A good friendship – 7/100

I had a friend visiting from out of town. Hosting is hard work. I forewent a lot of my own work and to-do’s but I enjoy his company and wanted him to have a good time. It’s a nice feeling to show an outsider my favorite spots. Plus he’s chill so we pretty much hit up the beach every time. I can live with that.

I’ve talked about him before, my friend Mauro. We met in Korea last year; it’s been almost exactly a year since we met actually. He and I were staying in the same hostel in Itaewon. We and another person staying at the hostel went out a couple times. I showed him around a little, what little I knew of Korea by then haha and we clicked. It was simple and even when we went back to the States, him to New York, me to Cali, we continued to keep up with each other. Some things are effortless.

A lot of people will read that and wonder if there was anything more than platonic going on between us. Normally I would skip over that part, pretend I didn’t anticipate that, and continue the story. But there’s no reason not to talk about it.

There was some romantic intent in our relationship initially but in the end, it came down to maintaining friendship. After talking it out, we decided we’re still down to be friends regardless of intention and outcome. Our vibe and connection were too good to pass up. I wasn’t going to feel uncomfortable about feelings, though I would respect any need for space. He seemed like he wasn’t the stupid type either, to get caught up in the emotions and let that speak and act for him. Plus we’re both busy human beings on opposite sides of the country. That sort of helps lol.

I think we were both on the same page about everything and we still are. Maybe I’m incredibly naive and am overestimating my or even Mauro’s intent hahah! I don’t know. But I know we enjoy each other’s presence tremendously and can talk about life, business, future, hopes, relationships, personal stuff, friends, culture, etc. pretty freely. More than anything, I respect him for who he is, what/how he thinks, and his outlook on life and I feel I get the same respect from him.

I learn a lot from him. He calls me out on stuff I am oblivious to. And when I shut up for a moment, I realize he’s right about certain things. For example, he said I doubt myself when I hit him up, apologizing for taking up his time. Granted, I feel like he’s always on the go, making shit happen, and my stupid questions about building a simple website just didn’t seem to measure up haha. But he then told me I need to stop because I need to trust that the other person will respond when they can. Basically, telling me to stop managing the other person’s time and priorities. Sounds basic and unexciting but that was eye-opening to me.

Anyway, the purpose of this post was just to talk about a friend I have the good fortune to know, to share about a friendship that matters to me. Even though I’ve only known this fool for a year, I feel like I’ve known him for a while longer. And I feel like he’s someone I’ll know for a very long time.

When I know I have people like that in my life, I know life is good.