Our friends are there for us, because we're there for them, too. But sometimes, we wish our favorite sitcom characters could be part of our crew and best our best friends forever. Chandler would make sure that every moment didn't go without a sarcastic comment, Monica would keep the apartment clean, and we could raid Rachel's closet on the reg. If you're wondering why Phoebe Buffay is the best — well, first you might need to go back and re-watch Friends. We all need a friend just like her, who will remind us that life doesn't have to be so serious.
I remember when I first started watching the show and thought Phoebe was absolutely annoying. Back then, I wasn't quite adulting. And so, as I got older and inevitably kept tuning into rerun episodes, I realized that she's honestly the best and the brightest character in the crew. Her moments are the most relatable, and there's not a sticky situation that she finds herself in that she doesn't handle in her own style.
When it hasn't been our day, month, or even our year, we could all take some tips from Phoebe and remember that the real world only sucks if we make it that way. You only should ever really be considered if your plane doesn't have a phalange, or if somebody touches your guitar. That's the real serious stuff — and for now, these seven things will prove that Phoebe is truly just the best.
Being 20-something means you have nothing figured out, and I can't stress enough how much that's OK. Not knowing what you want out of life is oh-so-normal, and it's crazy that anyone was ever asking you what you wanted to be when you grew up. Sure, you should have some goals and maybe a bucket list full of adventures you want to take when you have some more funds. But, taking those five-year plans (or even creating them in the first place) so seriously is just not the Buffay lifestyle.
It's so easy to get bummed out over the little things in life, and comparing yourself to others will only bring you down. Take it from Phoebe that sometimes you just need to sip your smoothie out of a straw and see what happens. We all need a friend who reminds us of that fact.
Do you think smelly cat cared? That's the mindset you have to get into when you're Phoebe Buffay. All of her ridiculous songs, and the moments when she freaked people out by saying she was having her brother's triplets — she was just living her best life, and without a worry in the world.
Truth is, we could all learn a bit of a lesson from her about channeling our energy into what we really care about. When it comes to saving dying Christmas trees and purchasing nothing from Pottery Barn, she'll go all in. But, why send out hate into the universe if you really don't have to? People are just people, and running in Central Park like you're going to be chased is an experience you should enjoy. They'll never see you again, after all — especially if you're sprinting fast enough to not even see your face in the first place.
We can all be a little weird at times, but sometimes we hide our true colors just to fit in. Maybe we don't share that inside joke, or just keep our thoughts to ourselves. Life would be so much less serious if we just showed off the most perfect parts of our personalities — and once again, didn't care what anybody thinks.
Phoebe, no matter what season of the show it is, is oh-so-whimsical, and we love her for it. Every friend crew needs someone who compares couples to lobsters and dances solely in a freestyle fashion. Learning how to play guitar seems a bit simpler when you do it her way, and don't even get me started on her connections to the universe and all of its energies. Being yourself and living by your imagination really would make adulting and life itself a whole lot more adventurous.
Probably one of the things that makes life the most complicated is the situations when we choose to be passive aggressive. It's so good that we consider other people's feelings and don't want to cause a fuss. But, other times, being so basic and blunt is just better.
Phoebe is never afraid to speak her mind, and calls herself out while she's at it. You don't have to tell her that she's flakey, she already knows it and was planning on skipping out on lunch, anyway. And she won't back down from getting sick just so she can show off her sexy voice.
We could all use a friend in our lives who is so straight up. It would honestly be quite refreshing, and keep us grounded when we're letting the little things get too big to bear.
Phoebe can be so smooth. Seriously, we're about to take some lines from her playbook because she really does have great game. Remember the time when the guy complimented her name? She responded, "You like that? You should hear my phone number." If only we all could be so quick with our wit like that.
Sure, it hasn't all be such easy sailing. Before she finds Mike and has her fairy tale wedding on a snowy street in the city, she has a lot of awkward first date moments that make all the single people in this world say "same." You for sure have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your soulmate, but having a friend like Phoebe would at least keep things interesting when it comes to intimacy.
From flag football on Thanksgiving day, to charity dinners and seducing Chandler — there's really not an adventure that Phoebe isn't always down to be part of. She has a bucket list of things she has to complete by certain birthdays, and is on a mission to check off every single thing. She'll even try tap dancing if that's your style. I think the only thing she really dodged was Rachel's trifle, and that's so understandable. I mean, beef and bananas?
We love the people in our friend crew because they're the best at making memories, and will always come along on our wildest ideas. But, we can all use someone like Phoebe to remind us that being spontaneous isn't ever supposed to be serious. In fact, you have some of the best moments when you do things on a whim and just go with the flow.
Where do I even begin with Phoebe's alter egos? Well, of course there's Regina Phalange, and that one Halloween when she spooked everyone by turning into Supergirl herself. She dresses up in wedding dresses to be a bride, and puts on the best accents for when she's meeting rich people like Mike's parents. And then there's one of the final episodes when she takes on the role of Joey's agent, Estelle — for one of her most memorable and heartwarming performances as someone other than Phoebe.
Taking life not-so seriously means that sometimes you just need to be a kid again and play pretend. Getting an escape from the real world doesn't always need to mean booking plane tickets to faraway places, especially when you have enough imagination to create something totally new for yourself.
We can learn a lot from Phoebe about how to handle life, but honestly, we just need someone just like her to be a part of our friend crew, too.
