Friends, Fairies and Buddha Buddha

It isn't easy to make friends at any age. It seems like the older you get the harder it gets.  I don't know if it is because you don't have that constant influx of new people to choose from, or if a person just gets pickier about what they want in a friend.  When you are a kid, you get dragged into so many activities, whether it be a sport, or music or dance, and then you have school to try and make friends at. Surely some one some where will have the same interests that you do. It is inevitable.  Then once you make a friend you have to figure out how to keep it.  That normally involves a lot of trial and error, because what if the thing that you once had in common is no longer in common, how to you stay relevant?  A person can't stay in tee ball for ever.

Giving this some thought, it all boiled down to one thing.  To find a friend and to keep a friend, all you have to do is do something. It doesn't matter what that something is, just do it.  I know that sounds pretty vague, so I will give you some examples as to what I mean by something, but something is different for every one.

Doing something with current friends, gives you time to bond and something new to discuss.

For example:

In Glenn Rock every year for the past twenty two years there has been a festival.  Sproutwood Farm is the exact location and it caters towards those of a whimsical manner.  There are vendors of various shapes and sizes and plenty of people in costume, that ranges from goblins to fairies to a little bit of steam punk with wizards thrown in just for the fun of it. It is all mixed in together and normally comes out wearing glitter. 

A group of us went down (GAT, Lizzy, Barbie, T2 and myself if you must know). It was $15 plus $5 for the vehicle. It was nice. There were lots of shops and lots of things to see. A little bit like the Renaissance Fair, because you end of with some of the same vendors there, but that really isn't a bad thing.  The food was expensive, but everything we ate was wonderful, and as a small bonus everything they use could biodegrade.  There was live music, men in kilts, men painted green with only sparklie gold boy shorts on, there were women trussed up in corsets that made you wonder if they could breathe, much less bend over.  There was so much to take in and to look at that it gave us something to talk about for weeks afterwards, because things we saw could not be unseen.  The point was, that we did something, and there for renewed our bond. 

A wizard did it.

Making new friends is intimidating. I am not going to lie, I am not the most relaxed laid back person there is. I get anxiety of all sorts of things, and most of those things aren't worth the anxiety that I put into them. 

Example of New Friends

My dear friend Nic wanted to introduce me and let me get to know a new friend in her social circle.  I am awkward, so needless to say this was going to have to involve some sort of libation to get this accomplished. She knew just the place that would hopefully set the laid back mood that she wanted. Buddha Buddha in Harrisburg was the spot.  So on an awkward Thursday night, with a day that seemed to use up all the karma points I had earned for the year, I traversed to the destined location. Swallowing a little bit of liquid refreshment, I began to relax and banter (that could have been a good thing or a bad thing) and the little trio of us soon to a quartet. And with in moments we went from a quartet to a quintet and all of this was done with out any of us busting out into song. (Thank God! I can't sing or harmonize!) After a long evening of banter, horse play and high spirits, I left the evening with three new friends and secure in the knowledge of the linage of the cocktail that I had consumed at some point and a love for the crazy pair of heels that I was wearing.  The next morning was not easy,  (I didn't drink enough of anything to be burdened with a head ache or hang over) because my brain nit picks, and makes me wonder if I jumped though a rabbit hole or not.  I don't know. The only way to find out is to do something and see if the same results happen again.  Will we the group of us be just as charming, witty and utterly delightful if we were to hang out again. I don't know, but I do know that if I don't find out, then I will never know. Which leads me directly back to the reason to for this blog. To make friends and to keep friends, the only thing you have to do is something, anything, just not nothing.