typecasts

at a time where the people should be distanced, i find that now more than ever, i've been growing my most meaningful connections with others. my social circle now is vastly different than what it was before. because for as long as i can remember, i've always had constants in my life. but they weren't particular persons, they were in fact roles of people in my life. and this is my attempt to remember them all:

the golem

this is most common constant i've had. oftentimes they're big lumbering emotionless companions that tend to absorb all of my active energy. i'd be wild, i'd be livid, i'd be all over the place, but they'll be just there standing by my side with an unwavering and oftentimes frighteningly stoic demeanor silently supporting me in whatever adventure i'm up to. strangely enough, they're the most loyal too. i'd figure with the real "still water runs deep" types, they'd be pretty damn annoyed with the kind of spitfire that i am. but being the rocks that they are, they really are a solid bunch. i'm beyond grateful that these people are extremely dependable, cause really the friends i've had over the years who have donned on this role were real cornerstones of the person that i was at their respective times.

the hero of the story

i never really saw myself as the protagonist to my book of life. at most i'm a supporting character or a villain, if we're stretching it. so i'd always have that friend who just exudes the "main star" aura and i do my best to be very supportive of them. these people never really had anything in common thematically - one was a musician, one was a competitive exerciser, the one i have now is a fabulous individual - but given their strong personalities, all of them served as good opportunities to test my patience and broaden my perspective.  they've all moved on being successful in their respective pursuits, and now, just as i was since day one, i'll be silently supporting them from the sidelines even if they've no need for me anymore.

the supergirl sidekick

i've always preferred the company of women over men. yeah sure, men are more straightforward, it's much simpler to deal with them, you just get more stuff done. but you lose out on the nuances, depth, and complexity when dealing with someone operating on a menstrual cycle. there's a different blog entry expressing my appreciation for my fat female friends, but this particular friend is not size specific, i've had a couple of female sidekicks that were dainty girls but brought just as much value in our social dynamic. this one is risky though cause there have been instances where a couple of these women have thought we could be a thing together but circumstances didn't allow as i wasn't willing to go into anything remotely romantic with them. so while they may have the most potential to add value to my life, they're also the riskiest to have our relationship blow up.

the damsel in distress

in staying on brand with my whole supportive companion schtick, i'm drawn to the damaged and downtrodden. no, not as a charitable character, i couldn't afford shelling out the money to feed these people. but what i have in abundance is patience and understanding for other people's misgivings. and i generously share it to those trodding through life troubled. perhaps because i identify with damaged people too and in by serving as a refuge, i vicariously help myself the way i was never helped out. i don't really mind if it's a largely parasitic arrangement, you don't always grow when you gain. sometimes you have to lose in order to learn.

honorable mentions

now i've had a couple of limited edition or one-off friends too. i could've ham handed them into the other classifications, but that's not their core defining trait, so here are those that haven't been showing up in my life but are consequential enough to be mentioned:

the dreamy artist - i somehow consider myself as an artist, but i can't hold a candle to these folks. they'll be far out with their thought processes but really good at their craft. they inspire me to not pursue my artistic passion full time. i'm thankful knocking at the door of what's deemed as normal.

the missionary - no, not that. sex is the last thing i would think of with them because of how they're so in too deep with their religion. i mean i appreciate it yeah, passion is the number one thing i measure people with. and i do love learning about the value of spirituality and faith. that's why i hail satan.

the jet lagged relationship - the nature of my work gave me great opportunities to meet people from other continents and keeping in touch with them requires a messaging app, a grasp of basic arithmetic to compute the time in their location, patience as you wait an entire day for a reply, and a suspension of disbelief that you're using an instant messaging app for a conversation that's as delayed as snail mail.