Popularity

I used to have lots of friends. Now I have a lot less.

Don't feel sorry for me and don't think I'm some cruel person with a heart of stone. I have less friends now for a variety of reasons but mostly because as time has gone on, I value quality over quantity.

When you're younger popularity is a thing. You either are one of the popular kids or you're not. You might not be bothered whether you're in the popular crowd (I never was) but it remains a thing regardless. I was fortunate enough to have a good bunch of friends through high school though and we stuck together despite having a jolly good time.

As I moved into college I lost quite a few along the way. Mostly, because we were friends by proximatey. We were in the same classes or attended the same clubs. With some we tried harder to keep in touch, arranging regular meet ups but even those friendships faded. I picked up a solid group in college, admittedly smaller than the high school crew but we were a happy bunch. We bonded over cups of tea and trying to win shoes by buying Galaxy bars every break time.

Then came university. Apparently, this is the time you make your friends for life. I spent 3 years at uni and came out of it with one true friend. That doesn't means I had a miserable time or that I was some weird loner. But that friend that I carried with me after uni was the person that was worth keeping in touch with. I don't see her anywhere near as much as I wasn't but the through the wonders of twitter and also being pen pals we have kept in touch. And because she is worth it we keep in touch, sure sometimes it takes us longer than we would like to reply, but we always write back eventually.

My three 'main group' of friends are actually from Primary School. And then one from high school, college and uni respectively. And then there's about three people I think I would keep I touch with as friends from work if I ever left. So that's nine friends. Oh! And an inherited friend,the sister of an original but a friend in her own right. That makes a round 10.

If you count the boy I just tip the scales at 11. And I think we should count him as he is basically my best friend. And even he is technically from my early childhood...

I do regret losing touch with a couple of people. There are some that I really wish I still knew but many many more that I'm just not interested in and would rather spend my time on those people that are actually important to me than for the sake of having loads of friends.

Never worry about how many friends you have, one good friend is worth more than all the 'meh' friends the world can throw at you.

Pip pip,

Charlotte x