They say “Money is time made tangible – the time invested in the earning of it” this is logical. But how do you measure the time invested in friendship? How do you determine the value of friendship and if the friendship is indeed worth the time you are investing? Is the time that you are investing in a friendship being reciprocated or is it being ignored? Do you require some form of tangible proof of your friendship or do you take it on faith or love?
Friendship is a very sensitive subject and subjective, to say the least. We have many types of friends, the acquaintances, the best friends, the lifelong friends, and the lovers that have begun as friends. There is really no tangible proof of this friendship, only the emotions felt, only what the heart and mind might tell us about the friendship.
Sometimes friendships start to wane because of this lack of quality time that we spend with each other. We forget that like a garden that if we do not nurture a friendship it will not grow or thrive. This is true not only in friendship but in any relationship. Often times, we overlook the fact that our friends have stopped spending time with us by making excuses for them because we are clinging to the friendship. It’s difficult to give up on “friends” when you see potential in them, but after a while, you realize perhaps this friendship is not the kind of relationship that is good for you. You realize that it has been one-sided, that it has been toxic to your growth as a person. You have overlooked the slights, the lack of communication, the ignored texts, the lack of connection because you thought you had a mutual friendship. But these tangible pieces of evidence and lack of concern have finally made an intangible emotion of friendship fall apart and die like the untended garden that never got watered.
Friendship depends on quality time spent with those you claim to be friends with, sharing the good times and the hard times, laughing and crying, mutual interest and reciprocal concern and consideration. There may be unconditional love, but it requires care to thrive and grow.
© Candace L Stauber Photography
Netdancer's Musings 