Monday, March 8, 2010

"Friendship divorce"

A recent article called Friendship Divorce on Gwyneth Paltrow's website, goop.com, got me thinking.


Friends come and go. To quote one of the contributors to that article: "Most friendships are situational." I agree. I have come to believe that this is an inevitable fact of life.

I have had good but different friends for all stages of my life so far. I grew apart from childhood friends when we moved house. School friends turned out to be just that for when I switched schools, they eventually disappeared from my radar and vice versa. At university, a year away from each other (as part of the degree) was enough for me and my best friend to change and not get on anymore.

It's easy to accept that that was part of growing up but it actually continues.

When you become a mother, you're thrown into a new social circle again. Your new friends are other mothers. There's such a sense of security in being with them. After all, most first-time mothers are in pretty much the same situation and haven't a clue what to do. They can become really close friends. But after a while, you might realise that apart from kids, you have nothing in common with these people. And if there's nothing else to talk about, it's got to happen at some point.

Another split. Or if you are aware of the changes taking place, should it be more of a drift - eg better to do it tactfully?

Whichever, the truth is that it can hurt so it was comforting to read the opinions in the article.

Read the article here.

Goop: Friendship Divorce

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