Introverts and extroverts. Let me tell you, May Day is an introvert’s dream-come-true, when your friends say, “Hi, I care,” and then run away and leave you alone in your own quiet.
A friend of mine has started texting “May Day Drop” when she randomly leaves things for me on the black bench next to my front door. It feels like a greater level of kindness as she sees what I need, which is sometimes space. If I May Day Dropped something at her house, it might hurt her feelings. She says she would want to see me, although my introvert brain can’t register why, in the midst of quiet, she would want me to come in.
This is something we may need to consider when it comes to friendship: the truest of friends will meet you in the way that you need, rather than the way they need to be cared for. It may mean that we get together to chat even when I feel like I have no words, but it also means that sometimes she May Day Drops my house.
Life was not meant to be done alone. It also wasn’t meant to be done “our way” all the time. So look at your friends with eyes to see what they may need and if you can’t figure it out, ask. May Day bombing may hurt their feelings or be their dream-come-true.
You are uniquely designed by the perfect designer. Our God doesn’t mess up. Yet in our busy rush through life we may not have created the space to know key things about ourselves and the people we care about. Give yourself permission to be your authentic self and your friends the grace to be theirs. Meeting them in that spot, giving the time and space to understand each other, to be known, is where depth in friendship can be found.
In a podcast I was listening to a gal referred to another as her friend, and she responded, “We are not friends yet. We haven’t even had a meal together.” In an era where our friends may be merely tallies on a social media count, friendship may need to be fought for, and authenticity takes time to build. Be patient, it will come. Make the space and give the intentionality it will take to meet your friend in a way that will be meaningful to them.
I’m not so sure we need Meyers Briggs to tell you if your friend is an introvert or extrovert. We may just need May Day.
