LJ Idol week 2: That One Friend

[sinnamongirl]

Let's not name names, let's not point fingers, yes? Let's just talk it out...

That one friend who:

Is trapped in a vicious circle making the same mistakes over and over again. "I've learned my lesson this time!" then 2 weeks, 3 months, half a year later is worried about her new boyfriend, same as the old boyfriend, because he can't pay his rent (or his bail or his child support), and she doesn't want to give him money but isn't she basically obligated to?

No, you tell her, and try to distract her since calm reasoning doesn't work.

That same friend who:

Thinks nothing through but excitedly jumps into action. The one who blurts out secrets or painful truths - far more painful than they should be, because the blurting-words are the harshest words. The same truth could be said slower, with more caring, more couth. It would be the same truth, but better, because you wouldn't have to watch her eyes get wide or hear the same old/same old panicked apologies and explanations fly out of her mouth.

It's okay, you tell her, because you know she meant well.

And that exact friend, once again, who:

Goes out, again and again, sparkling and witty and brave, for just long enough to get attention. Then she eats up the attention, thrives on it, stands up straighter, eyes are sparklier, wit is faster. Attention is her candy, her sugar rush. You watch her subsummation, inevitable, drawing her away from you and completely into this new person's world, where she doesn't exist except as a mouthpiece to talk about how GREAT things are going.

You wait, glance at your clock now and then, because you know she'll reappear when the rush of the crush is gone, wending her way back to your shared world, knowing she'll cycle straight back to #1, "I've made a huge mistake, but I've learned my lesson this time!"

Somewhere in that cycle, That One Friend is a great friend, or else why would you be my her friend? Maybe someday I'll she'll finally learn those lessons, and I'll she'll be just a friend, not That One Friend.

Life goals, I guess.

Comments

[adoptedwriter.livejournal.com]

Nice little turn around at the end here!

[sinnamongirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you :)

[murielle.livejournal.com]

Ah! To be human. Who in there right mind would want to be?

I'm struck by this theme this week. We are all so uniquely human.

Good read!

[sinnamongirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you :)

[magazhchi.livejournal.com]

*smiles* I like what you did in the end. I tend to shoot off some really mean stuff when I am angry. The second paragraph spoke to me for the same reason.

[sinnamongirl.livejournal.com]

I'm just a fucking idiot sometimes, more so lately :) I don't think, I get wrapped up in my own emotions, I'm impulsive... I'm also in a vortex of self-pity about it all... Thank you for reading :)

[rayaso.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed this very much, especially the ending where you see a type of the behavior in yourself that your friend so frequently exhibits - the failure to learn a lesson, at least with respect to your friend.

[sinnamongirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[halfshellvenus.livejournal.com]

Oh, gosh. That's a rough way to live-- all whirlwind and then crash and burn, again and again.

Truly finding a way to step out of that cycle is a very worthy life goal!

[sinnamongirl.livejournal.com]

Yes, a good goal indeed :) Thank you for reading!

[uselesstinrelic.livejournal.com]

I feel like your friend's life must feel exhausting. I know there was a lot in there that you wrote about, but mostly I just think how precarious and tiring living that way sounds.

[sinnamongirl.livejournal.com]

Exhausting I think is an excellent word, as is precarious. Thank you for reading and commenting :)

[eternal-ot.livejournal.com]

Ah!I love how it ends up being about you. Great take! Enjoyed this. Cool way to go about the prompt :)

[sinnamongirl.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Of course, everything ends up being about me at some point which is a tad part of my own personal problem in life ;) I appreciate you reading and commenting!

[bleodswean.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. I KNOW this one friend. Really strong insights here couched in the simplest of terms and yet we still. cannot. learn. This was a particularly well-executed observational response - It's okay, you tell her, because you know she meant well.

Nice job with the prompt.

[sinnamongirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!

[devilz-workshop.livejournal.com]

Somehow, everyone is stuck in a vicious cycle, we just haven't realized it yet. That ending couldn't have been better.

[sinnamongirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

Sometimes friends are really there to teach learn lessons to from you! The hope is the tuition for those lessons won't be too high!

[sinnamongirl.livejournal.com]

That is an excellent point :) Thank you for reading!

[m-malcontent.livejournal.com]

We are all a little insane where love is involved, especially in that first crush rush....I love that turn of phrase.

[sinnamongirl.livejournal.com]

Thanks :) I think I'm not so great at love, but maybe it's not just me, maybe it's everyone? I dunno, but thank you for reading!

[karmasoup.livejournal.com]

It's good to have friends who will stick by you each other no matter how many times you they keep having to learn the same lessons over and over again.

[dee-aar2.livejournal.com]

that whirlpool you know they call life ... keeps pulling you right back in no matter how hard you try and swim out of it ... so no surprise that we learn and relearn and yes again relearn !!!

Well Done with the prompt