Social Butterflies

Observed a butterfly lately? How it flits from flower to flower, landing softly in the midst of one, fleetingly saying adios to another, always exploring, always moving on to the next.

That's pretty much how my life is at the moment. Being a social butterfly, and knowing, just knowing, that one day, I'll have to leave all these friendships behind, form new ones, then dust them off my cabinet of social relationships when returning back to this sunny island.

Maria commented today that I had the ability to "tune" myself to different wavelengths to suit different groups of people. Do I feel like a social butterfly? Sometimes. There'll always be a close knit group of friends who form my social core: Jesse, Clarence, Jo, XY and gang, the guys from 70 and the bitch gang. Other then that, I guess it's pretty much hello, goodbye and how do you do,

The social networking has been getting to me lately, and I really am torn between staying home and boring myself to death and meeting all you wonderful people out there and chatting about the latest fashions, the new hairdos and rather self-depreciatingly about my ugliness and lack of machoness/alpha-maleness. Thank you very much.

So if you would like to meet me one day, take a queue number, make an appointment, and the doctor will see you when it's your turn.

Or rather not. Sometimes, all we have to sustain us in the monotony and loneliness of life are our friends. Albeit fleeting reminiscences about secondary school follies and JC parties or Army stories. But nonetheless, very real and very important friendships that keep you sane in this insane world.

Sometimes, I wonder if ever I died. Suddenly, abruptly and silently, who would be there to celebrate my life? Who have I touched, to say that "Yes. Lip Jin was a true friend"? And who would NOT mourn my death, but say that while I was alive, I had been a friend, a confidante and a soulmate?

So let's look beyond the customary "How do you do?" and really start getting to know the people around us, to be interested in their lives, to be genuine and less "fake". Sometimes, fakeness just takes away that touch of genuine friendship that you may inadvertently torch in that person sitting across you during dinner. Be yourself, for good, for bad, or for ugly.


lip
ranting