship with women. Female friendships often feel like an extension of family. We become sisters, not by blood but by choice. This is true for our newsletter team as well! I’m beyond grateful! From celebrating successes to holding each other up during tough times, female friends are a constant support system. Research shows that those women who menstruate and work in a supportive all-women team end up cycle-syncing from spending a lot of time together. Isn’t that amazing?!

These are just two examples of how our minds connect, communicate and adapt, fostering a stronger sense of unity and empathy among each other. Companionship is as essential to sustenance as food, it is in fact , soul food, it’s there in different forms, we just need to be a little more open and attentive.

Most of the artworks made by our prehistoric ancestors, feature some or the other element from the natural world, whether literally or metaphorically. From Mammoths, to Bisons to Horses to Lions, we have been painting them all since the first time we learnt to do so. And why shouldn’t we? The moment we become conscious, we find our lives intertwined and made possible only by the grace of nature. No wonder, nature has been metaphorized as a motherly/ goddess figure in so many civilisations, religions and cultures.

Nature has been our ever-standing companion, the most loyal one of them all. As soon as we untangle ourselves from our urban lives and step into a natural space, it embraces us, delighting all of our senses. And in this moment, we don’t need the fancy research studies to remind us what nature does to our nervous systems, brains etc. We already feel it, deep in our souls, this primitive awareness of finally being home.

In our fast-paced urban lives with limited breaks, we attempt to keep our green companions close to us in different ways. Potting plants around our space to make it feel like home, hanging sceneries on the walls to add some colour and character, lighting exotic flower-scented candles in our space to make it smell like we are in a tropical forest. All these attempts we make on a day to day basis, may suffice temporarily, but still fall short of the real deal. The fact remains, that humans and nature are natural companions and we cannot stay apart for too long.

A lot of artists paint nature, sometimes to capture its beauty, sometimes to meditate on it, sometimes because they are longing for it and mostly because it happens to be in the background of the subjects of their paintings. Each of these attempts becomes a testament to the bond we share with nature. Vincent Van Gogh’s Undergrowth with Two Figures (1890) captures this attempt beautifully as the painting showcases two people standing in the middle of a lush forest. Interestingly, the partner standing next to the black figure almost seems to be blending with the forest, requiring a keen eye to notice her. She seems to be the forest itself standing next to the subject as a companion.

Poulomi Bose is another artist, for whom, like many others, nature becomes a muse time and again. Her works feature natural elements as symbols, companions and ornaments. Some of her works on the theme of companionship can be found in the Lore Keeper Calendar 2026. The calendar features a unique painting for each month focusing on different forms of companionship found in a person’s life. My personal favourites are the ones for February and April. They not only depict a bond between people but also feature vibrant natural backdrops that celebrate these everyday relations. While the February one depicts a playful trip to the mountains with a cherished friend, the April artwork leans more towards a quieter depiction of the safety and calmness one experiences when surrounded by their favourite companions. Accompanying this artwork, is the quote “Magic exists. Who can doubt it, when there is sunsets, pets, wildflowers and someone to love?”

In the end, companionship is not only about the people we hold close, but also about the natural world that has stood beside us since the beginning. Art not just becomes a reminder of, but also a way to honour our eternal relation with nature.

Modigliani captured his muse Jeanne Hébuterne in about 20 spellbinding portraits, each one a window into their passionate, fleeting world. But decoding a lover's heart through an artist's eyes isn't just a quick glance—it's like unraveling a mosaic of private tales, hidden longings, and endless viewpoints that shift with every viewer.

Take this iconic 1919 masterpiece: Jeanne sits gracefully, her head tilted just so, a finger lightly brushing her cheek, those signature pupil-less eyes drifting into some far-off dream. Draped in a flowing white chemise, she glows with an almost ethereal purity, tender love, and a hush of inner peace—a soft, steady light cutting through the chaos of their bohemian lives in Paris.

And those blank, mysterious eyes? They seem to cradle secrets, whispers of dreams that fate cruelly cut short—Modigliani's early death from illness, followed just days later by Jeanne's heartbreaking suicide while pregnant with their second child. There's that old saying: feelings too vast for words find their home in a painting or flicker in a beloved's gaze. Here, Jeanne's enigmatic stare overflows with their shared, unspoken fire—riddles of devotion and longing that even Modigliani, her devoted painter, might have ached to fully unravel.

What secrets, what dreams does Jeanne murmur to you today? We'd love to hear your thoughts—drop them below and let's keep the conversation alive!