Friendships are one of the most rewarding aspects of life. Yet for many, making new friends requires special effort, especially as an adult. Maintaining healthy friendships also takes some diligence and care.
Watch real-life friends Jenn Bane and Trin Garritano, authors of Friendshipping and hosts of the Friendshipping podcast. They will share insights on how to build and cultivate friendships during a pandemic, tips on how to run a great online event, and advice on how to navigate the difficult process of recognizing when a friendship has run its course.
Main Takeaways:
- Jenn: People often think they want friends but maybe what they need is a counselor or therapist. Sometimes when you think you want friends you actually just aren’t feeling particularly happy. Know what you want. Do you want someone to unload all your problems? That’s not really a friendship.
- Jenn: You want to meet new people, you are hungry for friendship. That means, unfortunately, you’re gonna have to do some legwork. It’s not going to mean overhauling your personality or anything like that, but it does require some legwork, it requires doing the inviting, it requires doing a little bit of community management.
- Trin: If you’re looking for more buddies, a great place to start is asking your close friends to start inviting you to things. We always suggest going deeper into your hobbies, finding the places where people like the same things that you like, where you have something in common with everybody there.
Top Q&A Questions/Resources:
- How does one make meaningful connections as an introvert?
- Trin: As an introvert, I don’t think about text messages as being these little gifts you’re sending your friends. It is meaningful when you show up to your friends’ events. Online events are also very meaningful and as an introvert, it’s hard to remember that. We don’t need the energy that one can derive from being around a lot of people. So I think it’s having this understanding of your friends’ needs but also an understanding of how much energy you have available, and how much you can give and temper your expectations from there.
- How do you maintain friendships when you move?
- Jenn: My advice for maintaining friendships with people that are in different places, is to find the most low-pressure way to keep in touch.
- Trin: I love sending pictures and short videos to long-distance friends. Ask specific questions that can give you a little bit of insight into their life.
- Resources:
- Jenn and Trin are offering 20% off Friendshipping on workman.com with the promo code FRIENDS. Please note this offer expires on 3/1/21 and is for US only.
- Listen to Jenn and Trin’s Podcast here: friendshippingbook.com
- Twitter thread with recommendations on online games to play with friends
Last modified on June 23, 2021
