The Joy of Friendship

Dismantling amatonormativity one meme at a time! Wholesome content on friendship, platonic love, chosen family, community and more. #aroacepositivity

[thejoyoffriendship]

Source: Life Matters Suicide Prevention Trust

[thejoyoffriendship]

[thejoyoffriendship]

Happy Aromantic Awareness Week!

This week is Aromantic Awareness Week! 💚

Aromanticism is a spectrum, and for those of us who identify as aro, romantic attraction doesn’t define our relationships or sense of fulfillment. Love comes in so many forms—friendship, community, creativity, passion for life—and they’re all just as real and meaningful.

If you’re aro, questioning, or just learning about it, you’re valid, you belong, and your experiences matter. 💚

[titsay]

[natequarter]

"it's clearly not platonic! it can't be!" oh? and why is that? why can't it be platonic? what clear and definable qualities move it beyond the realm of platonic love? if you say "well friends would never do that" or "it's just obvious" i'll kill you btw

[lesb0]

hi is it true that its much harder to make genuine girl friends these days or is there just something wrong with me, like srs question not fishing for sympathy LOL

having friends to me is veeery regional and very situational..... because situations like visiting the same place over and over is how you make friends. It has a LOT to do with cultural differences, about half the women in my current group have said something about never having made friends before. And the other half is other Californians who vibe with my brand of friendliness. it's really hard and takes a lot of energy to keep friends!

[lesb0]

I currently have a white friend group of art historians, a woc friend group of museum professionals that I intentionally joined, and several scattered people who I love all over my old neighborhood. I tried to stay a lesbian group here, but I realized how deeply disconnected society is here shortly after.

In my old city, I joined a lesbian day trip group from facebook who became my best friends until I moved here. Before that, I had a lesbian/artsy women friend group from grad school, with a disconnect from our age + the pandemic distance. I always have one or 2 gay man friends.

Each situation that I've gained these friends has been super different but ultimately as we weave in and out of different people's lives the closeness and distances will change and you just have to follow that natural ebb and flow. Think of friends the same way you think of dating, you often have to break up with people who you love, because your lives have pulled you apart. this isn't sad, it is beautiful and fleeting :)

[premiumaabatteries]

How it feels to be in the fandom of a show about friendship :

[yardsards]

[image description: a cartoon drawing of someone in the fetal position on the floor with the aromantic flag superimposed over them. surrounding them is text that reads "Friends wouldn't do that for each other!!" "They MUST have a crush on them" "There's no platonic explanation for this-" "Friends don't look at each other like that-"]

[aromanticofficial]

official aromantic post

[aspecpplarebeautiful]

hi , it’s the bi-ace anon with a crush . .

my crush is figuring out her orientations

she says she’s pretty sure she’s aroace

how do i go about getting over the crush while remaining her friend ?

(feel free to ignore this ik it isn’t exactly your area of expertise is this is a blog for arospec and aspec experiences)

Getting over a crush can be hard, and it's harder when it's a friend you want to keep in your life. In the short term it can help to create a bit of distance or even spend some time apart, sometimes you can come up with a good excuse for this too so that you don't hurt their feelings (for example: 'I have a big project I really need to work on, I'll be around sparsely for a bit'). It can also help just to have something else to focus on so you're also not thinking about them as much.

Journaling can help, write out your feelings and that can help you process things. It's also important to acknowledge your feelings and not push them down so that you can work through them properly. Remember whatever you're feeling is valid and human and it's OK to be sad or disappointed. Journaling can also help you keep more grounded in reality, which can also help in letting go of a crush you know won't lead anywhere.

Sometimes if you have someone you trust and who's a good listener you can talk things out with that can work too.

And try focusing on other people. You will likely eventually get other crushes and focusing that particularly kind of energy on someone else will help you be less hung up on your friend.

Sometimes these feelings don't entirely go away, sometimes they just go dormant, or you still feel some residual feelings sometimes so long as they're still in your life. But usually so long as you've properly moved on from the idea of dating them they're usually not too bad. That said, if your feelings do continue to be too painful, it is OK to distance yourself more or for longer, and you're not a bad person or a bad friend if you have to do that.

All the best, Anon! Good luck!

[thejoyoffriendship]

Source: She Freaks She Speaks

Text: I just want to thank the people that get me out of the house, invite me to go somewhere, check in on me & distract me from everything going on in my head. I love you.

[thejoyoffriendship]

Source: styrke

feeling validated, heard, seen and acknowledged in a friendship is so important. it's the most beautiful feeling i think. being able to tell someone the most private feelings, exposing yourself at the most vulnerable, and being met with empathy, understanding, an confirmation that you're not just being whiny, spoiled, ungrateful, or any of the other self-deprecating things you tell yourself you are when you're breaking down. to have someone bring you back to reality when you're busy minimising your struggles, yeah, that's really beautiful and it's truthful. someone who sees you where you are exactly as you are, not better or worse. just you. that's so important in a friendship. definitely the most beautiful feeling.

[recomvery]

People always say: "Not everyone is gonna like you, and that's ok, nothing to take personally, it doesn't matter" yet it still sucks. It sucks when it's your teacher, it sucks when it's your boss or co-worker or family member. It even sucks when it's a friends friend or someone we barely know. It hurts. And you do not have to gaslight yourself into thinking that it doesn't hurt when it does. You're allowed to be upset when life is hard. You're allowed to feel an emotion, even more when it makes perfect logical sense. We talk to a friend about our feelings, journal, reflect, use coping skills. We find peace after a while, that's a more realistic solution. You got this. It will be ok.

[thejoyoffriendship]

Source: honeyymistt

Text: the other day, one of my newer friends told me that she knew she wanted to be friends with me when a group of us were talking in a big circle and i backed up a little bit so she could be a part of the circle instead of outside of it. i didn't even remember doing that and it just goes to show that small gestures and acts of kindness go such a long way and can completely transform someone else's life. the cherry on top is that these things tend to have a snowball effect, and it can transform *your* life in ways you could never imagine, so go make someone's day [butterfly emoji]

[thejoyoffriendship]

Source: @_Pammy_DS_

Soulmates aren’t just lovers… they can be friends too. Your soulmates will naturally recognize you and vibe with you. They understand you, appreciate you, support you, love you, heal with you and evolve with you. They make you feel beautiful in your own skin just for being YOU.

[aromantic-aurea]

AUREA is looking for web development volunteers! Learn more about this position and what it means to be an AUREA volunteer on our volunteer page.

[Image Description: A square graphic with a light green border with green text at the top that reads “Call For Web Dev Volunteer”. Underneath the text is a person sitting at a laptop. The laptop has the AUREA logo on the back of it.]

[aspecpplarebeautiful]

Sex is optional. This is true for everyone, not just asexual people.

Romance is optional. This is true for everyone, not just aromantic people.

[sunsbleeding]

[nevershootamockingbird]

[ Begin ID: A digital drawing of four sheep jumping through grass. There are small red stars around them, and the sheep all the way to the right is saying, "I know love is real because when I'm with my friends it is everywhere!" / End ID ]

[daily-spooky]

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