About 'Friendship'

What does it take to make us feel special? Sometimes it’s a generous deed, a gift, or simply a compliment from someone we respect. 

Whilst time alone can prove healing, it’s the company and support of likeminded friends that validate what we’re doing and who we are. It encourages us to grow.

When I sent my first handwritten letter, sometime in the mid-1980s, I was reaching out for friendship. The letters worked, as by the mid-1990s (when I began writing as Fennel) I was sending and receiving letters every day. And then something unexpected happened – fax machines and mobile phones arrived, and access to the internet became widespread. The handwritten letters became less, replaced by ‘short message service’, faxes, emails, chat rooms and forums, ultimately evolving into ‘tweets’ and ‘posts’. 

The increase in electronic communication made correspondence more prolific but briefer and less considered. Gone were the hours agonising over word choice, ink colour and paper type in a handwritten letter; replaced by ‘off the cuff’ and chatty remarks online. The postman’s bag became lighter, the special box of stored letters became dusty, and the communication between friends became more ‘disposable’. A sad day for friendship.

Fennel’s Journal began life as handwritten letters. You can see in the first few books that the communication is exactly as it was when we put pen to paper and captured whatever it was that was happening at the time. It was never a diary, as it was always written with a recipient in mind. It was me saying something heartfelt to someone else. A friend.

Today, irrespective of the number of people who read the Journal worldwide, the communication is only ever singular. I can only speak with one voice, and you can only read with one pair of eyes. It’s personal and intimate. A bond between friends.

But it’s mostly one-way communication. Which is never what letters sought to achieve. They were sent in hope of a reply – a connection where the recipient would respond with either a ‘me too, I get this!’, or something new that added to the thinking and overall story. This is what Friendship achieves for me. 

Friendship was written mostly by the Friends of the Priory, during the summer of 2014. It contains their interpretation of the Priory values.

As with proper communication, each chapter captures the character and essence of its author. I was delighted to read and publish the contributions, knowing that we are blessed by the company – and words – of true friends. 

With a focus on time and the wisdom of age, Friendship is an intelligent and moving book that is held close whenever I need to find the strength to keep going. It’s the spirit of ‘why’, which defines our friendship.

Favourite Quote

"What I’m talking about is proper friendship. The sort that is authentic, genuine and real. Where we can look into the eyes of another person and know what they’re thinking. ...Because, as friends, we remember ‘why’ as much as ‘when’ or ‘what’. Through good times and bad, we were there. Together. That’s the bond, the unquestionable obligation that’s freely given. It’s the tightest hug, the biggest kiss, the tearful hello and the widest smile. If that’s what it means to be a friend, or an extrovert, or just someone who cares for others, then that’s me to the last beat of my heart."

• Fennel Hudson, Friendship, Fennel's Journal No. 11

Reader Testimonials

“Possibly the greatest gift that this Journal bestows is to let us know that we are not alone.”

“Like friendship itself, this Journal brings together people and meaning. It reminds me that ‘together we are strong’. Thank you Fennel for leading our charge.”

“The message (and evolution) of Fennel’s Journal is most evident in this Friendship edition. With such obvious themes as identity and legacy, it’s clear that what Fennel has shared over the years is a route map to freedom and a stronger sense of self.”

“A Journal that’s sincere enough to say, ‘I love you’ to everyone who reads it.”