Making friends is a part of life. It begins in preschool. Some people forge lifelong friendships from the very beginning. Others have friendships for certain seasons. There is the kid you were best friends with in second grade homeroom. But the next year, you have gone your separate ways. There are the friendships formed through a commonality. Mommies go to playgroups and meet other moms. There are people that form friendships because they work in the same office. But how many of these people are people you will still be talking to decades from now? How many of these people will get to that next level with you? Sure you can bitch about crazy kids, or the latest celebrity gossip, or get excited together about a new pair of shoes. But how many of those people make it that next level where you might share that you are having a bad day, as well as, why?
Trust is a huge part of any friendship. You trust that they are telling you the truth, that they are keeping your secrets, that they have your back. How do you make the leap from “just a friend” to a deeper relationship? How do you begin to trust someone? Is it slowly and over time? Is it something you are supposed to feel in your gut? There might be people I feel more drawn to than others, but that still doesn’t mean I’m ready to open more than a couple pages in my book for them.
And then sometimes it appears to just all line up. You just know. It feels right. You finally make that leap and decide to say fuck it and throw caution to the wind. Open yourself up and let them in to witness all the inner bits, those personal moments, the parts of you that are only shared with a handful of people, the good, the bad, and the really ugly. Maybe in an odd way it feels liberating. Such a bond with another person that isn’t your spouse, your parent, or a sibling. It can be amazing.
...Nevermind.