I've been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to study abroad, go on exchange, and change jobs. I've met different circles of friends with opposing personalities and views in life, and obtained a series of experiences that have shaped me into the person I am today. a 15-year old me wouldn't have thought that these millions of obscure yet valuable adversities and fortunes could be thrown at me.
You bump into a stranger, become friends in a split second, share each other's stories and instantly become best friends. Then, you both get busy with school/work/whatever is going on in your life, you try to meet or v-call once in a while until you both slowly drift apart and no longer see each other. You are back to square one, strangers to each other. I don't know if you've been in a similar situation before, but I have, multiple times.
At first it saddens you, it's so hard that you refuse to accept the truth. Yet, it strikes you from time to time, setting you off in a perpetual state of worry until you give in to the fact that it happens and will always do. These experiences made me realize the existence of tentative friendships. I have arrived at the conclusion that not only employees are replaceable, but also friends. It becomes a habit to see people come and go as you move on from one life station to another. You suddenly adapt to only meeting your friends twice a year, or even not at all. These adaptability skills have prepared me for every bit of alteration in life, and that includes not getting attached to people too fast. I guess adulting somehow makes people cold-hearted and indifferent. Maybe dull to a certain degree. :p
Sometimes I wonder whether adulting really affects the loss of friendships, or it is merely a matter of distance. Or both.
What I know is that proximity has an effect in constructing friendships, or any relationships in a broader sense. But does it play a bigger role than similarity? If so, then how far can we compensate similarity for proximity? Do we loathe separation so much that we trade what we have in common with someone for geographical closeness?
*This post is dedicated to those glorious days back in college*
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