Special Friends -- The Thin Gray Line Between A Special Friend And Lover

Love and friendship are often considered as the two sides of the same coin. One can not survive away from the other. Still there is a thin line between a friend and a lover; and if someone does not probe deep in to the relationship, often the thin grey line between the ‘special friend’ and lover may seem blurred and unrecognizable.

One of the key attribute of today’s society is the gradual demise of the authoritarian control of social institutions like marriage, class, corporations, or any other shared alliances. Evidently the focus has shifted towards the voluntary, informal and often quite intimate relationship manifested in being friends. More and more people are turning towards friendship to secure a more reliable and less demanding social circle.

But when we talk about friendship and love the questions that naturally come up to our mind are, whether a purely platonic friendship can exist; and, whether friendship with the opposite sex can be completely devoid of physical enticement. One of the primary aspects of platonic friendship is that it is open-ended, thus allowing more ways to explore and rejoice the glory of friendship. Friendship is a particular sense of being, a journey towards becoming intimate with the other, a journey, which is destined to a state of unconditional yet immensely gratifying relationship. The psychological process of being attracted to a friend or a special friend is to a certain extent analogous to the psychological and emotional progression of love.

So, there is no doubt that friendship establishes the foundation of love. Friendship is that fertile ground from which the fragrant flowers of love will sprout. Most of the people want their lovers to be their ‘soul mates’ and being a soul mate has everything to do with being an intimate and unconditional friend, which are in fact the common traits of a special friend. That is where the line between a special friend and lover becomes increasingly indistinct and delicate.