Loosing Teeth
“…you know what it feels like when all your teeth are falling out really slowly and you don’t realize and then you notice that, well, they’re really far apart. And then one day… you don’t have any teeth anymore.” — Carol, Where the Wild Things Are
I recently re-watched the Spike Jonze film Where the Wild Things Are based off the Maurice Sendak book. I picked up on things I missed, forgot, or didn’t touch me the first time. One of these moments is the quote from Carol above.
Relationships are something I’ve been thinking about quite a bit lately. It has become apparent that oftentimes people who I was once good friends with slowly drift out of my life. This doesn’t make then (or me) bad people, it just means our lives are going in separate directions. The analogy of teeth falling out is dead on. One by one situations, distance, schooling, work or many other things get in the way. These things can be thought of as loosing a tooth until one day you realize all your teeth are gone, or to follow the analogy, a relationship has been lost.
So what can be done to prevent this? I don’t know. For me it has come down to picking the relationships which I wish to maintain (and in which I believe are mutually maintained) and not looking back. Part of growing up has been learning that some people will come and go from life. Some I’m happy to see leave, others I miss, some stick around though anything, yet others come and go as life allows. I am thankful for all the people who have been in my life and the things I’ve learned from each of them. I look forward to both new and old friendships thought the rest of my life.
What about you? What’s your advice or thoughts on relationships, Where the Wild Things Are, life in general? Let me know in the comments.