I am still trying to process the month of March. I put up a post and took it down. An introvert, I have to think things through before I can really explain and write or speak about them.
The March post will go back up when its ready, with it's sadness, sweetness and glory. But not yet.
My youngest daughter and I were talking about friendships this morning, how different personalities need friends in different ways, but we all do. Her extrovert brother surrounds himself with a big group. She is happy with just a few close girlfriends. I hold tightly to my friends, even from long ago, value them, try to stay in contact. I tell my children--people are always more important than things, than status, than popularity. People are to be cherished.
Each stage of life has brought different relationships, and some stages have brought loneliness. Right now, as I am mostly at home and most of my contemporaries are busy with work and volunteer obligations--as I used to be--I often find myself at lose ends, wishing for more time with friends.
And yet even now I have a small group of friends who intentionally make time for each other every week for Bible study, who years ago dropped our masks and sat down together to pray and share. What would I do without them?
Life is hard, difficult, joyful, even sometimes brutal. And it is not meant to be lived alone.
What role do friends play in your life? If you have a chronic illness, how well or how much can you communicate about it with your friends?
I have different kinds of friends. I have friends from years gone by that I talk with, visit with and share memories of years gone by while creating new ones. I don't talk much ra talk with them though. I have neighbor friends that on occasion we lift a glass of wine to celebrate the growth of new flowers or share a new found recipe. I don't talk much ra talk with them. I have online communities that i chat with regularly and share my soul about ra. I am not sure why this is the way it is with me but it works. Each group fills a different need for me and I think me for them. But in the end, they are all a friend and yes, I need them all. We all do need friends.
ReplyDeleteLove your post. How would we make it without frinds? I need to someone to laugh with me when I do something stupid or cry with me when I get some sad news. Someone to watch my kids so I can go to the doctor. Someone that will drop whatever they are doing and go on one of my adventures. I cling to my friends of old too. And I'm thankful for my new friends as well. :)
ReplyDeleteFunny thing you mentioned this because I have a blog post of a similar nature brewing in my head. As an introvert I don't need many friends. I have one really good friend who is also an introvert and most of our relationship happens online. For both of us it is better to have time to think through what we want to say and to have our individual space.
ReplyDeleteAs far as friendships and RA, it depends. Generally if I am in a flare, I don't want to talk about it. Friend that are extroverts and really need to talk about it drive me crazy. The more they push the further back I move into my little space alone. When the flare is over, I can talk about it but generally everyone has moved on. That is the tough part about being an introvert for me. I can't talk about things as they are happening. I need to let them sit alone with me while I figure them out.
Thanks for sharing this post and for sharing a part of yourself with us.