Wednesday, November 10, 2010

30 Days of MEme- Letting Go

Today is Day 10 of the 30 Days of Truth project. You can find an explanation and all the other posts from this series here. 

Day 10 - Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know.




So I've basically missed days 8 and 9, and here it is Day 10 and I STILL don't know what to write about.

You see, all the posts I've missed are about letting people go and to be honest, I'm pretty good about just letting relationships go. Sounds terrible doesn't it?

It is, at times -- like the friendships that have drifted away. Other times, it's a good thing because it allows me to move forward.

I'm really not kidding about this. It's definitely a flawlent. (flaw + talent... I make up my own words.)

During one of my very first large, extended, in-law get togethers, a group of my husband's family was playing a get-to-know you kind of game. No, not the cheesy ones you do at staff meetings, but an actual boardgame one.

This question came up - What do you think is the most important characteristic for a friend?

My answer - Proximity.

I'm pretty sure many of his family members did a double take. They may have even questioned my suitability for Adrian. But, it was the honest truth. I'm TERRIBLE about staying in touch. It's not that I don't want to, but I'm just not really good at it.

I'm so terrible in fact, that I do tend to make it abundantly clear to people because I don't want them to think they've ticked me off or done something else to push me away. Usually, it's just me.

That's one of the things I really love about blogs. They allow me to stay in touch with people who are important to me with less failure. They lessen the miles and make proximity unimportant.

Because of blogs, I know what my nephew dressed as for Halloween, what my good friend is struggling with, and how the home renovations are coming for neighbor friends without having to try to meet for coffee amidst the craziness of all of our lives. We're all parents. We're all busy. If at ten til midnight I can read the latest on a friend's struggles with her three year old, I can still feel connected.

They also make it really easy to let go of people who are having a negative influence on my life. I just remove them from my feed, unfollow them on Twitter, or remove them from my Facebook stream. I don't even have to resort to "UnFriending" -- they just become invisible unless I seek them out.

Easy-peasy.

And isn't that what technology is supposed to be about -- making things easier. Even friendships.


3 comments:

brandi said...

I am the same way. Family, friends - if they're not close by it's unlikely I'll stay in touch. It's hard enough to stay in touch with people in my metro area. In fact B&J still give me a hard time for disappearing for the 2 years before I moved out here. And it's not because I don't like people. I don't know what exactly happens... Technology does help!

Anonymous said...

Sweetie, this is a gift I hope you never ever lose. And your honesty is awesome, too.

canape said...

I love this. I need to get better at it - and be able to do it without guilt.