Think Toxic Friends Are All Bad? Here’s Why You’re Wrong

Everyone needs a Karen Walker or two

Karen Walker from Will and Grace, image created by the author in Procreate

“Well, well, well. Look what the cat cleaned up, showered, exfoliated, powdered, lipsticked, Gucci’d and dragged in.”

— Karen Walker, Will and Grace Season 1.

Articles describing how to identify narcissistic people and toxic relationships dominate our feeds. Their popularity is increasing in line with our desire to detoxify and streamline every aspect of our lives.

Minimalism is oh-so aspirational and we’re meant to cut down on everything that’s bad for us, from sitting too long, to those Friday night sugar and cheap wine binges.

So naturally, any toxic people in our lives should be unceremoniously cut too.

However, I'm going to suggest that you hold fire on eliminating all toxicity from your life. I’m all for cutting the cheap wine but can we think before we shun those imperfect — but still human — toxic people?

Now I’m not just shouting the benefits of toxic friends because I love Karen Walker from Will and Grace, which in case you hadn't realized is the poster child for toxic people everywhere. No, after realizing that I had a…