Wednesday, September 2, 2009

The Beauty of Relationships

For someone who enjoys relationships so much and draws energy from being with other people, I haven't had the best track record with maintaining friendships. My elementary school friends didn't carry over to middle school, middle school friends didn't carry over to high school, and my high school friendships exist only on facebook. When I got to college, I decided that this pattern of dropping friends in times of transition needed to end. After all, college was suppose to be the time when you make the friendships that were supposed to last. Now that my friends are scattered around the country, I'm realizing how much effort is required to maintain the relationship. It requires communication (thank goodness for facebook and AIM) and interest.

But the beauty of the relationships that are worth the effort is that sometimes it's almost effortless. I have this one friend who was probably the first friend I made in college, but after graduation we didn't really talk to each other for about 2 to 3 months. When she got engaged, we talked to each other on the phone and the conversation was like not a moment had passed. This weekend, I get to be around campus because of a job interview in town. I have the opportunity to get together with friends while I'm in town, and I have a feeling that it won't feel like I'm visiting. These friends will make me feel like I'm just hanging out with friends - 2 hours from home.

1 comment:

Jessilyn said...

I definitely know what you mean and I'm the same way I think with friendships. But I have a best friend from high school who even though we went to different colleges, we still made an effort to keep in touch. I think it's more that as you get older, you realize which friends are most important to you and which friends were just frivolous ones. It's all about growing up :)