So the other night Boone (one of my oldest and closest friends ever) calls me up and asks if I can come over and help him finish remodeling his bathroom. So I drive out to Arlington, arrive 50 minutes late and we start messing with some plumbing; both of us doing a fine job of pretending like we know what we were doing. After about an hour, having had accomplished what the average capable man would have done in about 15 minutes, we went downstairs and ate dinner.
Afterwards we went outside so Boone could have a cigarette (I know…I know…he’ll die young)…anyways we just sat outside and talked, and laughed, and told old exaggerated stories the way that we remember them happening. It was great…we worked for about an hour total, and then talked for about two and a half….and then I went home. That night was rest for me. I never have to fake it with Boone…ever. I felt rested when I went home that night.
I really can’t say how important it is for me to have those real kinds of friendships in my life. And I mean those real, deep, intimate friends…not my “good buddies”….because everyone has plenty of good buddies.
Gosh, our definition of “friend” nowadays is just stupid. We can have 500 Facebook friends, hundreds of people following us on Twitter, text message 50-500 times per day, and yet still NEVER really communicate with others or be truly known by them. We love keeping people an arms distance away. Close enough to be popular and impressive looking, and still far enough away to be safe. That is the WORST kind of lonely, when you are surrounded by people, and feel completely alone.
‘Safe’ friendships are always boring by the way. I’ve had my share of ‘safe’ relationships. It’s like you’re always having to put on a show for other people, always looking good in front of them, never letting your guard down and letting them in to your life; to see the good and the bad IN us. We can be our own puppets sometimes…just putting on the show for everyone to see…it’s exhausting.
I hope I don’t sound angry or negative right now. It’s just what I’ve noticed. Fight for those relationships….they don’t happen naturally or easily.
