Today’s topic is friendship. I will keep this short because my experiences are making their way into my first novel. To my current friends and old… you’re probably going to be in my book. Don’t worry, though. I will change your names!
Believe it or not, this is a topic that I do not enjoy discussing. I will never be the bride with eight or more bridesmaids. I never was the girl with a large group of “gal pals.” I have always been the person who had a few close friends and the rest were just friends.
I realized around my junior year of college that friendship is really hard. When I was in elementary school, developing a friendship was simple. Walk up to a person, say hi my name is… then play on the playground. Simple enough, right? Middle school was a little harder because we all begin going through puberty. It’s a tough time for any kid. Who the heck wants to try and make a new friend? I was thankful that I joined sports teams. It was almost impossible not to make at least one friend from your team.
Once I started high school, I began to understand that the change was a new experience for every person. Making friends was easier than in college, but still a challenge. At this age, you are finding yourself and determining who you may want to be one day. Around tenth grade, I had a close group of gals. We were small enough where talking behind each others back was unlikely and large enough to have our own Sex & The City reenactments (semi-joking here, lol).
Unfortunately, leaving for college, boys, and other unfortunate events, ruined friendships. During my first few years of college, I gained many new friends, lost old ones, and eventually lost some of the new college friends I thought would stick around “forever.”
I learned a lot about friendships over the last 18 years or so. The funny thing is… something I learned back in high school didn’t stick with me until recently. I wonder how many friendships I would still have if I only took Carrie Bradshaw’s advice years ago when I first heard it.
“Friendships don’t magically last forty years, you have to invest in them. It’s like your savings: you don’t expect to wake up one day when you’re old and find a big bucket of money waiting there.” – Carrie Bradshaw
For those of you in search of friends, deciding whether or not to mend an old friendship, or want advice on friendship in general… listen to Miss Bradshaw. Her wisdom has only helped me in life. (That sounds so cliche doesn’t it?) Take the advice before it is too late!
Here’s to friendships, old and new.
