Friends Without Benefits

This afternoon I was thinking about the importance of friendship. I came across some great quotes about friends and thought I'd share them here:

"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and new."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"A faithful friend is a strong defense; and he that hath found him hath found a treasure."
- Louisa May Alcott

"I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world."
- Thomas Edison


Since splitting up with my wife of almost 28 years, I have realized that despite our issues, we were good friends. So now we are friends without benefits as they say. I am discovering that I have really very few close intimate friends. Though I have many acquaintances, and I have great relationships with them, there are only a few that I trust deeply enough to share my inner most thoughts and feelings. Even while I blog, there are some things I don't discuss, because it is a public forum. This is my quandry. There are things about myself that I don't share with people, for fear that they will reject me or judge me. I think this is a barrier that keeps people outside my "circle of trust." Yet, my heart's desire is to have more intimate friends. So how do I balance this?