I've been blessed in that my good friends over the years are generally ones who have only served to bring about seemingly positive catalyst in my life. I'm pretty sure I pre-programmed at least one childhood best friend (who I've been best friends since I was 5 years old till today, 31 years later). It's a blessing because he is one of the few friends I can actually exchange spiritual concepts with and who also does see himself as a wanderer though these concepts are more of a curiosity than a real interest of his.
I'm very selective about my friends, but this comes easily and effortless for me because I'm an (outgoing?) introvert. I say introvert because I really enjoy and regenerate my energy when alone and really cannot stand small talk, so it takes a person/people that I really click with and enjoy spending time with to make me give up the joy of spending time with myself. I put outgoing because when I'm fully recharged, I'm great for 2-4 hour stretches at parties, being able to enjoy going up to and talking to strangers as well as having fun joking around. I generally don't like doing this more than once a month, however.
I do have more negatively seeming catalyst with others, but usually only from coworkers or acquaintances for the past decade since I've gotten very good at distancing myself from those who inject negative catalyst into friendships or relationships. When I speak of negative catalyst I am usually talking about stupid social games that people play to achieve dominance in a social circle or within a relationship. I have zero interest in being a part of dominance games. I also find that external projection of internal distortions is another issue that often manifests as negative catalyst in relationships and friendships. This is something I used to do in the past myself, but I do much less now. However, because of my experience with the phenomenon, I see it immediately when one projects their internal issues onto the relationship/friendship and disavows personal responsibility for their own feelings, and I tend to move on from people who do this repeatedly. It's amazing how often people forcefully use others as mirrors repeatedly via unconscious projection (though projection is one of the many forms of mirroring) - often on the same old exact lesson they've been exposed to dozens of times - instead of just directly accepting personal responsibility for their own feelings and seeing the inner distortion for what it is. It's definitely something both spiritual and nonspiritual people do with some frequency.
I do however learn greatly through my friend's own negative seeming catalyst. Right now a lot of trouble marriages in my friends circle, and listening to their issues closely I can see the distortions at work. But even if I am asked and offer good advice, so many people are stuck to their expectations and their beliefs, or they know their beliefs are the issue but they don't prioritize their time to meditate or spend other time actively changing their beliefs, instead keeping themselves super busy with work or other things that they barely have a chance to breath. The lessons that my friends experienced and are experiencing have and are shaping my life choices, as you can learn from another's supposed mistakes. Also, with my friends, I don't grow distant with lack of contact, but I think others who surround themselves with people and friends do. My guess is that we become wired differently the more time we spend with others, and perhaps in a certain energetic sense share our energies with one another. Because I minimize my energetic sharing on a friend level by being selective about my friendships, and perhaps I don't interact as much socially as other - I don't lose touch with a friend who I haven't spoken to for months/years in my mind. But I find they sometimes do on their end. It is what is it.
Overall I would say that friendships are a big aspect of sharing love and living in the moment for me. I truly value my friendships, as they make walking this earth go from an overall somewhat lackluster experience to a very enjoyable one, and for that I'm very thankful.
I'm very selective about my friends, but this comes easily and effortless for me because I'm an (outgoing?) introvert. I say introvert because I really enjoy and regenerate my energy when alone and really cannot stand small talk, so it takes a person/people that I really click with and enjoy spending time with to make me give up the joy of spending time with myself. I put outgoing because when I'm fully recharged, I'm great for 2-4 hour stretches at parties, being able to enjoy going up to and talking to strangers as well as having fun joking around. I generally don't like doing this more than once a month, however.
I do have more negatively seeming catalyst with others, but usually only from coworkers or acquaintances for the past decade since I've gotten very good at distancing myself from those who inject negative catalyst into friendships or relationships. When I speak of negative catalyst I am usually talking about stupid social games that people play to achieve dominance in a social circle or within a relationship. I have zero interest in being a part of dominance games. I also find that external projection of internal distortions is another issue that often manifests as negative catalyst in relationships and friendships. This is something I used to do in the past myself, but I do much less now. However, because of my experience with the phenomenon, I see it immediately when one projects their internal issues onto the relationship/friendship and disavows personal responsibility for their own feelings, and I tend to move on from people who do this repeatedly. It's amazing how often people forcefully use others as mirrors repeatedly via unconscious projection (though projection is one of the many forms of mirroring) - often on the same old exact lesson they've been exposed to dozens of times - instead of just directly accepting personal responsibility for their own feelings and seeing the inner distortion for what it is. It's definitely something both spiritual and nonspiritual people do with some frequency.
I do however learn greatly through my friend's own negative seeming catalyst. Right now a lot of trouble marriages in my friends circle, and listening to their issues closely I can see the distortions at work. But even if I am asked and offer good advice, so many people are stuck to their expectations and their beliefs, or they know their beliefs are the issue but they don't prioritize their time to meditate or spend other time actively changing their beliefs, instead keeping themselves super busy with work or other things that they barely have a chance to breath. The lessons that my friends experienced and are experiencing have and are shaping my life choices, as you can learn from another's supposed mistakes. Also, with my friends, I don't grow distant with lack of contact, but I think others who surround themselves with people and friends do. My guess is that we become wired differently the more time we spend with others, and perhaps in a certain energetic sense share our energies with one another. Because I minimize my energetic sharing on a friend level by being selective about my friendships, and perhaps I don't interact as much socially as other - I don't lose touch with a friend who I haven't spoken to for months/years in my mind. But I find they sometimes do on their end. It is what is it.
Overall I would say that friendships are a big aspect of sharing love and living in the moment for me. I truly value my friendships, as they make walking this earth go from an overall somewhat lackluster experience to a very enjoyable one, and for that I'm very thankful.
![[+]](https://www.bring4th.org/forums/images/collapse_collapsed.png)