Everything Changes
We all knew it was coming. After college, everything changes, including friendships.
I didn't have a traditional end to college. It kind of ended with me having constant anxiety attacks and ruining relationships with some of the people that meant the most to me. And I regret it. Oh boy, do I regret it every single day.
But that's life; it happens. I still had some people in my corner when it was time to turn our tassels from right to left, and I am eternally grateful for those people that didn't give up on me when times got hard.
But even those people that stood by me when the whole world was (rightfully) against me aren't as relevant in my daily life anymore.
And you know what? That's okay.
We grow up and we move away and we have different interests. My friends are always going to be my friends, but our interests aren't always going to be the same.
A friend of mine from high school is a year younger than me and still in school studying accounting. It seems as though all my friends are either in the business or science field and don't always understand my struggles. I mentioned to her that I got another job, because Christmas is expensive (making that five part time jobs... yay) and that I'm still broke (lol but not actually laughing). Her response was "How are you broke? Don't you live at home?"
The ignorance pissed me off more than it should have. I know she doesn't get it. And I'm happy for her that she doesn't constantly cry when she looks at her bank account. But honestly, I didn't want to be a business person. There is nothing that seems even a little interesting about that to me. But am I thankful that there are accountants and doctors and engineers out there? Absolutely.
We lose touch for a multitude of reasons, and although having different interests is one of them, another one is the fact that we're not living on top of each other anymore. We can't just text each other and be like "Food?" and have friends answer, "Yeah, meet you in 10."
And that sucks.
But it's also good for us. We were still kids in college and now we have to be full-blown adults. Therefore, doing everything with your friends is becoming more and more frowned upon.
We're constantly told to be unique and to be our own person, and this is the time we have to actually do it.
I love my friends, but I've always been an extroverted introvert. I love being around people but I also love my "Jackie time." I take the long way home and listen to music, or run the extra mile, or sit in a coffee shop and read. Anything that makes me feel at peace.
Friendships and relationships change and it sucks, but it's necessary. The people that are meant to stay in our lives will and I'm a firm believer of that.
[Photo by Juliette Kibodeaux.]