Besides Here~

[pegasus216]

Do you have any friends that you have never met? Talking about my friend in Georgia got me thinking about this.
I have known her for 12 years, and have never met her. We talk on the phone regularly though.
I 'met' her through a Pearl Jam message board which is no longer around, but I kept touch with her.

 

[HollyGolightly]

Do you have any friends that you have never met? Talking about my friend in Georgia got me thinking about this.
I have known her for 12 years, and have never met her. We talk on the phone regularly though.
I 'met' her through a Pearl Jam message board which is no longer around, but I kept touch with her.

That's pretty cool Mary! I've never gotten personal with strangers elsewhere the way I have on this board.

 

[skimom2]

Absolutely! I met some women that I've become very close to on a writing board. We call ourselves the 'Mini UN' (since we have people on 3 continents), and try to meet regularly on Skype, just to chat My Irish friend is a revelation--we're brain twins (lol). Without the internet, I never would have met her, and that would have truly been a loss.

 

[king family fan]

I had a couple pen pals from Grade school but have never met them.

 

[pegasus216]

Do you find you reveal more about yourself to those people you have never met?
My friend knows more than my daughter does.

 

[skimom2]

Do you find you reveal more about yourself to those people you have never met?
My friend knows more than my daughter does.

What a good question! Maybe not more, but they see a more rounded picture, I think. Like, to your family you're already set as 'mom', or 'daughter', or 'sister', etc.--they have one view of you, in one or two roles. People from church see primarily one side, friends from other groups that have known you for years, same thing. They formed a 'you' in their heads, and it's hard to change that. Friends made later in life maybe see a more rounded picture of who you are; you don't have one or two roles in their eyes.

My best marker of that was when I published my first book. Family members and family friends who had known me for years were uncomfortable (I write chick lit--not nasty, but as they are about adults, there is sex involved)--most said, "That doesn't sound like you," while friends that I've made in my later years weren't surprised at all. To family/family friends, I'm still in the over achieving, oldest child, Type A good girl box they put me in years ago. Friends made later in life never had me in that box, or at least see the adult I am.

My life would be much less rich (and more exhausting--so hard to squeeze into little boxes ;D) without the friends I've made in later years.

 

[HollyGolightly]

Excellent question - I do think I am less wary of saying how I really feel about things and more open about what I think and do. I am a priest's admin, and though I am deeply Catholic - I'm flawed as well - like all of us. And since I work for the church, I have to be ever so careful about what flies out of my mouth - I have to be very guarded about my personal life - kind of like teachers have to be very private. So here I kind of let it all hang out. It's nice.

 

[pegasus216]

That was an excellent answer skimom, and holly.

 

[Spideyman]

Over years, miles separated a dear high school friend and myself. We stayed in touch. When she suddenly passed away, a friend of hers wrote letters to all in her address book to inform us of her death. From that day to this, we write, call, email-- now 14 years. I've never met her in person. And yes, she knows me well.

What I consider my closest friend came from a cyber meeting on the SKMB answering a simple question for her. It's over 7 years now. She's international, so it's mainly emails and an occasional phone call. The joy we both had upon hearing each others voices. I can honestly say- we knew each other in another lifetime, we are that close in thoughts, ideas, and life in general.

 

[skimom2]

Over years, miles separated a dear high school friend and myself. We stayed in touch. When she suddenly passed away, a friend of hers wrote letters to all in her address book to inform us of her death. From that day to this, we write, call, email-- now 14 years. I've never met her in person. And yes, she knows me well.

What I consider my closest friend came from a cyber meeting on the SKMB answering a simple question for her. It's over 7 years now. She's international, so it's mainly emails and an occasional phone call. The joy we both had upon hearing each others voices. I can honestly say- we knew each other in another lifetime, we are that close in thoughts, ideas, and life in general.

yes, Yes, YES! That's it exactly, Spidey! I consider the friends I've made in Ireland (My 'Brain Twin') and Australia (my 'Hetero Life Mate'-lol) to be the best friends I've ever had. We've never met 'in person', but emails, Twitter (the main reason I joined is because the three of us could 'talk' together in real time), occasional phone calls and Skype keep us up on each others' lives.

 

[mustangclaire]

I've several mates I've made on MOCGB (Mustang club here in the UK). I've not met half of them, as they live across the country and we don't all attend the same car shows. However, I have gone on to meet quite a few in real life. And I've followed those friendships onto Facebook. I've very recently (in the last 20 minutes) re-activated my facebook account as I've gone on there hoping to sell some tickets to a show my mum bought for her and Sonny, he can't go to the show because of a clash of events. I do actually have some friends on Facebook I've never met, from a satirical news site on there. I won't ever meet them but enjoy their "online" company. Interesting thread Pegasus.

 

[mustangclaire]

Over years, miles separated a dear high school friend and myself. We stayed in touch. When she suddenly passed away, a friend of hers wrote letters to all in her address book to inform us of her death. From that day to this, we write, call, email-- now 14 years. I've never met her in person. And yes, she knows me well.

What I consider my closest friend came from a cyber meeting on the SKMB answering a simple question for her. It's over 7 years now. She's international, so it's mainly emails and an occasional phone call. The joy we both had upon hearing each others voices. I can honestly say- we knew each other in another lifetime, we are that close in thoughts, ideas, and life in general.

That's a lovely post Spidey.

 

[cat in a bag]

You all here are my worldly friends. I am not really any kind of a social butterfly, the SKMB is the extent of my social networking.