Last night I enjoyed a complete nostalgia trip to the cinema with one of my oldest (as in I’ve known for the longest not her actual age!) and closest friends. We went to see The Peanuts movie. No kids. No excuses. Just us.(ok and half a dozen other folk who were in the theatre with us)
As a kid the Charlie Brown cartoons reminded me of school holidays. It was the only time I remember them being on TV. If they form part of your childhood memories then the movie is well worth seeing for the nostalgia value alone!
I had already started to think about this blog post earlier in the day so the film’s underlying theme was quite appropriate
Friendship
Like Charlie Brown, I too remember that flurry of excitement when a new kid turned up in the street or in school. Maybe “this one” would be a forever friend…hmmm ghosts for another day and another blog.
I’d already been thinking about friendships of the past few days after seeing the above quote on Facebook. It struck a chord with me.
I’m going to be totally honest here, I don’t make friends very easily. Perhaps that relates back to the past and those seemingly endless years of being bullied in school. Perhaps its because, being an only child, I’m quite content in my own company. Perhaps it relates to being quite shy, quiet and nervous among strangers. Perhaps I’m just a weirdo! The truth is that it’s most likely a mix of all of the above factors and a few more besides.
The more I thought about my various close friends, friends, acquaintances etc the more I began to over analyse things ( as is my usual want).
We refer to having a circle of friends. I have many circles, almost like a target with me as the bullseye.
I have a very tight circle of close friends. People I’d totally trust with my life. Friends I interact with on a more or less daily basis.
Then there’s a slightly larger circle of good friends that I see on a regular basis.
This is followed by a wider circle of friends that I engage with occasionally.
Finally there’s a fairly large circle of acquaintances.
Through time people jump from one circle to another, both in and out. It’s only natural as we all make our way through life. However that inner sanctum remains intact. There are friends that I’ve known almost all of my life in there plus one or two that I’ve known for only a few years.
What makes the difference?
There’s been endless articles written on why one person is attracted to another; endless theories about common physical appearance, common interests, day to day proximity. You get the picture.
When I look round and see who’s standing beside me in that inner sanctum of friendship, it throws most of these theories out of the window. It’s quite a diverse, small group of very special individuals.
Then there’s online friends as opposed to face to face friends. That adds a whole new modern dimension to circles of friendship! It opens the question – are these real friends or virtual friends? I’ll leave that thought there…….
At the end of the day though…
Coral McCallum 