Tag: dailyprompt-2132

The Favorites Stay

Taylor BurianLeave a comment
Daily writing prompt
Who are your current most favorite people?
View all responses

I gave this prompt a decent amount of thought last year when I answered this prompt, and I decided to go back and look it over to see if my thoughts had changed in that time.

Aside from one specific person I no longer talk to or associate with, the rest of my thoughts haven’t really changed! I know, that probably sounds like a bit of a cop out answer, but I wanted to add some additional thoughts this time around.

I’m getting into my late 30’s, I’ve been around the Sun many times at this point, met tons of people near and far that have all taught me different things, and what I wanted to throw out there is primarily for any younger readers who come across this post. If you’re struggling with personal relationships, people not sticking around long enough, or they’re just not that good for you (and you may not be able to see it) then let me tell you something.

Give it time. People will come and go from your life, and that is okay. In fact, that is MORE than okay, because as people go on to do different things, that just opens up space in your life to meet new people and expand your social horizons. Do it while you can, because from personal experience, the older you get, the harder it is to make new friends and identify those kinds of people that you can easily classify as a favorite.

Picking Favorites: Friends and Family Edition

Taylor Burian1 Comment

Who are your current most favorite people?

When I read this prompt I think that people are going to take it a couple of different ways, starting with “People you know personally” and “People you don’t know personally” because we live in an age of parasocial relationships.

I preface my answer this way because I won’t pick celebrities, social media “influencers” or the like. I might like them for one reason or another, but I don’t KNOW them, and they likely don’t know I exist at all! Which is just fine. The general track record of those people makes it hard to rationalize wanting to be part of their social circle.

So, anyways. My actual favorite people. People I know much more personally. I won’t rank them, but I’ll start with those I’ve known the longest.

  • My family
  • My roommates
  • Friends from college who I still talk to frequently
  • My tabletop gaming buddies
  • Friends from my time working at Target
  • Some coworkers from my current job
  • My friends from Twitch

That last one is important for a couple of reasons, and is part of why I made the preface about parasocial relationships. The vast majority of them I haven’t met in person, but I’ve had plenty of back and forth interactions with them. I’ve spent countless hours playing games with some of them, helped them with charity events, had one-on-one conversations where we’ve emotionally opened up and been vulnerable. Those are the same kinds of things you would expect from friends and relationships you have in person and that’s what I’ve had with every group on the list, so that is why I count those online friends in the same way.

Nearly every group on that list I talk to daily. That’s a big part of why they’re my favorites. Because we’re so strongly connected.