Eric went out last night and Dylan went to bed fairly early so I had a bit of time on my hands. After a bit of debate I had decided to get all wild and crazy and go to bed early for a change.

Of course, that didn't happen.

In the midst of winding down for my early night I saw some snippet of something on tv that required further investigation. And while I was online, a dear friend called and we chatted for quite some time. And then because of certain topics of discussion, I ended up staying online longer to look up old friends and acquaintances.

And during my conversation and subsequent search I kept asking myself, "Why? Why do I want to find people from my past? Why do I need to reconnect?". True, in some ways, I'm simply curious how people who I was close with are doing now. But if I do make contact, then what?? I already suck at keeping in touch with the people that are in my current circle of friends. Do I really want/need to add more people that I'll feel guilty about not talking with when I already am not?

I realize this leads back to an ongoing "poll question" for me regarding the nature of friends and friendships at different life stages. My life tends to be fairly cyclical so I know this issue (among others) will continue to come up.

How do we know when to let people and times go and when to bring them back into our lives? If we've changed, and likely they have as well, could getting back together hold a benefit for either party? Or would it just be a pathetic attempt to hold on to our pasts?