How Many Friends Do You Need?

How many friends do you need?  No, we’re not talking about Facebook friends, but the real thing.  Social science researchers quantify friendship types by the levels of relationship depth, starting with acquaintances, casual friends, close friends and then, intimate friends.  Acquaintances are people you make small talk with, maybe at the mailbox or the gym.  You might share an activity with a casual friend but probably wouldn’t see them outside of that activity.  Close friends are who you call when life turns upside down or something amazing happens to you, no matter what time of the day or night it is.  But intimate friends are far and few.  An intimate friend, hopefully would include a mate; this is someone you trust with your deepest secrets and your most vulnerable self, described by an old Arab proverb as, “One to whom we may pour out the contents of our hearts, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away!”