Friendship
Being available beats being interesting
People try to earn friendship by being good company. What actually gets someone included is being reachable, reliable and present…
Friendship
Making friends as an adult, keeping them, and what actually holds one together.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 2 of 2
Friendship
The friend who is a generation older, and what makes it work
Adults almost never end up in unstructured rooms with people two decades away from them. When it happens anyway, the friendship has…
Friendship
Closeness advances in turns, and one person can stall it
Two people move from acquaintance to friend by taking turns saying slightly more than the last thing said. When one stops taking…
Friendship
Remembering the details is most of what being a good friend means
People rarely describe a friend as thoughtful because of a grand gesture. They describe it because that friend remembered the name…
Friendship
A friendship built on a shared complaint has a shelf life
Two people bonding over the same impossible manager can become close very fast. What holds them together is a situation, and…
Friendship
Introducing two friends and what you are actually responsible for
Most people avoid it, worrying they will be blamed if it goes badly or left out if it goes well. Both fears are manageable, and the…
Friendship
Adult friendship needs a place to happen and most of us have nowhere
Friendships are built by repeated unplanned contact, which requires somewhere both people can turn up cheaply and often. Most…
Friendship
Making friends in a language you are still learning
The problem is not vocabulary. It is that humour, speed and nuance go first, so people who are funny and quick in one language…
Friendship
Being the funny one can be a way of staying unknown
The role is genuinely useful to a group, which is what makes it so easy to keep. It also lets somebody attend every occasion and be…