Monday, April 27, 2009

Friends Make You Healthy

According to this article, friends make you healthy and help you live longer. Meanwhile, over in the April 20 issue of New York magazine, where celebrities discussed their first experiences in the city, Rufus Wainwright admits it was very difficult for him to make friends in New York. Do more New Yorkers suffer from isolation and depression?

New York is such a huge city, you'd think it would be full of people to become friends with, that the chances of finding someone with similar interests as you would be easier. However, if you're not in church, fellowshipping with others at coffee hour or in bible studies, how and where do you meet people? In some ways, it seems harder to make friends than to get a date.

With our fast-paced busy lives, and hours spent toiling away in a cubicle, it seems like it's incredibly difficult to even find time to hang out with friends you already have. Especially, when everyone has a bible study already scheduled every day of the week, it's hard for friendships to go deeper than a big circle would allow.

How has your experience been making friends in New York?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

man, i could write a book surrounding trying to make sincere friendships in nyc. i am assuming it's just as hard anywhere, that maybe it has something more to do with our culture of me, myself and i and exclusivity or the breakdown of social networks--and i dont mean facebook's new format.
I do find myself wondering how other people develop friendships that are more than the occasional get together in the city. i mean, i miss just dropping by someone's house and spending time together, not doing too much of anything.
The more that I ponder the question, the more I think of the addage, you have to be a friend to make a friend. So rather than wonder where all my future friends are, maybe today is the day to be a friend to someone and see how that goes.
So, if you meet me today, be my buddy! Or rather, I will be yours.
I suppose that is just growing up, too. Dang, this whole adult lifestyle is hard.
ha