Photos by Laura McCawley / Makeup by Luna

The Importance of Having Good Friends

One of my good friends from middle school and I recreated a photoshoot that we did with super old school iPhones SEVEN years ago when we were freshmen in high school. After reminiscing on nine years of being friends, it got me thinking about friendships in general.

The past few months have been pretty lonely. Transitioning from a college student to working from home full time has left me spending most of the time alone. Entering this new phase has definitely shown the difference between my true friends and people who I was friendly with due to daily encounters.

The same thing happened when I went from high school to college, so I really wasn’t surprised. It was actually one of the things I really dreaded about graduating because there were so many people who I liked and enjoyed but will probably never speak to again.

Don’t get me wrong. I made a couple of really awesome friends during college. Same with high school. And middle school. And elementary school.

Basically, I have picked up one or two really good friends in each phase of my life and have held onto them until this very day.

Almost all of them are super low maintenance friendships (meaning we rarely see each other but pick up without missing a beat / are always there for the other in a time of need) which is nice.

I have always liked being alone the best, so this wasn’t really a problem before. I got my social fix at school or at work.

The only issue with my low maintenance friendships is that I don’t necessarily have somebody to hang out with when I feel like throwing on real clothes venturing out of my house. This isn’t any of my friends’ fault. Most of them just live far away because of college or because I was friends with them before I moved to Florida.

I have really learned to cherish any time that I have with my few dear friends.

But do you know what I find super cool? How each of my friendships is so very different. Different experiences and memories have bonded me with each of my friends and I absolutely love that. Each relationship is so unique and valuable.

Over the summer, some of my friends that I met at Saint Leo slept over and we drank champagne and made a parody of a YouTube video. One of my other friends and I bond over being the only ones from our kindergarten class who aren’t mothers or married.

I also find it interesting that I am so, so different than every single one of my friends. For a while I found this super frustrating, but then I realized that if I waited for a friend to come around that was exactly like me, I would be disappointed (1. because it would never happen and 2. I am probably not that cool).

I am so grateful to all of the people that have been my friends at one point or another. Maybe it’s cliche, but every person has served a purpose. I have never had any major falling outs with anybody, so pretty much any friendship I’ve had has fizzled out naturally, so I am full of fond memories of people who were part of my life for just a season.

Thank you to the handful of friends who have stuck with me over the past couple of years, decades or however long you’ve been in my life. I really appreciate you.

Now that we’re done being sappy, enjoy a few more photos from our shoot with Laura.