Therefore it is very important to hold on to friendships that we treasure even when faced with the challenges that long distance often throws at us. My best friend, for instance lives exactly 4,723 miles away and yet he IS my best friend. And from what I have come to realise, and it isn’t rocket science; a little effort and a lot of understanding from both sides is all it takes to keep the friendship as it used to be. While we don’t see each other every single day, as we used to even a month ago, the key to maintaining our long distance friendship has been the understanding that we are now adults with responsibilities and a video call a day. And that one call at a random hour where he sees me do my dishes and make weird faces while he is just about to sleep is my daily dose of stress-buster.
On more tiring days, sending each other reels on social media is the quickest way to say “hey, this reminded me of you. I am thinking about us”. That’s all it takes, really. Friendship could be, as I read somewhere recently, “...the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.” It is the glue that holds the world together, and it is truly devastating to know that you lost a true friend because you could not maintain that balance between your work and your friendship.
"Even after the most exhausting day, talking to your best friend over a call will never feel like another task on your list"
Undeniably, it is hard to maintain long distance friendships. A lot harder in fact in a world riddled with capitalism, where you have no choice but to be part of an indefinite race, where you barely have time for yourself. But that is the true test. Because even after the most exhausting day, talking to your best friend over a call will never feel like another task on your list, it will feel like that break you look forward to, that therapy that is probably going to save you. A relationship of any kind is precious and it is a joy to have friendships that help you sail through the toughest of times, making you laugh at the most inappropriate occasions, and always making sure, even on days that you are alone, you are never truly lonely.
A true friendship is hardly ever as demanding to be fair. Something as simple as a random text, or a GIF or a reel that reminds “you matter to me”, that says “I am still your best friend, you just haven’t seen me for a while” is all you need.