The death of friendships

Photo by Roberto Nickson

The other day, I was speaking with a good friend of mine about friendships. We’ve managed to maintain ours for many years and it has only grown deeper. Our secret? Well, there’s a few things at play.

One: Honesty and trust. The more we were able to trust each other with the deepest truths about ourselves, the more we took that risk, the closer with grew.

Two: Genuinely wanting to see each other succeed and be happy, but also accepting each other during the rougher, sadder moments. Meeting each other where we are, checking in, without necessarily to trying to “fix” anything. Just being present is enough. More than enough, really.

Three: No matter what’s said, we always assume the best in each other—so the conversation flows freely. There’s never an offense taken. We don’t have to agree on anything, but we know who each other is as a human being and we know that there’s not risk of the other misinterpreting that. We feel safe. If ever there was a safe place, that i…