This post comes from two things. I was seriously inspired by the book; 'The F Word' by Lily Pebbles and my best friend. Our female friends are amazing and I don't think that relationship is given enough airtime.
This mostly came from a conversation in Tesco where me and my best friend were buying snacks as usual and she joked about me writing a post about her. We laughed but the idea came came to me that I really wanted to say how much I loved that Lily Pebbles didn't just write about herself or romance, she wrote about something equally as important but is often forgotten about. The idea of a girl group or having a best friend is clearly seen in books, films and tv shows, but can be put aside to a main romantic plot or if it is the centre theme then it tends to go along the lines of bitchiness and drama. This is not the stereotype good friends deserve.
I thought I would tell my little story about friendships. I have always loved making friends, because I am so sociable. A friends mum once said I was the most sociable little girl she had ever met which could have been a very polite way of saying talkative, but I'll take it either way. With such a big age gap between me and my siblings I had to make friends because I didn't have a little brother or sister to play with. Mine were adults and had adult things to do, however if you include gentle sibling tormenting as playing, then yes. We played. When they weren't threatening to put me in our water barrel we did have fun. Even though she is my sister, she is basically one of my best friends as well.
The story is short because I grew up in a village where I went to Pre-school, Primary school the Secondary School. I didn't even change when I did A-Levels, so my friendship group has stayed very similar all my life. I'm still bestfriends with people I knew at Pre-school and I'll be completely honest, I feel so lucky, because, Lily, I could not have survived without you from being cheering me up to keeping my hands warm on the way to school. Through primary school you develop your social skills and learn to spot a true friend and that is a lifelong skill.
And at secondary school I found my tribe so to speak. It was The friendship group and still is and it doesn't matter that we have all gone off to uni all over the country, (get ready for the soppy) because it doesn't matter how far away we are, we're still best friends. Gross, I know. However, there is nothing wrong with having different friends as we all have our own hobbies we made friendships through those. Something I have learnt is that there is no point getting jealous about other friends because their friendship does not take away from yours. I have actually made new friends by meeting my bestfriends' other friends. And although we are a solid group you do get the occasional drama, but if you're mature that you can get over it quickly or avoid it all together. Have patience and remind your friends that they are important to you every now and again, because they will always have your back. And friendship is always quality over quantity. At my secondary school there was a massive group of populars as you get at all schools, they thought they were so cool...But I lost count of how many times I over heard them saying horrible things about each other. On social media they appeared to have all the fun at their parties, but I'm pretty sure most of them couldn't stand each other. I'm not going to get into mean girls even though when you're 13 this is the worst thing ever (not to be dramatic), but this is a positive space, but I will say this; I was told that the best revenge is to live well. Just focus on your real friends.
Starting uni can be challenging for everyone, but you're all in the same boat, so you're all trying to make new friends. I was very lucky to find my best friend on the first night of freshers week. Which makes it sound like a couples 'how they met' story, but here it is anyway. We chatted a little bit then agreed to go shopping the next day. The next day summed up is, we got lost. The first thing I learnt is that she has no sense of direction, so we walked around Sheffield talking for so long. Then we continue to talk when we got home. The conversation flowed for hours and still hasn't stopped one year on through the ups and downs uni has provided. Its amazing to think that someone has you have only known for a few months can be so important to you. But back to my previous point, my older friendships are still just as important. And as Lily said in her book, the reward of friendship is so much greater than any friendship fall backs.
So instead of setting girls against each other we should empower each other, because we're better together. Empowered women empower women and that is what we need right now. Its time to step up our game encourage one another, because girl power can help change the world for the better.
And I wanted to say thank you to all my friends who put up with me.
Below I thought I would include some photos which aren't too embarrassing.
No comments