I was watching a Ted Talk by photographer and artist iO Tillet Wright that she calls 50 Shades of Gay in which she shares how she's chronicled photos of varied people with varying degrees of sexual preference. She explains that there are many grey areas and degrees of sexual preference. Some totally prefer same sex. Some totally prefer opposite. And there are many in between.
It got me thinking about that type of "grey scale" that we apply to our relationships. Take for example your friends. We could probably apply some sliding scale to them from best and most intimate, to good for 15-to-20 minutes of interaction. Still friends, but of various grey tints. And there is most likely slim margin in between some. I'd imagine there are tipping points that move a friend from one space along the line to another.
To shift these relationships along the scale we must identify moments. Moments of sharing, vulnerability, and transparency. Moments that might be occurrence or event-related. And moments of spontaneous response.
Are we tuned in enough to recognize moments within a relationship to adjust the scale? And will we boldly invest in it? Often times emotional involvement and time investment are sticky things. Things that we don't allow to happen because, frankly, they may take to much away from "me".
Life impact is often given and received when we choose to refocus from "me" to "we". Regardless of the "shade" of the other.
"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act." - Proverbs 3:27