I Am a Cause

Is it strange that the concept -- or not really the concept, but the actual word -- "loyalty" almost has a negative connotation? I mean, obviously loyalty, in and of itself, is a completely positive thing. But to say, "she's so loyal" sounds almost... submissive? Or like one must've done something bad in order for people to decide to be loyal in spite of it?
I have the most loyal friends. (And I can promise you from plenty of firsthand cajoling, not a one of 'em is submissive.)
And that doesn't even mean "best" friends or "oldest" friends or "closest" friends. It's just this collection of people in my life who are loyal. Consistent. My best friends, my oldest friends, and my closest friends - a wide assortment, actually - are all a variety of wonderful characteristics combined to make them worth holding on to. Not the least of which is their ability and willingness to embrace my borderline idiocy; they stick to me like glue. But it's their loyalty that makes me love them the most -- their "faithfulness to a cause" -- because I know exactly what to expect from each of them, and that gives me such a sense of safeness, of complete cared-for-ness.
The funny thing is, this whole line of thinking stems from spending the weekend with a few friends that I haven't known my whole life, whom I don't live anywhere near, and yet - there's an easiness that comes when they're around, even if it's only once or twice every couple of years.
I'm appreciating that more and more as I get older. I cling to it. It makes me question the relationships in my life - some going on a decade, some more - that don't have that comfortable contentedness to them. Not everything has to be work. And the people you most want in your life, on any level, really, are the ones who make you feel safe, and cared for. It especially helps if they are hysterically fun and funny, which oddly enough all of my friends are, but that's really a bonus if you ask me. (Which no one ever does.)