Open post: What's happening in your world?

“All we needed to do was get a group of four women together. It wasn’t that easy.”

Welcome to Open Post. If you’re new to this space, it’s just a weekly spot where we all share what’s going on in our lives. You are free to talk about anything and everything – nothing is off limits. We just want to hear what’s going on in your world. So, I’ll get started…

This weekend I surprised one of my best mates up in Brisbane. And it was a heavy reminder about how hard it continues to be to foster your long-standing friendships once you all set off on your own paths.

All we needed to do was get a group of four women together.

One who lives in a small coastal town, two up in Brisbane and then myself, down in Sydney.

It was meant to be a trip to surprise two of these women. One who is moving to London and one who has been dealing with the pressure of a long-distance relationship.

It had been six months since we last all saw each other. So the other two of us thought it was perfect timing to reunite before two years came between us with the departure of our London-bound friend.

The last time we were all together, plus a few more of our wonderful friends. Group shots are hard to get right…

But the two women we wanted to surprise don’t really see each other any more. A sad fact of busy adulthood. And one of them is a bit of a planner. We couldn’t get them in the same room together without ruining the surprise.

So just as quickly as we booked our flights, the surprise was ruined for one. We had to tell our London-bound friend to meet us at our other friends house around 6:30pm, in time for the surprise.

Except, she had work drinks – more commitments.

And the friend we were surprising decided she needed dinner and groceries on her way home. So we waited for an hour out the front of her house.

None of this was ideal.

It was proving far too hard to get four women together into one room at the one time.

But of course the surprise did eventually come together and it was brilliant sharing a night catching up over copious glasses of wine. With the addition of a couple more friends turning up.

Soon after the surprise.  It wasn’t the best shot as we have a habit of struggling to get these in the first place. 

But as soon as the next day came we were split up once again as everyone continued on their own paths, be it work, family or planned social commitments.

And it was a sad reminder about how hard it is becomes to get all of your friends together the older you get.

So tell me, how do you foster your long-standing friendships when you all have a load of other commitments?

And tell us, what else is happening in your life? Let us know in the comments. 

For more posts on friendship… 

9 of the most mind-blowing celebrity friendships of all time.

Wendy Squires on true friendship – just trust us and listen in.

“We need to teach our kids how to recognise bad friendships.”