Frenemies
Posted by Michelle Smith on Saturday, November 13, 2010
Under: What I'm doing
As I writer, it's cringe-worthy when such dubious buzzwords are inducted into the dictionaries like McJob and soul patch while other words, albeit archaic, whither away into extinction such as tudiculate, which means to pound or bruise. Now see, tudiculate is a descriptive word with a purpose! The working breed of vocabulary. What we have now our ridiculous words that seem to be hallmarks of are hallmarks of a pop-culture saturated society.
But there is one word that I've come to love and hate. I think that is its very embodiment: Frenemies. We all have them. Those 'friends' we have in our gaggle who we wouldn't trust with a secret of our heart, but we'd trust to engage in gossip. Those 'friends' we have that are more fair-weather than true-blue. They'd be that person who would get us into trouble, but certainly wouldn't be there to bail us out of jail. They aren't the friend we'd call at 2:00 am when we're knee deep in tissue and crisis, but they're the friend we'd call because we know they'll have the scoop on why Jane is no longer returning our email.
It's toxic.
But yet, and especially with women, we continue to surround and even partake in such a legacy.
What have I been doing all this time? Along with doing last minute revisions and private query writing, I've been undertaking a bit of a project. Cataloging and observing the Frenemy.
There are different types of frenemies and intricate relationships, as well as toxic friendships (because at times they are mutually exclusive), and as part social case study and another part morbid curiosity, dissecting this strange phenomenon and writing a compilation in ode to this.
In this study, I've examined personal hurts, looked inward and surveyed friends in this little experiment and found that while we may opine this type of relationship--we continue to nurture the behavior. I feel it is because we are creatures of opportunity and while no one wants to discuss it, take full advantage of exploiting our relationships for personal gain. So the question comes down to, who is the frenemy, you or them? I also feel we need these types of relationships in our lives so that we may cherish and recognize true friendship.
Writers are some of the best observers in human behavior--it's what allows us to create realistic characters and absorb humanity. It's an interesting look out...and in, if you're brave enough.
Who's the frenemy in your life?
But there is one word that I've come to love and hate. I think that is its very embodiment: Frenemies. We all have them. Those 'friends' we have in our gaggle who we wouldn't trust with a secret of our heart, but we'd trust to engage in gossip. Those 'friends' we have that are more fair-weather than true-blue. They'd be that person who would get us into trouble, but certainly wouldn't be there to bail us out of jail. They aren't the friend we'd call at 2:00 am when we're knee deep in tissue and crisis, but they're the friend we'd call because we know they'll have the scoop on why Jane is no longer returning our email.
It's toxic.
But yet, and especially with women, we continue to surround and even partake in such a legacy.
What have I been doing all this time? Along with doing last minute revisions and private query writing, I've been undertaking a bit of a project. Cataloging and observing the Frenemy.
There are different types of frenemies and intricate relationships, as well as toxic friendships (because at times they are mutually exclusive), and as part social case study and another part morbid curiosity, dissecting this strange phenomenon and writing a compilation in ode to this.
In this study, I've examined personal hurts, looked inward and surveyed friends in this little experiment and found that while we may opine this type of relationship--we continue to nurture the behavior. I feel it is because we are creatures of opportunity and while no one wants to discuss it, take full advantage of exploiting our relationships for personal gain. So the question comes down to, who is the frenemy, you or them? I also feel we need these types of relationships in our lives so that we may cherish and recognize true friendship.
Writers are some of the best observers in human behavior--it's what allows us to create realistic characters and absorb humanity. It's an interesting look out...and in, if you're brave enough.
Who's the frenemy in your life?
In : What I'm doing
Tags: "new projects" "writing"
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