The Friendship Game

I've talked about tier friendships on this blog before. I've talked about how, sometimes, despite drifting apart, there is no malice intended. It's simply time commitments that you both may have, busy lives, contributing to a marriage, raising children, pursuing careers.

But the good friends, the true friends, the tier ones, the staunch supporters, the ones that don't go away when things get rough, who can look troubled times in the eye, their own or someone elses', transcend these realities of life. I've talked about it here.

http://carolyninthecity-citygirl.blogspot.com/2009/07/tier-one.html

These transgressions, are, for the most part forgiveable.

Time goes by. That period in her life where the two of you were close recedes, and you make the change the level of your relationship--to that of acquaintence. You have other close friends who were at one point close with her too. They too experience a shift in their level of frienship with Acquaintance. The two of you stay the close friends you've always been, and regard Acquaintance with a kind of pity. After all, into every life some rain must fall, as we are told, as life shows us, and when that rain is falling, friends are crucial in holding you up in those critical moments.

Which brings me to the real purpose of this blog, it's something I touched on in this blog a couple of years ago. At the time I was writing about the duplicity of being lied to by a colleague, but it applies to this situation too;

http://carolyninthecity-citygirl.blogspot.com/2009/10/real.html

I also took used this blog entry as a reminder of all the wonderful women in my life who truly are real, and I mention A and J. My encounters with both of them, no matter how long the distance, or how much we have to catch up on, are always cerebral, enriching, and I can feel their caring. I am sure they can feel mine.

I've become enmeshed in following a wonderful website known as the TinyBuddha written by a talented woman, with a bit of zen up her sleeve, and an enormous gift for self-examination without feeling defeated, and self-introspection without judgement. I've been receiving updates from this wonderful website for a number of weeks, they come precisely at noontime into my inbox every day, and I read them as I eat lunch at my desk, and look for the meaning they are transmitting. This week, on Friday, was a beautiful entry about friendship.

I re-post here with full credit to this wonderful, enriching blog.

http://tinybuddha.com/blog/25-ways-to-be-a-true-friend/?utm_source=The+Tiny+Buddha+

I read this with a critical eye towards myself, and tried to remember all of the points, and to work on ones that may have gone by the wayside lately. I consider myself hugely lucky in the friend department. I have a circle of girlfriends who go above and beyond. It's not a huge circle, but once you're in at this stage, you're likely to be around for a long time. The friendships I made in my 20s have stood the test of time the longest, one common thread being a steakhouse we all worked at when we were young, struggling to make something of ourselves, and trying not to let the stress of starting a real career and form lasting relationships beat down our spirits too much.

Even those who I am not on a 'daily' with now, continue to check in on a regular basis, and we know what is going on with each other and when we might need a bit more of a shoulder than other times. The ones with whom I have regular phone contact with, email daily and weekly, the ones who have a standing invite to my home at any time, the ones who can come over and open up my fridge, they remain constants.

See, that's why Acquaintance evokes pity in me. She doesn't have any of that real time anymore. She doesn't have a hint of real--just superficial, self-absorbed conversation, polite interest, and the general cloying fog that seems to envelope people who feel a sense of over-value about themselves. So when I found out that some of her ideas might be a little less than original (re: MINE), I didn't really give it too much thought.

I get that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and in the words of my professional mentor, the pull-no-punches-resident-bitch-boss of Peoples Revolution, Kelly Cutrone; "average people are average and no one bothers them".

Honestly--I just can't be bothered.

note; the phrase 'resident bitch' is lovingly borrowed from Mad TV