Sin of Familiarity

Photo by: Anthony delos Reyes

fa·mil·i·ar·i·ty

   [fuh-mil-ee-ar-i-tee, -mil-yar-]  Show IPA

noun, plural fa·mil·i·ar·i·ties.

1.

thorough knowledge or mastery of a thing, subject, etc.

2.

the state of being familiar;  friendly relationship; closeacquaintance; intimacy.

3.

an absence of ceremony and formality; informality.

4.

freedom of behavior justified only by the closestrelationship; undue intimacy.

5.

Often, familiarities. an instance of such freedom, as inaction or speech.

6.

a sexual liberty or impropriety.

Above is the description of the word FAMILIARITY according to Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Familiarity?s=t. I've been wanting to share this lesson about familiarity that I learned from my aunt (my mom's cousin) because I believe that each one of us may have encountered this in any way. 

For me, "familiarity" is a positive word. Being familiar with something or someone is a great advantage because it transcends knowledge. When you're familiar with something or someone, then you wouldn't have a difficulty dealing with it or with him respectively. Yes, if you know how to drive then you can drive any car, BUT it would still be easier driving your own car because you are familiar with it. Same goes with your relationships, you may share your thoughts with your room mate, but it would be more comfortable to confide your problems with your best friend for more than 20 years. However, familiarity really breeds contempt and in all honesty I plead guilty of it. How? It's when you ignore your mom or dad's call and worst never return their call, because you know they would understand that you are busy; Or when you ditch your friends' dinner, for a once-in-a-lifetime date, because you know they will always be your friends no matter what; Or when you don't value your partner's opinion because he always allows you to make the decision; and so on. We tend to ignore the people who we're very familiar with because we know they would always be there and they would always understand. However, relationships should always be nourished and as the cliche, "it always takes two to tango." Your family would understand how busy you are, but would be very relieved to hear you're okay; Your friends would wish you to find your knight with shining armor, but would love to share dinner with you both; And your partner would want to give you everything, but would fall for you all over again if you value his opinion or decision. So let's all spread the love!