Epidemic

Let's get one thing straight. I may not be the most popular person in the world, and I may have spent a lot of years feeling lonelier than Robinson Crusoe (he didn't seem to mind much, after all) but I have always had friends. Close friends, friends I could talk about Important Things with.
The more people I talk to here, the more often I hear "yeah, I've never had any really good friends..." Two people in my life, neither of whom I would consider myself particularly close to, have even told me recently that I am their closest friend. Me! It is flattering, but at the same time perplexing and incredibly saddening. Where is the richness of human interaction? the sharing of human experiences, joys and pains, thoughts and laughter? Where is trust? the knowledge of your friends' most mundane habits, their troubles and flaws? Where are the late-night laughter and conversations that are sacred to girls' friendships? How could someone miss out on that and not seek it? How could someone not seek to be known?
I am baffled. I was talking with a friend & mentor from school the other day, and she says she sees this everywhere in our university, and it worries her. She doesn't understand, she says, because her college friends are her nearest and dearest, and that is the pattern she has seen in most other colleges too... so what makes ours so different? A cultural phenomenon, she called us.
-which baffles me even more. I want to do something! I long for close friendships in my current life, but let's be real. I cannot be everyone's best friend. These girls need to learn to be in friendships, real friendships, with kindred spirits. I count myself privileged to have had so many good friends over the years... Annalisa. Hannah. Ann-Phyllis. Delice. Alexa. Kenan. Ashley. Angelica. Cameron. Godis. Most of these relationships are still alive, and that's not even all of them, only the deepest. I don't know who I would have become without them. So, knowing the satisfaction and solace that these sorts of friendships provide, I would like to do my best to promote them on my campus. Like I said, I can't be everyone's best friend. But maybe I can lead by example. Maybe I can make a few good friends, and be a good friend to a few people, and in so doing, provoke a longing in others to have a similar sort of community. Maybe I can encourage my acquaintances to think about their acquaintances, and whether or not they could turn them into friends. It's at least somewhere to start.

over 'n out.
E.O.