1) The Funny Friend: Hopefully, you instantly identified this
person in your mind, the one who can always make you laugh, no matter how bad
your day was or what else is going on in your life. I am lucky enough to have a couple of these
friends, people whose razor sharp, lightning speed wit can take my breath away
and make me forget, even if it’s only for a minute, why I was ever feeling
sorry for myself at all. The funny
friend is often not so much a person you spill secrets to; this is more the
place you go when you need an instant lift.
Funny friends are the coffee (or wine) of the friendship world!
2) The Shopping
Friend: I use the word “shopping” here
as an example, but this is the friend who gets you out of the house, whether it
is to go shopping, see a movie or even go for a hike; mutually enjoyed
activities are a crucial part of this friendship. Most girls have a “shopping friend”, but can
also have “book club friends”, “coffee friends”, “yoga class friends”, you name
it. The bonding is over something that
maybe your BFF isn’t into, or a very specific hobby or interest. I actually have “horror movie friends”,
because I LOVE horror movies and both my BFF and husband HATE them; I need to
channel my enthusiasm somewhere! These
sorts of friends allow us to express pieces of ourselves that might get denied
otherwise.
3) The
Motivating Friend: You know the one,
your friend who probably wears a cape and a mask in some alternate
reality. This is the person who has
actualized their dreams and encourages you to believe you can too. The best part about motivating friends is
that because they are secure in themselves, they never use shame or belittling
as “motivating tools”. They genuinely
see the potential in every situation and are more than happy to help you see
the potential in yours. This person is
crucial to have in your life.
4) The “Lazy”
Friend: the counterpoint to the motivating friend is your friend who calls (or
texts) you to announce that they have eaten an entire box of Pop-Tarts while
watching a marathon of “The Good Wife”.
This person is comfortable with mess, both theirs and yours, and is
there to let you off the hook on days when you know for a fact you are going
down. The coolest part about our “lazy”
friends is that they are not actually lazy—they have jobs and raise children
and do all the things your motivating friend does (although without, perhaps,
the same Martha Stewart flair)—they are just more comfortable with down time and
relaxing than most of us ever will be.
And in this way, they are super heroes, too.
5) The Old
Friend: not chronologically
(necessarily), just a friendship of a long enough duration that no period of
your life is unknown to this person.
Like an old couch, an old friend is a place you can flop down and reminisce
or rehash or sometimes just complain without having to complete hours of
backstory. This person is a witness to
all you have been through, and while you may have grown apart geographically or
even ideologically, they are in your bones and always there when you need them.
6) The “Artsy”
Friend: “Artsy” can mean a million
things, but you know one of these people the minute you see them; whether their
art is music, painting, dancing, crafting, whatever, this is most likely the
person who will push you out of your comfort zone. These people see the world with different
eyes than most, and they will encourage you to do the same. Your “artsy” friend might introduce you to
opera or ballet or Van Gogh…or maybe just encourage you to wear a new color or
try some exotic food. But “artsy” people
explore their creativity and inspire you to do so as well.
7) The “Friend
From Another Place”: in the old days,
this might have been someone you met at summer camp or on vacation, an exchange
student or even just a pen pal…I once corresponded with a girl I met on Cape
Cod for a year just because we had the same first name! Now with the internet and Facebook, our
opportunities to make this friend have exploded; you can “friend” someone who
lives halfway around the world. The key
piece of the friend from another place is this:
they have lived a very different life than you and broaden your
horizons. This friend is extremely
important in order to expose you to new ideas and a culture (or cultures) other
than your own. Even if that culture is
the culture of Wisconsin, when you live in Maine! Nowadays many of us have a lot of friends
from other places, and this is a very, very good thing.
8) The Tedious
Friend: come on, you know you have
one! The tedious friend is the one whose
name makes you wince when you see it on caller ID, but you pick up anyhow. I don’t recommend having a lot of tedious
friends, but one is helpful. Because our
tedious friends are usually extremely well-intentioned, good-hearted people who
nevertheless do an inordinate amount of complaining, or relating of
insignificant detail, or sometimes even bragging…our tedious friend teaches us
patience and let’s face it, they make us feel like we are a good friend. And that is a really great feeling.
9) The “Crazy”
Friend: this is the one you have been
waiting for, am I right? All along you
have been worried that I wasn’t going to mention the “crazy” one because this
is the friend EVERYBODY definitely has.
And ALL of your other friends know who your crazy friend is. “Oh, he/she is the crazy one” is the response
you will get to any mention of this person’s name. But you LOVE your crazy friend like
crazy. Our “crazy” friends are more
daring, ruthless, spontaneous, adventurous and “out there” than most of us
could ever dream of being. They inspire
us to take risks and live it up on occasion.
They remind us that life doesn’t have to be such a serious affair. They allow us to own our passions and maybe,
just maybe, live them too.
10) The BFF*
(see above) You are the one, dearest, I absolutely cannot do without. This is why I need the other nine: aren’t you glad I have all these other
friends to take some of the pressure off of you?
PLEASE "Like" this for me on the Huffington Post! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kara-postkennedy/10-kinds-of-friends-everyone-needs_b_8237298.html
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