Your gal pal telephones, in tears. Fight with the boyfriend, he wants out, she wants a sisterly shoulder to cry on. But you cry off – the last thing you want is an evening nodding and uh-uhing down the phone line, checking your watch to see if it’s too soon to claim ‘Ugly Betty’ has started… It’s not always pretty watching a friend fall apart and it takes patience to put the pieces back together. Besides, isn’t that what therapists are paid to do? If you are tired of lending an ear but want to lend a hand, listen to the tale of Amaterasu, the Japanese Sun Goddess and Uzume the Goddess of Dawn.
She might have been the Sun Goddess but Amaterasu was a timid thing and once, when her brother the storm god got drunk and went on a rampage, she sealed herself inside a cave. This was a bit annoying, as the earth was plunged into darkness and crops began to wither and die. Everyone begged her to come out, but she stayed put. Then her friend Uzume, who also ran a lucrative sideline as the Goddess of Revelry, had an idea. She hung a mirror on a nearby tree and performed a silly/sexy erotic dance before the cave. This caused such laughing and cheering that Amaterasu became curious and peeked out. She saw her own reflection in the mirror and, stunned at her own radiance, returned to the sky to light the world.
You can’t have dawn without sun as Uzume quickly realised. She brought out the best in her sister goddess Amaterasu because it benefited her too. Just agreeing ‘he’s a bastard’ ad nauseam won’t really shift gears and might just stall the friendship. And if you’re the dial-a-moan mate, put down the mobile and get mobile. You should give energy to your girlfriends, not earache. Go for a power walk together and every quarter mile, point out some amazing aspect of each other. Invite that cool lesbian couple for lunch to get the lowdown on real sister solidarity. Share your sunshine and you'll all beam a bit brighter.
Mod Amaterasu & Uzume – Trinny and Susannah: fashion gurus and style advice team. They started as newspaper columnists but became really successful as the posh double act on TV's What Not to Wear who gave sometimes life-changing makeovers to sartorially-challenged participants, not without tears and a boob grab or two. They met at a dinner party, didn't like each other at first, but now, after 13 years in business together, are worth a bundle and are best mates.
