can you guess who it's a mystery (860 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.62 on 18 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by <Art> (View user info) at 2008-01-16 18:42:32 EST
There are masses of humans, at this very moment, interacting with one another, exchanging goods and services, saving lives and taking lives. We're so used to this interaction that we may not realize how frequently, and often effortlessly, we leave traces of ourselves with the people we interact with, whether or not we're aware of the dynamic.
Some people attract to one another in situations where others repel. Depending on the setting, and the closeness or familiarity of the parties, two people may barely acknowledge each other to an equally beneficial end, such as a purchase or a service, and some may profoundly impact our lives. Some stay, and some are fleeting, but lives are always colliding.
So what is it that gauges friendship? How are we to decide who our true friends are, and what may be a mere perversion of the prejudice of shared experience?
Friends may range from acquaintances to brothers and sisters, in our minds. So where do we draw that line?
I believe, on the lowest levels, that people choose companions based on compatibility and praise. Generally, we want our friends to approve of us; we want them to laugh at our jokes, and not be too critical of us. For example, if you like to argue, chances are your friends will like to argue as well, without criticizing one another about said argumentative qualities. Or perhaps you play sports, or do drugs, or simply engage in an activity that generally prefers or requires a twosome; this is a "friendship" based solely on utility of the individual. A blatant perversion of the word.
So we're led to a vital aspect of any good friendship, the pleasure of shared company. Enjoying someone's presence seems to be a fair bit better than reliance based on a mutual reward. Since the parties involved are not simply using one another, rather, they genuinely enjoy being with, and doing things with one another, this scenario clearly exhibits a stronger connection between the individuals.
To truly connect and bond, a friendship must produce love, and I'm not necessarily referring to romantic love (in fact, consider romantic love a subset of this ideal).
Love can be interpreted many ways. People all have their own ideas about the nature of love, and how it's "supposed" to be, however as we proceed to apply these illusions to life, we can't expect the surrounding world to comply to our standards, let alone our own behavior comply to the ideal of love which we ourselves set.
Thus with love left to further interpretation, a friendship should ignite passion, and create inspiration. If you consider the virtues of those around you worth emulating, then you will become a better person by applying yourself to self-improvement for the sake of said relationship. Along with this idea of prosperity through self improvement, a friend should be someone that you want thinking better of you, or someone who inspires a creative impulse. You want to deserve his or her "love".
Passion gives meaning to life.
User Reviews
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2008-01-17 10:23:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
i don't really get how the title goes with the "story" but you had some nice words put together in an interesting fashion with lots of those punctuation thingies in the right places and so it was easy to read and understand and ultimately enjoy.
Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2008-01-17 08:54:26 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Not accounting for rape babies, of course. But that's an entirely different can of worms.
Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2008-01-17 08:53:55 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No friendship = no copulation = extinction.
It's genetic design, man.
Submitted by beer-turtle (user info) at 2008-01-16 22:23:07 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Friends to whatever degree, are family you can choose.
Submitted by Jeanneee (user info) at 2008-01-16 21:35:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
It's snowing in Atlanta. A lot.
Submitted by Amontillado (user info) at 2008-01-16 21:06:43 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
"We're so used to this interaction that we may not realize how frequently, and often effortlessly, we leave traces of ourselves with the people we interact with, whether or not we're aware of the dynamic."
This is a fantastic premise for a story.
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2008-01-16 20:59:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Life and Passion. Two sides of the same coin, two ends of the same candle, or just two pages in the dictionary?
I know. So do you.
Submitted by locksly (user info) at 2008-01-16 20:36:30 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
as long as someone caters to my ego they are my friend
Submitted by corn_nugget (user info) at 2008-01-16 20:08:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
This was pretty cool.
Submitted by sadie73 (user info) at 2008-01-16 19:58:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by rob_berg (user info) at 2008-01-16 19:35:32 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I got friends in low places.
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I figure you got friends in crawl spaces, chump. :)
Submitted by rob_berg (user info) at 2008-01-16 19:35:32 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I got friends in low places.
Submitted by netimportant (user info) at 2008-01-16 19:19:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Must be some good weed.
Submitted by monkeyswithguns (user info) at 2008-01-16 19:17:45 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
This is true, but it's written so clearly and understandably that I nearly didn't understand it.
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2008-01-16 19:08:51 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I love my friends.
Submitted by hidden101 (user info) at 2008-01-16 19:08:05 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2008-01-16 19:06:30 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Is it Frank Stallone???
Submitted by Crystle (user info) at 2008-01-16 19:05:05 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
eh - I don't know who this is, but I agree.
And it's well done.
Submitted by sadie73 (user info) at 2008-01-16 18:59:32 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Well-written and insightful.
Thank you, Dr. Dobson.