Questioning mermaid self?

[MermaidIndie]

So for a good two years my best friend and I were super into mermaids and making tails and stuff all the time but now we started freshman year and she isn't into it anymore which kind of sucked but now I'm still making tails and talking about how excited I am to get a silicone tail and wanting to start a mermaid tail business and she thinks it's weird and I'm getting the "were in high school now you shouldn't do that stuff anymore" and now I'm starting to question making tails and being a mermaid because I feel like she's really judging me and might want to be friends anymore because I'm into very different things then she is and most kids are. Any advice cause this is really kind of crushing me

[Mermaid Ixa]

I am a freshman in high school as well and at the beginning of the year my best friend and I were totally into mermaid stuff. When I first got my tail she bailed on me. I was very sad but then realized we could still be friends and she still judges me but I just brush it off and do my thing. No one in my school knows that I have an etsy shop and am very into mermaiding. My advice is to not give it up and continue with it. If she doesn't want to be your friend because you are super cool and unique then she shouldn't be. We are all your friends here if you need any help and I think you should just follow your dream of becoming a mermaid tail maker.

[MermaidIndie]

Thank you so much, I didn't really realize how much support I had on here until now,
Merfamily for life

[Meshy]

When I was in high school (over 10 years ago mind you...) I didn't have time for anything that wasn't school related. I was in soccer, drama (both on stage and behind the scenes), choir, band, and eventually got a job in my JR year. There was no room with all that plus schoolwork to have a hobby outside of school. Maybe that's what's going on with her. You may find yourself too busy with schoolwork also.

And back then the only thing realistic was for movies and the cost was ridiculous. I'm now 31 and just getting my hands on a silicone tail (end of the summer by Mermaid Creations). It was either just a phase for her or she's too busy getting through school of a little of both. Sorry she seems to not like it anymore, but you've got us here to vent to! :)

[Mermaid Wesley]

Just tell her that growing up is boring and you would rather be a mermaid sometimes. Its my suspicion that shes nervous about ridicule in high school, we all get that way. But if shes a real friend she'll accept the thing you love <3

[Theta]

Also, you're hitting the age when people start to develop different interests and grow apart. I remember that my middle school BFF and I thought we would be best friends FOR.EV.ER and within two years we didn't talk anymore. No animosity, our paths just grew farther and farther apart.

Just stay true to who you are in the here and now, and you'll be okay :)

[Vixy]

Also, you're hitting the age when people start to develop different interests and grow apart. I remember that my middle school BFF and I thought we would be best friends FOR.EV.ER and within two years we didn't talk anymore. No animosity, our paths just grew farther and farther apart.

Just stay true to who you are in the here and now, and you'll be okay :)

Agreed. I had a friend who I had been friends with for years and now it's awkward and she's aloof when we speak. It happens sadly and people do grow apart.

[Rivertee]

Never ever give up a passion for anyone, even a friend. My best friend of 20 years thinks I'm crazy for being into a mermaid but you know what? She's helping me sew my first tail and looking into events around town I'd like. She's VERY Christian and I'm not, I have a son and husband and she's still single and free, I like to draw she likes to read. We're very different but our friendship means the world to us. If she really is your BEST FRIEND, trust me this won't mean a thing other than there's something you two don't have in common.

The truth of it is, people go through phases dear. Some outgrow them while others cultivate and expand on them. But true friendship runs deep and in the end if it's there nothing will stop it.

[Trade Winds]

Don't let it eat at you. If you and your best friend have different interests, so be it. It is just one little thing, and to let it get in the way of your friendship is a big mistake. Understand that sometimes people grow out of interests, let her see and understand this is your passion, just as she has her own. If she doesn't want to be a part of it anymore, that's ok. You're still friends and have so much more than mermaids to base your friendship on.

[SIF]

Dear Indie,
I am a Senior in High School, expecting my own tail soon. I get what you're getting from your friend all too well. I had two friends in middle school, one from before Pre-K, who both made fun of my "mermaid-ness" for the first few years. The friend of a longer time, of the two, even joined me for a short while in the 8th grade. However: 8th grade progressed and they realized I was serious about it, they drifted from me one violently and suddenly, telling me I was stupid and that Mermaids were not real and the other just fading away. When I made Freshman year, I gave it up to have one of them even SORT-OF back in my life and it was the worst mistake i'd ever made. When I drifted back to it, she drifted off again as I progressed further and further into our world. She gave me looks and made crude comments, but time passed. I told my parents and only just got it through their skulls this past June. I told my School and my advisors and they all laughed. In my face. Funny how it took just the one professor to turn it around. My advisor, our eco-concious history/photo/urban design teacher who laughed in my face when i told him my career, noticed I was struggling and pulled me aside and I explained and he wanted to know more. He took me under his guidance when he found out what it's about and he said "that's my mermaid, leave her alone."(in a sense) That gave me the courage to pick out of the funk(the one you are feeling now) and talk. I found my friend and said that I thought she was being stupid and childish and that if what people were going to think about a ceramics/painting/french major being friends with a "Crazy Fish Girl" worried her so much that she felt the judgement was enough to pull away then she wasn't the kid I grew up with who defied the social norms and bullies with me and she wasn't my friend and I WOULD stop talking to her. And she turned around and slapped me. A few weeks later she admitted I was right and now we're back to the way things were('cept I'm ACTUALLY a professional fish, instead of pretending.).
It seems to me that what MerHopefully said; about REAL friends always coming back, is true. Your Bestie might need time to drift from you, and explore the new crowds of High School, before continuing down the path she's been on with you. That sucks, I know. And if it means that she finds a new group and leaves you behind, that hurts even more. But at least you'll know that she wasn't ready to face the world. You do what you have loved doing and make things and sell things and take long swims. Be a rock. If she realizes that there isn't a friend group for her or that her new one isn't what she thought it was or would be she'll come back. Given time, she may realize who her real friend is.(one way or another). But if you're sure that your heart finds fullfilment in your Mermaiding, don't abandon it for those who judge or ditch you because if they can't handle your awesomeness that comes along with what you do and who you are, they aren't really your friends.
~MermaidNyssa