Figured it was finally time to get started on those questions, so here goes.
Friends in number
The number of friends in my life isn't particularly important to me. This isn't to say my friends themselves are not, but that the number is just that. A number, that is. I've simply been lucky enough to make an
inordinately large number of good friends, but if I had only two I'd be just as happy as I am today. That said, I believe that lesser friends,
acquaintances one might say, are also important, though perhaps not for the same exact reasons. Despite this I cherish
anyone who has decided to befriend me because I've never gone out of my own way to make any of the disproportionate number of friends I have.
As it is though the number of close friends I have is absolutely dwarfed by the number of my
acquaintances, and while I like everyone, I don't think I'd be particularly affected if some of my
acquaintances said, "I hate you now
GTHO!" If any of my close friends said that I would laugh at them. However, if they really didn't like me anymore I'd probably be crushed. I think people as a whole become enamored with the idea of having lots of "friends", at the cost of forgetting the friends they may be very close to, and this leaves them less happy than those who focus on one or two friends.
On the topic of accumulation
Accumulating friends isn't difficult. Like I said before, I have lots of friends, some closer than others, but all friends. I didn't do anything other than meet (most) of these people. Someone with the confidence to just do what they do tends to be gravitated towards by people. Some people don't accumulate many friends, but this doesn't need to be attributed to a lack of simple confidence (perceived or otherwise). Maybe they just prefer to focus on a few friends to the exclusion of becoming horrendously popular. I would have chosen this approach, had people not had an odd propensity to like me...
I think this way about friends and friendship, surprisingly enough, because I know what it is like to be without. Hard as it is to believe, in my wee years of social interaction, the various quirks of personality that cause people to like me now weren't quite so appreciated then. That however is another tale...
