Mid-30s man making friends with people who are in their early 20s. I'd like to do this right, and build healthy friendships, while also being mindful of the power difference, experience difference, and maturity difference.
I'm 33, male, bi, married, no kids, confident, attractive, and tend towards strong emotional connections with people. I've been in my new city for four years. As I've laid down roots, I have intentionally tried to make more friends outside of the office. That's gone quite well, with people of different ages and genders.
I am predominantly drawn to the artisan / creative / environmental / coffee shop space. I often meet people who are studying at one local art school or are in the local sustainability program at the university. These folks are easy to make friends with because they actually have time to hang out, they have great energy, and they are passionate about creativity and exploration, like I am.
However, I want to be mindful. There are a few men and women in their early and mid 20s who invite me to events and to work on projects together. I don't think there are crushes, infatuations, expectations, etc, and I want to keep things healthy.
I also have been thinking about what it looks like to others in this (somewhat conservative) environment. I grew up in a conservative culture where married men and women did not spend alone time together. Also people weren't friends much outside their age cohort. So I don't have a very good example of how this is done well, and I don't want to be seen as someone who pursues relationships with young people in an unhealthy way (regardless of the truth).
I would appreciate some advice about boundaries, emotional maturity, complicated situations to avoid, how to be helpful, how to be a good older friend, and above all how to correctly perceive the balance (or imbalance) in relationships like this. |
Video
Web
Image
Music
BlogU
