5 things i know about friendship

my best friends, charla & sofia, and i at cadillac ranch in march 2013 on our spring roadtrip

01. friends don't have to all be the same "type". 

you can have work friends. you can have hometown friends. you can have blogger friends (love y'all). you can have college friends, volunteer friends, bar friends. and this is ok. because all these people don't have to be assigned the same level of trust or the same communication frequency. you'd think this would be obvious, but it took me forever to figure out. long ago, i wanted everyone to be my most fantastic, best friend - the tell them everything kind. you can't keep this up with everyone in your life.

02. real friendship doesn't slip away.

if someone is a genuine person deserving of being in your life, the fact that you haven't seen them in a few months, a year, etc. won't really change whether or not they like you or would go to lunch with you. it's great to pick  back up where you left off - and distance doesn't matter.


03. you can meet friends anywhere -- and that's awesome!

i have friends from school i've known since i was 8 years old. i've also got my two best friends from college who were randomly assigned to me as roommates. i've got friends i met through other friends. people are all over, and no, it's not weird if you meet on twitter or something.

04. people can serve a purpose in your life. sometimes that purpose ends.

losing a friend is never easy. this isn't a way to justify mistakes you made in the friendship, but realize that if this person will indefinitely not be in your life, the purpose has been served. you've learned from them, and now you can grow. accept the phases of life and friendship.

05. the absolute true friends in your life will likely be fewer than 5. if you have more, be grateful. if you have just one, be even more grateful.

just as i said not all people are the same type of friends, you'll probably find that the true, ride or die, always there, never questioning, genuine humans who want the absolute best for you, are happy for you and supportive but honest and concerned, know what you're saying without words, etc. - those are rare. rarer than you think. cherish them. always.