I mean, it's also possible that the friend read it and simply didn't know what to do with the information. It could have not really been their cup of literary tea - not everyone likes reading essays. It could have felt too personal in a way that they don't know how to respond to - oh, jeez, you bared your soul to me and now what am I supposed to do with this beating and gushing heart that you've placed in my hands (even if you didn't think it was that deep, they might have). Or maybe they read it and didn't understand how emotionally attached you are to what you wrote - are these essays snapshots or are they painstakingly crafted oil paintings?

What you want to remember is that writing, like any work of art, has meaning to the person who created it and quite possibly a completely different meaning to the person who receives it. Don't be too bent out of shape when those aren't the same thing.