Mixing Circles
My work computer is currently running a virus scan, so I am completely out of commission. Supposedly, some sort of bug that started last Friday has been going around J&J and it basically brought the entire company to a standstill. I may have single-handedly infected 200+ people myself. The only reason I know this is because all of a sudden, I have all these new “users” in my Documents and Settings folder on my hard drive. What can I say? I email a lot of important people who email a lot of people! :-p
One thing that has been on my mind lately is that I am worried my circles of friends are becoming more undefined (in that the circles are the ones that are becoming ambiguous as opposed to the individuals), which can both be seen as a benefit and a detriment to the health of my relationships with people. I have sets of people I define in different categories, such as my dance friends, my sports/softball buddies, the Leland/Saratoga crowd, the Stanford peeps, my colleagues and ex-colleagues, and my out-of-state confidants, and these people are more or less labeled as such on my buddy list. It scares me when one or more of them overstep their boundaries and venture into uncharted waters since I kind of enjoy the invisible partition that exists now. "What do you mean you dance? You just can’t! I mean, you’re supposed to be my third baseman!"
For the Fourth, I will be bringing everyone together under one roof, and that excites me as much as it frightens me. I love the fact that I am bringing my favorite people together to celebrate a special occasion -- my special occasion -- but just because they are good friends of mine do not exclude them from being perfect strangers to others. And what if so-and-so does not like so-and-so because so-and-so once said something about or did something to so-and-so? I have written about this before, but my thinking is, if you are my friend, then I see something in you that I do not in a lot of other people, so please do not make me second guess my judgment.
There is nothing I wish for more this time around than for everyone to get along. Or at least pretend to, for my sake.
One thing that has been on my mind lately is that I am worried my circles of friends are becoming more undefined (in that the circles are the ones that are becoming ambiguous as opposed to the individuals), which can both be seen as a benefit and a detriment to the health of my relationships with people. I have sets of people I define in different categories, such as my dance friends, my sports/softball buddies, the Leland/Saratoga crowd, the Stanford peeps, my colleagues and ex-colleagues, and my out-of-state confidants, and these people are more or less labeled as such on my buddy list. It scares me when one or more of them overstep their boundaries and venture into uncharted waters since I kind of enjoy the invisible partition that exists now. "What do you mean you dance? You just can’t! I mean, you’re supposed to be my third baseman!"
For the Fourth, I will be bringing everyone together under one roof, and that excites me as much as it frightens me. I love the fact that I am bringing my favorite people together to celebrate a special occasion -- my special occasion -- but just because they are good friends of mine do not exclude them from being perfect strangers to others. And what if so-and-so does not like so-and-so because so-and-so once said something about or did something to so-and-so? I have written about this before, but my thinking is, if you are my friend, then I see something in you that I do not in a lot of other people, so please do not make me second guess my judgment.
There is nothing I wish for more this time around than for everyone to get along. Or at least pretend to, for my sake.
On the flipside, you never know what connections can be made. Perhaps in a few years, a young couple will say "yeah, we met at the birthday party of a mutual friend". You could be that mutual friend!
Posted by
Unknown |
June 26, 2008 at 9:18 AM
amen! we should all take a dose of our own advice, actually.
-carrie
Posted by
Anonymous |
June 26, 2008 at 11:33 AM
It can surprise me sometimes how people can fail to be civil. I know that not everyone gets along, but you'd think that at least in a group setting, people would be more polite.. Or, if it comes down to it, just not speak to the person that bothers them so much, unless specifically addressed. I don't know, people seem to hold grudges. I know I can, but the only person I've really held a grudge against was...a specific case, and I feel I was still pretty civil when communicating. Anyway, it's amazing the grudges people can make and hold, and hopefully although they might not be forgotten, they will be overlooked for one weekend (albeit, a three/four day one) of the year.
I hope for everyone (especially you) that things will go smoothly and that everyone will be on their best behavior.
Posted by
Starlight |
June 26, 2008 at 6:58 PM