The Power of Girlfriends

With each passing year, I become more and more thankful for my friendships. I’ve been lucky in that every phase of my life, I’ve ended up with a great friend or group of friends that literally feel like family. I’ve got the one friend who I’ve known since I was eight that is practically a sister, the group from college that knows me better than I know myself, the girls I formed strong ties with while working tedious corporate jobs, and finally, the actual friendships I’ve formed through the blog world. They’re the kind of friendships that despite time and distance, remain incredibly strong. I love all these girls, each and every one of them.

But these days, given jobs, priorities, relationships, and schedules, I find it’s incredibly hard to see people in person on a consistent basis- no matter how physically close they are. Do you find that, too?  Sure, phone calls and emails help, but there’s nothing like time together in person. It’s just plain good for the soul.

Before Mexico, it’d been years since I’d spent such solid time with my girlfriends. That’s not to say I don’t see my friends, I usually see at least some of them once a week. But there’s something different about spending a concentrated amount of in person time with good friends. Add in a remote location, and you’ve got pure gold (meaning, true healing power for the soul, at least in my book). The conversations run deep. Really deep. The silliness and laughs are endless. It literally felt giddy on this trip! I mentioned an impromptu dance party in the room one night; there was also a filmed gymnastics session on the beach, an in depth beachside review of body products, and a whole bounty of discussion around relationships, babies, marriage, career, life, and so on. We got into the good stuff.

So yes, a beach vacation in Mexico, obviously that’s relaxing. But what I found, somewhat unexpectedly, was that the time spent with my girlfriends was just as much what I needed out of this trip. In fact, I might have needed it even more. My tan may be fading, but I’m still on a complete high from that impromptu dance party, complete with bathing suits as attire and Ellie Goulding blasting in the background. Yep, that totally happened.

Image by Sarah Wagonner