Quality Friendship

In the age when being friends with someone can be easily achieved just by clicking the button marked "Confirm," I feel like there's a great lack of quality in friendship. There are many people that I can call my friends just because we banter back and forth on Twitter, but we must also remember those that are true friends, and appreciate them for the status they have higher than those of friends on Twitter or Yelp.

I was reminded by this today when I was able to reconnect with one of my true friends that has been out of the state for quite a while. I realized that true friendship isn't having someone continue a poke war on Facebook, but someone who can be out of your life for long periods of time and it feels like not much time has passed at all. A lot of stuff has happened to each one of us during the time that we have been out of touch, yet I found myself laughing next to her as if we'd just talked yesterday. I still feel like I'm able to tell this friend anything that I need to, whether it's because I need to vent because I had a bad day or just to share exciting news about what has happened to me recently.

Something I also realized, though, is that I have not had a true friend like this for some time. I have my family, and other friends that I can talk to occasionally whenever timing seems to pan out. I blame some of this on myself because of my busy schedule with school and volunteering and work, but I also think technology is somewhat at fault here. Because of social networking sites, instant messenger services, MMORPGs, and text messaging, I've been trying to substitute virtual friendship for real friendship. I've found that obviously, that's just not possible.

I'm so thankful for being able to rekindle such an important friendship for me, and I'm glad that I still have the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of real friendship, whether it's laughing, crying, or just being able to look in someone's eyes and immediately know what they're thinking. Don't let your true friendships go to waste: they really are worth it.