Connections

We make all sorts of different kinds of friends in life.  We have the friends that have known us forever and have traveled down the road of life with us. Whether we keep in touch frequently or infrequently - we know those friends have proven by still being there that they can always be counted on and the friendship has survived the test of time. They tend to be a very small, very select group and they know shit about you that can make you cringe. But the same goes in reverse.  :P

Then there are the people we meet that we have an instant connection to. They may not be life-long friends but they play a powerful role in our lives and again, we know intuitively - they are along for the long haul. Whether we talk to them daily or sporatically - they "get" us and we hold them near and dear to our hearts. This is probably the rarest type of friendship and on of the most precious. There aren't that many people out there that you KNOW will stand beside you no matter what. There aren't that many people that will love you unconditionally. 

Then we have the friends that are more than acquaintances due to the amount of affection shared. This is the more common kind - they are the meat and potatoes of our social circles - whether it is online or in so-called real life. We hang out with them, we share experiences, we have fun together. They don't get to see into the dark corners of our soul that often, if at all but they lift us up and make us smile.

We also have aquaintances that we call friends, especially in networks like facebook and blogging - we rarely chat but delight in them when we run across them. They are like our party pals. There is never any exchange of anything significant but we love to wave and hug... and move on.

Finally we have the friends who aren't really friends but strangers who lay claim to friendship. We never talk to them, don't know who the hell they are and wonder where the fuck they came from. This is almost exclusively a facebook friending phenomenon. Now to be fair - in some cases - these strangers do become aquaintances over time through their persistance, and even in some instances real friends. But that instant connection isn't there so it takes time.  

Oh - i forgot one... friends who aren't friends at all but enemies in disguise. I don't think i have any of those... but i hear they exist. Online and in real life. No - i take that back... i can think of a few people in "real life" that smile and make nice to my face but then curl their lips and say shit behind my back. But then, i don't consider them friends at all.