Shifting Friends

Sometimes it seems like when I get more involved in one group of friends then not only is it easy to neglect other groups, but it feels right. It’s like, not only is the old group less of my life, but the little contact I have with it doesn’t have to be covered in that polite front we often work hard to maintain. I don’t know that this neglect is a good thing, but it’s a stage I’ve hit many times. It’s like, “you’re no longer part of my life, I don’t need to pretend to agree with you guys.” And I suppose part of it is seeing how much they’ll try to hold onto you. If they don’t put up a fight, are they worth it?

Why do I mention this? Well, I feel like I have a lot of momentum right now with dance and with the dance scene. I’m getting a lot more involved and enjoying it so much. And I’m spending less time with, say, my staff. Perhaps it’s okay, because I never really connected on a personal level with most of them. Staffs are weird things. It’s like, you _have_ to be close in many ways, but at the same time there doesn’t have to be any real intimacy. Sometimes people find things in common, other times they decide that a group isn’t right for them. And, well, while it’s important to be social and polite, it’s not necessarily important to be “one of the group.” Although I’ve gotta work on the polite thing when I disagree… I don’t know…

I guess the really important thing to consider is that, as one makes these shifts in social groups, are they making a safe and lasting transition, or just something that’ll last a few weeks and leave them with nothing?