Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Two sides of the same coin

Friendship is such an amazing, cool thing, and given how difficult it is to make real friends as you get older, I feel lucky to have the met the friends that I do have. I definitely feel Beauty and the Beltway's pain in trying to meet new people in DC. It's ironic, though, that no matter how close we get to people there are always so many different facets of their personality that we don't see or only see rarely. I had a really interesting conversation with a friend earlier today about how we get so used to seeing a certain side of someone that seeing them in a new light can throw you. I recently discovered the secret blog of a friend (because they wanted me to) and am still working through seeing the weaker side of someone I always viewed as this pillar of confidence. Even the very friend I was having this conversation with has managed his own shock and awe campaign when I saw pictures of him with a couple of different girlfriends. Even as open as I am on this blog, I have secrets and sides that only come out around certain people. Discovering different sides of people keeps life interesting. I guess it's the spy in me that yearns for this new information and the stuff that keep friendships fresh.

7 comments:

  1. Even though I think I have many levels I always think people see me as this boring, one-dimensional person. I'm not sure why.

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  2. This made me think of Shrek and his "onions have layers" bit. You definitely have many dimensions and layers and can always manage to shock me : )

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  3. this is so interesting because i have been on the other side of that...where someone has figured me out. that i am not always as confident as i appear and i have taken myself down off that pedestal as this person has gotten to know me better. i felt disappointed in myself a little because this person had this idealized view of me that i failed to live up to. but it's me, i mean, i am a real person, not some unscathed superstar.

    i have often suspected, and this person confirmed, that i am a hard person to know. what does that mean? how do i fix that?

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  4. Amanda - I think we all just have to exist, to be who we really are. I used to try to be someone I'm not. I'd pretend I wasn't some girl who grew up in the country in Texas. Now I'm tired of trying to be anybody but me. I think our weaknesses can sometimes be the most amazing thing about us and what bonds us most closely with others.

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  5. Hmm, maybe what I really want is for people to be trying to figure me out more. Maybe I want to be more mysterious or to come off that way;) I don't imagine people sitting around trying to "figure me out" or anything:)

    Oh, and I've never seen Shrek=/

    And I'm kind of joking about the above. It makes me sound a little conceited, no?

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  6. You've never seen Shrek?! craziness...

    I think that I'm generally an easy person to "get" although sometimes I think people get the wrong first impression of me. More times than not, I guess I come off snobby when I first meet people because I'm shy when I'm first getting to know you.

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  7. Nope, no Shrek.

    People think I'm snobby, too. Sometimes I am though:)

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