Familiarity
Think about everyone you call a friend right now. Then ask yourself how many of them you'd actually ring if things got really bad. Not to moan or just vent about your day, but genuinely call and say "I'm not okay." Go on, count them. We do this thing where we call someone a friend just because we've known them for time. You grew up together, went to the same school, always end up at the same gatherings or parties. Time kept passing, you both kept showing up, and somewhere along the way the word "friend" just got attached. But time is not the same as closeness. You can know someone for a decade and still have no real idea who they are. You can have years worth of memories with someone and still feel oddly lonely around them. That is not friendship. That is familiarity. A real friend tells you the truth even when it is uncomfortable. They say "I think you are messing up here" instead of just nodding along because it is less drama. They show up fo...