by Jedidiah Jenkins

“I was asked last week, ‘who is your best friend?’ I don’t know. I don’t use language like that anymore. It doesn’t fit. I have friends that hold the keys to different doors of my personality. Some open my heart. Some my laughter. Some my mischief. Some my sin. Some my civic urgency. Some my history. Some my rawest confusion and vulnerability. Some friends, who may not be ‘the closest’ to me, have the most important key for me in a moment of my life. Some, who may be as close as my own skin, may not have what I need today. It’s ok if our spouses or partners don’t have every key. How could they? It isn’t a failure if they don’t open every single door of who you are. The million-room-mansion of identity cannot overlap perfectly with anyone.

“But I will say, my closest friends have a key ring on their hip with lots of keys, jingling.”

This is absolutely brilliant and full of truths. I feel adult now. I feel like I should have known this all along. There are so many keys.

Original here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B8J2KrOBEy0/