I know this is probably something that some of you all much older and much wiser people have probably figured out a long time ago, but so many awesome things happen when you let go of societal expectations and start opening yourself up to new experiences that are considered taboo.
Like… friendships.
Over the past few years, I’ve formed some pretty genuine friendships with people that I’ve encountered in some pretty untraditional ways.
I kinda joke around about those friendships a lot on social media — because, well, that’s just my sense of humor — but honestly, I truly treasure these connections.
Anyway, I just wanted to take a quick second to explain a few of those relationships with ya.
So, internet, first, meet Jake!
If you’ve been following my blog for a looooong time, you might know him. He’s an ex-boyfriend of mine. We dated for about two years back in 2012, when we were both living in Michigan… so, actual ages ago, at this point. We had a really messy breakup and pretty much hated each other for a while, but time heals (almost) everything.
We moved to Chicago one after the other, a year or two apart, and coincidentally ended up living a few blocks away from each other. I tentatively sent an email welcoming him to the city when I found out he was moving here, and we ended up meeting up for drinks. Once we put our messy breakup (which was 1,000% my fault, by the way) aside, we were glad to see we still got along really well as people.
In the past few years, we’ve become really close. Last week, actually, he and his girlfriend Emily (who’s also really freaking cool, you guys) helped me pick up moving supplies, and then sat on my living room floor eating a platter full of cheap sushi with me.
It’s not awkward or weird at all. There’s no jealousy or anything. It’s completely normal to me.
Just because you’re not able to compatible with someone in a long-term romantic type of way doesn’t mean you can’t acknowledge the good aspects of your relationship, and maintain a strong platonic friendship.
Jake is one of my absolute best friends. We text every single day. He’s completely willing to both bring me ice cream during my breakups and also call me out on my bullshit when I’m being a pretentious twat.
…Which is often.
So, I’ve got Jake to call me out on my bullshit.
But when I need someone to hype me up with reliable consistency?
Lemme introduce you to… my ex-boyfriend’s other ex-girlfriends!
Not Jake, FTR, a different ex who shall remain nameless.
I know, this is almost the plot of John Tucker Must Die, right?
I swear, it’s not. It’s way more positive and way more productive.
A while back, I went through a pretty baaaddd breakup with a horrible guy. 10/10 do not recommend ever dating this dude.
Turns out, I wasn’t alone in my horrible experience. This guy is a serial cheater and manipulator, and I ended up by the fate of God Twitter getting in touch with several of his other exes. He cheated on me with some of these women. He cheated on some of these women with me.
Like I said, dude was shaaaaady as all hell.
Anyway. Turns out, we actually all have a lot in common! (Happens when like 80 percent of us work in the same industry.)
I met up with Taylor for drinks at Parson’s waaaayyyy back in February, and the rest is history.
A few weeks later, we had a group text going, and we started getting together every month for brunch, drinks, dinner, etc.
Again — you’d think something like this would be weird and catty? Um, nope. These women are all fun and outgoing with incredible senses of humor and great stories to share. I absolutely adore them. This friendship is nothing but rainbows and positivity, people.
As Taylor so eloquently put it:
What can I say. Our mutual ex may be super shitty, but he’s at least got great taste in women!
(PS Chicago ladies, if you know who I’m talking about and have been fucked over by this dude, feel free to join our group text and brunch dates. We’re fun, I promise.)
So, yeah. These are some of my absolute coolest friendships, and I LOVE the back story behind them. It’s all a little unorthodox, but what can I say. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m not really all too great at living life the way society says I should.
Anyway. An ex-girlfriend of an entirely different ex (I know, I am a mess — I need an interactive timeline or something!) just messaged me on Instagram, so I’m off to make plans to meet up with her when I move to her home continent of Europe.
Play nice!
