I love fleeting friendships.
Did you gasp? Roll your eyes? Throw up? I get it — fleeting friendships are historically the worst! Who enjoys putting time, effort and care into a friendship that will simply end one day? Well, I do, and I’ll scream it from the rooftops!
Fleeting friendships are defined by the fact that, in a blink, they cease to exist. Maybe I’m a glass-half-full kind of person (I tend not to be), but I think they’re so much more than just that.
To me, fleeting friendships are a building block in life. Yes, they end, but it’s in that finite existence that the magic truly lies.
Let me preface this by saying that I have a best friend who has been in my life for over seven years. She knows me, we’re practically married, and I wouldn’t trade that friendship for the world. Therefore, I fully understand the need for stability and the importance of the ensuing permanency. So, where in the world am I finding this apparent magic in friendships that have an expiry date to them?
When I’m tip-toeing on the fine line between self-reflection and existential dread, I like to compare my life to a home made of bricks. Each brick has been placed by someone I’ve known. Some of these people lay one brick down, and they’re out. Some are forever patching the cracks and doing maintenance (I think it’s clear I don’t know anything about building houses).
Even if one of those bricks wasn’t there, the walls would have holes in them, or the roof would probably cave in. Each one, however small or inconsequential, has made a random house into a home.
For me, the magic of fleeting friendships is in the impact. I believe that every interaction, every awkward smile, every hello and every random, deep conversation behind a desk at a summer job shapes you. It could be completely mundane or unexpectedly life-changing, but each of those moments leaves you a little more changed.
Sure, it might not always be positive. Some of it is disappointing or disheartening. Still, you remain a sum of all these parts.
Of course, I know these friendships are going to end. It could be today, or it could be in five years. However, that knowledge allows me to fully immerse myself in the beauty of their kindness, wisdom and grace.
One day, I’ll have gone weeks without thinking of them. What once was so near will simply be a distant mirage. And yet, their impact will never leave my bones, and their words will never leave my mind. Even when I no longer see them, those who are mere passersby in my journey through life will have rerouted my existence forever.
Life happens. It’s unexpected and frustratingly random, so why wouldn’t you make the most of it? Have fun, share dreams and sink deep into the throes of a fleeting friendship.