Unpopular Opinion: Platonic Love Hurts More Than Romantic Love
Do we lose friends because we're so desperate to make new ones, or as humans do we not know how to treat each other?
As a rule, you do not expect the people you love platonically to walk out on you. The people you love platonically are usually your friends and family, your support system. In today's society, it is almost like we expect our romantic partners to betray us at some point, but never our friends.
Maybe we take our friends for granted, and maybe they do the same in exchange, but the loss of a friend hurts so much more than the loss of a romantic partner.
Everything you are is because of the people around you. When you lose someone you are so used to having, you feel like you're starting to lose yourself. Maybe you're grateful, perhaps you're angry, but you're definitely sad. Their secrets, aspirations, failures, and victories stick with you, but they don't.
It isn't like a breakup where you delete all the pictures, block their number and move on; you keep promising yourself that this is temporary. As the gap widens and the communication stops, you start to remember how many "Temporary" fights you have had.
Maybe there was not a fight at all, you just found yourselves living completely separate lives. Yes, it is normal to be busy and overwhelmed, but it is not normal to push your friend away because of it. A weekly phone call, an hour-long coffee date, or even just an "I'm thinking of you." text could save a lot of friendships.
Do we lose friends because we're so desperate to make new ones, or as humans do we not know how to treat each other?
These questions are beyond my understanding, but I do know that the loss of any friendship is very painful. You keep expecting a phone call, a text, or even to see them pulling up to your house, but sometimes none of those things happen. No matter how strong your bond was, there is always a possibility you could lose them.
That pain is unbearable, but you must understand that if they were willing to lose you, they were never your friend to begin with.
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Me and Elizabeth Abitanto, the Managing Director of Programs @ 2016 Diversity Galaphoto by Jay Evans
2016 graduatesPhoto courtesy of NJLEEP
