Friends, They’re Not Just A TV Show.

Anyone who knows me, knows there are days when I would trade my iEverything for a plain ole’ flip phone, however, because of this technology I can talk to my friends almost every day. The problem is that I rarely get to see their faces in person, and it is even more rare that I get to give them big, heartwarming hugs. So when I walked into the salon for my monthly haircut, I felt the warmth and love I couldn’t get from my iEverything. It’s where two of my very best friends that I’ve made in Nashville work and I hadn’t seen their faces in over a month.

See, I have hermit tendencies and can very quickly not leave my apartment for days, sometimes weeks and technology has made that even easier. But just like family, friends sustain me. They help me look at things differently, think of things I wouldn’t have thought of and try new things I would never have thought to try. I would not be an acupuncture junkie if I hadn’t met with Dena IN PERSON and started talking about the aches and pains of being old and what she was doing for her aches. I wouldn’t know if something matched, whether it was a sofa and coffee table or a shirt and pair of pants if I didn’t talk to Adam. The same would be for Adam.  He wouldn’t be checking his Apple watch right now to know this post has been published if it wasn’t for me convincing him just to buy one after he physically touched mine IN PERSON.

I would never be able to talk to friends who live across the country and check in on them to make sure they were ok, without the use of technology.   A Facebook message checking on an Aunt is far faster, albeit less personal, than an actual letter through the mail. No matter how much I want to fight it, technology has made it easier and faster to stay connected to the friends that I hold dearest to my heart, whether they are in Vancouver, New York City and even Nashville.

I was never really a person who thought she needed friends until I accumulated a few good ones. A few here in Nashville, a few that I left behind in Pennsylvania and new ones scattered across the country. They feed me on a daily basis whether they know it or not, they are a necessary part of my life, and all have had a hand in shaping the current version of me.

So, unless you live with 3 of your close friends, and the other 3 live across the hall from you.  Upstairs from a fabulous coffee shop where you can sit apparently all day.   You need your iWhatever to connect to friends that you might be closer to than even your family members. Friends are a necessary part of human growth and expanding who you are as a human. Perhaps NBC knew a little something all those years ago when they created that show.

However you connect with your friends, whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, text, the good old fashion phone call or the rarity of a lunch or dinner, make sure you connect. It’s good for your soul and theirs. Smiling, laughing and deep conversation is a good thing and makes us all better people and the world needs more of those better, happier, good people.