The Great Eight
By Lauren Kostoff |
If you ever stumble across my social media, take a meeting in my office, or sit inside my colorful apartment, you’ll notice the same eight, pretty faces, smiling back at you in nearly every captioned, displayed, or framed photo.
In the last 10 years, I have learned more about myself and how I want to live my life from these women than I could have imagined when we met as college freshmen. These days, we cover seven different states and five unique professional industries, some have married and there’s even one baby represented in the group—but, despite those differences, and more, they are still the people I keep coming back to.
Over the years I have gotten so many questions and comments about the great eight – like, _How do you all get along? I bet there’s gotta be drama with that many girls!_ _Looks like you have to be pretty and successful to be in that group. Do you really like every single, one of them?_
Usually these comments just make me laugh, and may even get an eye roll out of me, because they couldn’t be farther from the truth. The more time that passes, and the more relentlessly I hear these kinds of questions, the more I realize how deep the misconceptions really run when it comes to female friendship. The themes of discord, competition, and vanity come up over and over again.
If I had allowed those misconceptions to guide me then I could have missed out on some of the most meaningful lessons, and some of the greatest sources of encouragement and strength, I have in my life.
So here’s eight lessons on life and friendship that I could have missed out on without shedding those misconceptions and making the great eight a part of my life and my heart.
_“My friends have made the story of my life. In a thousand ways they have turned my limitations into beautiful privileges.”_—Helen Keller
Be the kind of friend who exchanges these acts of friendship daily and don’t be afraid to let people do the same thing for you. When I consider the ways these women have enriched and propelled my life, I stand amazed by the sheer power of friendship.
So here’s to the great eight, I am better because of you.
