This is why I like the "pod" approach to friends, it allows for a better balance.
Thank you! This one is really tough, someone I consider one of my very best friends. He's newly divorced and in a brand new relationship. From the outside looking in, this new partner seems to be urging him to distance himself from everyone he associated with prior to meeting her, even his own mother. A classic narcissist move. I was waiting to talk to him about it until I could see if it was just that intense "honeymoon phase" of the relationship but enough time has elapsed that it feels like something different.
I'm finding that making new friends gets more difficult the older I get, mainly because at a certain point you're done with formal class settings and situations where you spend lots of time with strangers. A book club, an Airbnb experience (meditation/yoga), or discussion group might be a good place to find someone with similar spiritual aspirations. The Airbnb experiences, in particular, I've been on have been extremely enriching experiences where you forge real connections, especially ones in foreign cities.
Oh, I'm sorry to hear he's going through that. I really hope he manages to see reason in the end. It's scary how someone else can make you lose your (otherwise reasonable) mind, isn't it? Particularly presuming that a recent divorce leaves one quite fragile. So I really hope it works out. Though having heard that, maybe cutting him loose isn't the best choice? I just figure, when he looks around and finds all his friends have left, he may see sense, but he may also end up feeling alone and isolated and retreat more in this relationship (?).
Damn, being a good friend is hard :/
That's true. I found the same, leaving the school system a lot earlier than my peers. Then again, I realize a lot of these relationships are built more around common denominators (like we hate so-and-so teacher/boss/assignment/client, you know? Or having someone to go out for a smoke with and what not) and once the official environment dissipates, so does the relationship...
Airbnb is a cool way of meeting people, I agree. Didn't use to trust it before, but now, I'll choose it over hotels if at all possible.
Hope you're having a good one :)