Real & Imaginary Friends

Blog post #174 of 365

There are many kinds of friends. Some are way better than others.

The other day I was taking to a friend who said, "Do you mean a real friend or an imaginary friend from Facebook?" It got me thinking do people really feel like the friends they connect with through Facebook are imaginary? According to the dictionary imaginary means; existing only in the imagination or fancy. My imagination is pretty darn vivid and strong but I can imagine all of those people on Facebook are real people.

Imaginary also means lacking factual reality. It is beyond possible that people put their best foot forward when on Facebook. Like dating before you really get to know someone. Not so much fake but showing only to good sides. This can be attributed to the people who never post recent photos of themselves, so in essence they might be considered imaginary. But not to me. I think they are scared or sad. Every time my mom sees a photo of herself she cringes a little. She sees an image of "that old lady that looks back at me in the mirror." Maybe they aren't happy with aging or with how their lives turned out.

We all have expectations and when those aren't met we feel we failed or are in some way lacking. Well maybe we are not what we wanted to be but who is?

I have friends on Facebook I haven't seen since high school. They are still my friends. I have friends I have never met but was introduced to through someone else. We have formed bonds of friendship. It doesn't make them imaginary.

Nope the imaginary friends are those of childhood. The one person we can confide in who we know will never rat us out or make fun of our inner most feeling and thoughts. If your kid has one don't make a big deal out of it or push them to admit they are made up friends and not "real" because to your child that friend is as real and the flesh and blood kind.

I have lot of friends all kinds of friends and to be honest with many of them sticking with Facebook is good enough for me. We get to share each others lives through messages, photos and posts and we don't have to invest the kind of time a face to face friend requires. Would I do anything I can to help these friends? Yup. Why? Because they really are my friends. Can I do everything for everyone? Nope. But I will lend an ear, give moral support, shed a tear, say a prayer and anything else I can do but no more than I can do. I am only human.