The floater friend finds beauty in the quiet spaces between circles, where connections flow freely but never root. Bridges connect souls, the thread that weaves different stories, bringing joy to fleeting moments and enhancing diverse bonds that unite us, maybe being the floater friend isn’t so bad after all.
Friends are the best. Having a collective group of people that you can be your most outrageous and comfortable self with is what we all wish for. The inside jokes flooding the group chat, the laughter that comes from having all of your snap memories filled with your friends’ dumb yet hilarious decisions. Friends are amazing, and having them be your own small family is even greater.
Then you have people like me. All of my life, I never had a solid “friend group”. I’ve had multiple close friends but not the ones you could make a happening group chat out of. Growing up, I was always kind of a loner and liked to keep to myself a lot. I moved a lot as a kid, switching schools every 2 years or so throughout K-12, which impacted my social relationships.
I jumped around from friend to friend, a “social floater” if you will. In high school, I remember there were times I would sit with multiple friend groups in one week. Because of that, my journal became my best friend, something that I held close to my heart and later the catalyst for my storytelling. Even though meeting new people is nice, sometimes it made me feel on the outskirts of all the action happening on the inside.
But then I realized I love being my own person. I love being able to bounce around and do my own thing. I thought a “floater” was a bad thing but in reality, it has so many perks!
1. I learned how to be comfortable with myself. I found out what made me “me”, and how that is amazing.
2. I have learned so many amazing things from meeting people from different walks of life. I know what it looks like outside my bubble or what I am used to and am able to explore the “what ifs” and “how comes”.
3. When you introduce your friends from different groups and they hit it off, it feels like a huge accomplishment.
4. Lastly, I never feel obligated to do the same thing with the same people or have a sense of “FOMO”. In a way, its sort of liberating not being tied to one particular group.
Being called a “social floater” may seem negative, but for me, it’s one of my best qualities. To all the social floaters out there, remember that you’re just as cool as everyone else.