December Meme: Friendship
Today's post also comes from
meneldur . It's also a very special birthday post- happy birthday cousin!
You asked if friends could be family, to which my only response is HELL YES. Honestly, as someone who has never felt especially close to her biological family, I've often felt that my friends ARE my family. I know for some people family also can be friends, but I've never particularly felt this ever. I'm kind of jealous of people who have this and oddly curious in a Margaret Mead among the natives kind of way. I remember a college friend telling me that "My mom is my best friend." And you know, her mom really is her best friend. They talk about everything, they fangirl over books and tv together. But when she told me that, it was like something out of an alien culture. She could have been speaking Klingon. That's how foreign that concept feels to me. But good for her.
I've always kind of felt like I have very good "Friendar." I can very often tell instantly whether or not someone is going to be a good friend or not. It's like "friendship at first sight" if you believe in that kind of thing. Because I have very clear memories of meeting my best friend (who is still my best friend) on the 1st day of 1st Grade and instantly thinking "She's going to be my friend." I felt the same way about my partner and my college best friend. At the same time, I also appreciate those times when friendship has grown over time with someone who I initially never thought I would be friends with. I felt this way about a woman I met on one of my research trips. I spent a month in an isolated (and haunted) scholars house on a rambling Victorian manor in rural Delaware in January with this woman. On the surface, she comes off as a brash, loud, aging goth. (um and she actually is, but that's why i love her) I thought our month together was going to be something out of the Odd Couple. By the end, I was like "please, please, don't leave me!"
And I greatly value my online and internet friends. I'm sad that LJ culture is no longer all that lively and that tumblr makes it harder to have conversations. I know I get busy from time to time, but I always welcome fannish interaction, so please don't be shy.
This entry was originally posted at http://kmo.dreamwidth.org/ Comment here or there as the spirit moves you.
meneldur . It's also a very special birthday post- happy birthday cousin!
You asked if friends could be family, to which my only response is HELL YES. Honestly, as someone who has never felt especially close to her biological family, I've often felt that my friends ARE my family. I know for some people family also can be friends, but I've never particularly felt this ever. I'm kind of jealous of people who have this and oddly curious in a Margaret Mead among the natives kind of way. I remember a college friend telling me that "My mom is my best friend." And you know, her mom really is her best friend. They talk about everything, they fangirl over books and tv together. But when she told me that, it was like something out of an alien culture. She could have been speaking Klingon. That's how foreign that concept feels to me. But good for her.
I've always kind of felt like I have very good "Friendar." I can very often tell instantly whether or not someone is going to be a good friend or not. It's like "friendship at first sight" if you believe in that kind of thing. Because I have very clear memories of meeting my best friend (who is still my best friend) on the 1st day of 1st Grade and instantly thinking "She's going to be my friend." I felt the same way about my partner and my college best friend. At the same time, I also appreciate those times when friendship has grown over time with someone who I initially never thought I would be friends with. I felt this way about a woman I met on one of my research trips. I spent a month in an isolated (and haunted) scholars house on a rambling Victorian manor in rural Delaware in January with this woman. On the surface, she comes off as a brash, loud, aging goth. (um and she actually is, but that's why i love her) I thought our month together was going to be something out of the Odd Couple. By the end, I was like "please, please, don't leave me!"
And I greatly value my online and internet friends. I'm sad that LJ culture is no longer all that lively and that tumblr makes it harder to have conversations. I know I get busy from time to time, but I always welcome fannish interaction, so please don't be shy.
This entry was originally posted at http://kmo.dreamwidth.org/ Comment here or there as the spirit moves you.