Less is More - Musings on Friendship

“A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world.”
Leo Buscaglia

As a young girl, I ran with a whole gaggle of gal pals.  I call us a gaggle, because I’m sure that’s what we sounded like – geese, honking noisily wherever we went, disturbing the peace and tranquility that the adults favored.

At the movie theater. At the public swimming pool. The mall.

At school. In the park. Slumber parties. Roller skating rink.

There we were – all ten or twelve…or fifteen of us at once.  Chattering like sparrows. Really annoying sparrows. Sparrows that won’t shut up when you’re trying to sleep in.

Sparrows that…okay, enough with the bird analogies…

 

The subconscious goal, of course, was to collect as many friends as possible – the more you had, the more socially acceptable you were.  It meant you were liked, popular, and well-adjusted in all manner of social skills. It meant you were happy.

Right? Hmmmm.

Flash forward 20+ years and you’ll see my once-gaggle of friends has dwindled to measly proportions.

 

Three is my magic number now - three perfectly beautiful (inside and out) friends. I see no need for more. Kind acquaintances and super-sweet work colleagues are a blessing, to be sure, but when it comes to true, deep-rooted-weather-any-storm, always-there-for-me friends, I find that less is more.

In the same way that a single flower can be more beautiful than a bouquet or a piece of art more exquisite when it stands alone, friendship, for me, is far more meaningful, valuable, and intimate when shared with only a select few.

"True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends, but in their worth and choice."
- Samuel Johnston

True friendship takes a level of focus and dedication that other relationships may not require. You have to nurture it.  You have to tend to it. You have to hold back it’s hair when it’s had too much to drink and gets sick on New Year’s Eve and ends up falling asleep on your futon, fake eyelashes askew, drooling on your decorative pillows…

There are more laughs, cheers, and celebrating in the good times. More hugs, hand-holding, and (sometimes tough tell-it-like-it-is) encouragement in the bad times. I love my friends. I wouldn’t trade my magic three for a whole gaggle, flock, or brace (oops, more bird words) of others. When you find friends like these, you keep them and you keep them close.

 

 

“She is a friend of mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order. It's good, you know, when you got a woman who is a friend of your mind.”

Toni Morrison

 

Many smiles and blessings of friendship,

Linking up with Weekend Rewind
 @ Maxabella Loves

Today’s Gratitude List:

·         Greek yogurt

·         Old fashioned wooden toys for Izzy

·         Painted rocks and river walks

·         The mailman and packages of books!