On Friendship

Friendship is on my mind. In the past 20 months, I have learned a lot on the subject. It required no research. The knowledge sometimes accrued slowly in tiny bits. Other times knowledge blasted into instant meaning. I am no expert on friendship. I keep learning as I make new friendships and consider my lost ones and the mistakes I made that led to those losses.

What’s on my mind about friendship:

If you lost a friend, was the friend ready to be lost?

I like building driftwood forts with friends.

At one point do you give up on a friendship?

Can an old basketball court with a chain net on a rusty rim be your friend?

Should friends be cryptic with one another?

Why did it take me so long to need real friends?

Can a true friend have an agenda with you?

Is it okay to have friends you disclose certain things but not disclose these things to other friends?

My dad always taught me: you make friends where you are. I am in a new place, a new state of mind, so it stands to reason that I would make new friends, and that has happened.

There is nothing so thrilling as having a lost friend return from the past and just ask: how you are doing? I’ve had that occur to me several times the last year and it brought me great joy. I have tried to do the same but have been generally rebuffed.

Friends follow up with another.

I never had a best friend growing up. It was my dog, books and imagination. Did I miss out?

Can your partner be your best friend?

Are friends with benefits a great thing or not?

Do real friends repay loans?

Should you borrow money from a friend?

I’ve made the best friends of my life the past year, one of them while I worked one night as a custodian.

I was such a terrible friend to several people I professed to care about. I’m trying to make amends.

Is having a dog or cat as your best friend the same as having a best human friend? Do all humans need human friends?

What is the equation for a good friendship?

Disagreements between friends can sometimes strengthen the friendship.

Can music be your friend?

Do therapists have friends?

Can rain be your friend?

What is the bet way to communicate with a friend? I am finding email to be the worst way.

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