adult friendships

Have you ever felt like a bad friend for not showing up for someone you care about?

Or maybe you’re frustrated that you’re ALWAYS showing up for everyone but feel like nobody reciprocates; or, MAYBE you’re somebody who struggles to let people support you. If any of this resonates, this episode is for you.

Today’s guest is Olivia Howell, co-founder and CEO of the Fresh Starts Registry, the first and only platform that offers a registry to help people begin again after a major life change. She’s also the co-host of A Fresh Story, a top 2% personal journals podcast.

I’ve been following Olivia and Fresh Starts for a long time, and I’m stoked to get this episode out there. It’s full of so many tangible examples of how to show up for people in a world where we’re overwhelmed by responsibility and calls for our attention.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• Life changes – the average person goes through 14 (!) in a lifetime, from job changes and break-ups to moves and having kids
• Meeting people where they are, which often means you have to take your ego out of it  and remember that the reaction might not be the one you envisioned
• How sometimes, it’s not sustainable to show up in the volume that equates our love – plus, the benefits of focusing on the small things instead of the grand gestures
• Coming up with tried and true scripts you can say to your friends (and borrowing some from Fresh Starts if you need some help with material)
• Letting people into your life and believing you are worthy of support, and building the support system that feels right for you

Resources & Links

Check out Fresh Starts, follow them on Instagram, and see their scripts that can help you next time you want to show up for your friends while they’re going through their major life moments.

Listen to the Fresh Starts podcast, and keep an eye out for their upcoming episode which I’ll be a guest on!

Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram and TikTok!

Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!

Hello February! In the theme of love, today's episode talks about romanticizing your life.  Maybe you heard this phrase during the pandemic, but we're essentially glamorizing the mundane day-to-day tasks. We are fabulous, even if we don't live in the French countryside, so why not play up our daily lives? I really love the concept because to me, it's another form of self love.  

What else am I in-between this week? 

• February themes of love and Groundhog day; anyone else feel like it's still 2019? 
• New workout class
• Unreal candy & finding healthier alternatives to snackies
• Our country's new mental health support team, Sesame Street, starring Elmo! 
• Crushing my ADHD and to-do lists
• Making friends on the internet - should I bring back my Adult Friendships series? 
• The Hurkle Durkle life

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and rate the show wherever you listed to your podcasts! Help ya girl out. ;) 

Connect with me:
@in.betweenpod on Instagram
@elizabethcheney_ on Instagram
@theinbetweenpodcast on TikTok
The In-Between Podcast on YouTube

If you could go back and advise your 20-year-old self about friendship, what would you say?

Personally, I always had the worst social anxiety hangover, worrying about the things I said or did after hanging out with people. I know now I should have asked my friends about it instead of ruminating and worrying.

This is the underlying theme of today’s episode – lessons we’ve learned about friendship since our 20s – which features Arpita Mehta, a brand strategist and host of The Modern Millennial podcast. She’s also the creator of the Little Brown Diary, a Facebook group of 38,000 South Asian millennial women.

This episode is full of so many gems, and I walked away with so much appreciation for all the work my friends and I have done as we’ve grown and changed. It truly is a never-ending journey.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• Limiting beliefs about friendships and how it’s not something we’re taught – making and maintaining friendship is something you have to learn through life experience
• Ever-evolving friendships – we won’t necessarily be the same friends we are now ten or twenty years down the line
• Male friendship groups vs. female friendship groups, and the effort required to keep a group together (hint: we sometimes make it more difficult than it has to be!)
• The downside of being the “connector” in a group who makes the plans and gets along with everyone (and the importance of getting other people to do this work too)
• Folding time with friends into things we were going to do anyway – like go shopping or pick up coffee, etc.

Resources & Links:

I can’t suggest The Modern Millennial podcast enough. It’s like hanging out with a friend – a mix of serious conversations, lifestyle, and beauty.

Listen to Episode 42 to hear about the dynamics of friend trios and friend groups.

Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram! 

Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!

Need something to light you up today? Maybe some profound advice? Look no further!

Today’s episode features Mark Delaney, host of the podcast The Purpose Mastermind. He and his wife Andrea are purpose dealers, which means they spend their lives helping people clarify their purpose into one simple sentence.

He says that having something in life that moves us and compels us is at the core of what it is to be human; that we should all be purpose-focused instead of problem-focused; that so many of us don’t live with full expression because of the walls between us and others.

He brings so much thought-provoking wisdom in this episode, wisdom that has me analyzing my day-to-day interactions, and he presents the great reminder that friendship is not extracurricular. It’s not only for “people-people.” We are all made for people.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• Focusing on your past and trying to fix it vs. discovering your purpose and using this to move forward
• Powerful, positive relationships vs. negative relationships (as opposed to “positive” or “negative” people)
• Tweaking the simple things and auditing yourself: are you showing up as yourself or are you putting on a show?
• The impact of tiny, consistent steps in the right direction instead of big grand gestures
• Tapping into the people around us to help us with our self-reflection and the clarity that comes with vocalization

Resources & Links

Learn more about Mark Delaney and his podcast, The Purpose Mastermind.

Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram! 

Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!

My friends and I talk about money all the time.

It’s a great way to crowdsource information from people in the same season of life. I also think it helps us be more open with one another.

But money can be a taboo topic and difficult to navigate with friends. To help us through these sometimes tricky conversations, we have Sarah Roller, a financial coach who helps clients create personalized money management plans. In this episode, we cover the different levels in which you can talk about money. When is it valuable to talk numbers, and what are easy gateways into these conversations?

Remember: the way you or I manage money isn’t right or wrong. It can be different but right for each of us in the current moment. How can we approach these conversations with respect and curiosity?

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• Reasons to talk with friends about money, from gathering ideas on how to manage your own finances to understanding how friends will want to spend time together
• The different levels of money conversations you can have with friends and non-threatening ways to start these conversations
• Sharing financial goals with friends, which can alleviate discomfort when deciding how you want to spend time together and understand each other’s thought processes
• Approaching these topics with curiosity and respect, and knowing that everyone has different feelings about the actual numbers
• Asking yourself: WHY are you asking? What will you both get out of it? And when is it actually useful to share numbers and details?

Resources & Links

Visit Sarah’s website and download her free tool about how to plan for life’s irregular expenses.

Learn more about my roots framework!

Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram! 

Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!

Today’s episode is about friendship goals. Why set them? What do they look like?

So many people are taking one action after another when it comes to friendship without much thought as to why. They’re repeating old patterns and doing what they “think” they should do instead of focusing on their ideal vision of social wellness.

I say “ideal vision” with a grain of salt. Likely, this vision is a moving target, changing as you change. Here, we talk about the steps to take and offer tips and examples that might help you make these goals for 2024.

Like with anything, making and executing friendship goals will take a LOT of brain power in the beginning, but I hope you push through that uncomfortable phase and get to the place where you’re just fine tuning.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• The steps to making friendship goals, from setting aside time to reflect to stepping back and looking at the big picture
• Categories to think about when making the goals, like: How much time do you have? What are your habits? What types of people do you want to meet?
• Assessing friendship problems you’re currently having, like: Are there places where you’re guilting or shaming yourself? What areas are you overwhelmed in?
• Six tips for making great friendship intentions; for example: Lean into interests! Create consistency! Use technology!
• Twenty examples of different friendship goals you could make; for example: Commit to connecting to one friend a month! Set admin friend time on your calendar! 
• Being open to meeting new people and new versions of friends you already have – put your phone down, make small talk, be open, etc.

Resources & Links

Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram! 

Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!

Making new friendships, maintaining old ones, and mending broken ones as an adult is a weirder thing to navigate than anyone told us it would be! 

We're talking navigating adult friendships in this one, and how odd it can be to do. 
We share what we each do (and need to get better at doing) to keep healthy friendships nowadays, what we've learned to build new ones during a time where everyone's busy or loves cancelling plans, the value of checking in on people & lots more! 

Go find the Follow & Subscribe buttons and ask them to be your friend.
You can become our BFF by following us @honestlysamepod if ya haven't yet! 

join jordan and her mom, cindy, a former head-of-human resources (for brands such as victoria's secret beauty, chanel and her own company!) as they dive into:

• why it's okay to not have a career plan
• being open to opportunities
• the importance of saving for your future (!!!!!!)
• and "making good choices" aka for the right reasons
• relationship advice from a 45 year marriage
• quality over quantity when it comes to friendships
• creating a life you're proud of
• finding purpose in retirement

...and so much more! we hope you love this one :)

find me on instagram at @jordan.friendly and @hereandthere.pod

Books are like people – they come into our lives when we most need them.

Today’s guest, Kara Infante, host of the Bookish Flights podcast, shares this quote by Emma Thompson at the end of every podcast episode. 

Community and books are important to Kara, and as a military spouse who moves frequently with her family, she’s learned that, for her, the easiest way to make connections in a new place is through book clubs, both by joining them and creating them.

Talking about books might not involve the biggest, deepest shares, but allows people to see a bit of who you are. The idea seems deceptively simple, but it’s actually genius. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: specificity is a great way to make connections. 

You can apply Kara’s tips and ideas to any interest you might have. If you’re looking to reconnect or deepen some friendships, spend a few minutes thinking about the shared interests you have. It might be a really easy way to open the door to more conversation.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• All about Kara’s podcast, Bookish Flights, which, in each episode, introduces three books that pair well together
• How Kara meets new people by joining or creating book clubs, and why this works so well (recurring schedule, shared passions, easy reason to reach out, etc.)
• Using Kara’s techniques for finding people during other big life changes (new jobs, new life circumstances, etc.) 
• Creating a community you can take with you so that you don’t have to start over every time you move
• How to find a book club or create a book club using Kara’s format, plus, how to stay close to friends through the Sisterhood of the Traveling Books

Resources & Links:

Check out Kara’s podcast, Bookish Flights, and find her on Instagram and Facebook.

Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram! 

Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!

In this episode, we return to one of Friendship IRL’s most quintessential questions: what IS a friend anyway?

Today’s guest is Jeni Holla, who, two and a half years ago, left her conventional job to hit the road with her husband and pups and live the nomad life. They thought this adventure would last six or twelve months but liked it so much they’re still living this lifestyle.

Having a social life on the road is challenging. Jeni doesn’t have many close friends, unlike her husband, who has been close to the same people for decades. When she reached out to Friendship IRL, she said she sometimes felt she wasn’t doing friendship “right.”

The question of what friendship looks like is one I get asked a lot. If you’re like Jeni and her husband, who move frequently, the question is even more pressing. There is no one answer – what works for you might not always be what works for other people, and that’s okay.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• The activities or “plugs” we associate with certain people – and how, often, if you just go do the thing you want to do, you’ll meet other people doing that thing
• Connecting to people in a small town vs. a big city and how Jeni “follows the breadcrumbs” in new towns, often meeting people in third places
• The “ride-or-die” friends, which are difficult to maintain when we get older due to people moving to new places or transitioning to new lifestyles
• The power in knowing what you want out of friendship, which allows you to create a filter and meet people with intention
• The patience required for deep connections, and how there are always more layers you can develop

Resources & Links:

In this episode, I refer to Episode 3, “What is a Friend?”; Episode 12, “Digging Into the 3 Kinds of Friendship Roots”; Episode 38, “Third Places,” and Episode 39, “Take Action.

Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram! 

Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!

Opening lines aren’t just for dating – they come in handy when you’re looking for new friends, too.

Today’s guest, Leah Wiseman Fink, says she likes to use this line: Do you want to come over for pizza? Yes, it helps that Leah is also the co-owner of a Brooklyn-based pizza chain, but it’s a great opening line anyone can use.

Leah is a life coach, business coach, and mom of two kids. She grew up in a big Jewish family in the midwest, where everybody was together all the time. When she moved to New York 20 years ago, she found herself creating something very similar for her and her family.

Community building is a skill – but once you learn it, it stays with you forever. Leah’s advice? Just start. Give out your number. Ride the waves.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• Leah’s background growing up in a big family where aunts, uncles, and cousins lived closeby, and the “show-up-as-you-are” kind of gatherings they had
• How becoming a parent acted as a catalyst for Leah to create community in Brooklyn, and the recurring, casual gatherings she partakes in
• Good opening lines and tried-and-true activities for making parent friends; for example: do you want to come over for pizza? Can I give you some hand-me-downs?
• Using the internet (social media in particular) as a method to make friends, and how to fit friend time into busy schedules, from working out together to family sleepovers
• The different ways you can show up for people, from sending food to spending time together – and how specificity can add an extra touch

Resources & Links

Join Leah’s newsletter and follow her on Instagram.

Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram! 

Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!

The holidays are here, which means many of us will be spending time with family and friends over the next couple months. It’s the perfect time to talk about deep conversations with people we care about.

Today’s episode features Chris Burnett, who, in 2020, started a personal project to reconnect with people in his life. It started with weekly calls to catch up. Then, he began asking if he could interview them about their lives.

To date, Chris has recorded more than 70 conversations. After seeing the impact this project had on himself and his people, he decided to share the idea with a broader audience. His book, Conversations: Connecting with People in Our Lives, was released in November.

When Chris reached out to join us on Friendship IRL, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. Having these deep conversations with people we care about is so important. It strengthens our relationships and allows us a better perspective of our people and ourselves.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• Chris’s project: how it began (catching up with one person a week) and how that grew into him reaching out for recorded interviews, and then, a book
• Interview format – the wording Chris used during his initial contact, and how he structures the phone conversations
• How these deep conversations can help the person “interviewed” feel special, and how the interviews rekindled lots of relationships for Chris
• My personal story about sitting with friends and talking about why we admire each other, and the impact this had on us
• How the experience helped Chris learn about his friends and family and reflect on his own life and childhood

Resources & Links

A reminder – I have a two-part episode about men’s friendships, Episode 31 and 32.

Be sure to check out Conversations: Connecting with People in Our Lives by Chris Burnett, which is now available on Amazon.

Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram! 

Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!

Just in time for your Friendsgiving/Thanksgiving week, an episode all about friendship.

So here is the truth: adult friendships are hard. They are hard to find, hard to build, hard to maintain. There are seasons of life where it is easier, but mostly it's actually a challenge for most adults.

In this episode, Jessie and Ben explore the dynamic of adult friendships and include some tips and ideas for making it happen.

#podcast #divinity #spirituality #deconstructingevangelism ...

When DeeDee Moore became a grandparent, she had a hard time finding resources that would help her with the transition.

So, she created one: More than Grand – which has online and downloadable content – covers topics that matter to parents and grandparents, from finding meaningful ways to connect to the latest trends in childcare.

DeeDee joins us today as we talk about the importance of diversity in grandparent relationships. What kinds of support do we need in this season of life? Who is the best person for that? Sometimes it’s children or grandchildren – but sometimes it’s not!

So often people think the answer to better social wellness is to whittle down connections. I think the opposite is true; the more we cut connections, the more pressure there is on the select few to fulfill ALL our social needs. We are unique, dynamic people that deserve to have social connection in a variety of ways.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• More Than Grand, which focuses on helping parents and grandparents communicate better with each other and transition new grandparents into their new role
• What is being a grandparent? What have we been told by society that grandparenting entails, and how are some of those messages harmful?
• How the hyper-focus of being a grandparent can put a lot of pressure on children and grandchildren to fulfill ALL social wellness needs
• The lack of control we have regarding whether or not we become grandparents – and other ways to get the “grandparent” experience
• Navigating the grandparent/adult child relationship, which changes when grandchildren arrive, and the importance of sharing expectations with each other
• Mixing family and friends at gatherings and the importance of being open to letting go of old traditions and embracing new ones

Resources & Links

Learn about More Than Grand through DeeDee’s website, Instagram, and Facebook, and check out DeeDee’s New Grandparent Essentials kit.

See the relationship framework about the types of friends and the roots of connection in your life that I mention in this episode. For even more on this topic, check out Episode 12 of this podcast.

Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram! 

Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!

A few years ago, I was diagnosed with ADHD. I didn’t know it at the time, but ADHD was affecting so many areas of my life, including my friendships.

Navigating friendships with a neurodiverse brain is tricky. I talked about it in Episode 40, and here we delve into the topic again with today’s guest, Charlotte Dover, an ADHD life coach who supports late-diagnosed and self-diagnosed ADHD women.

Charlotte herself was diagnosed with ADHD at age 36 and has spent the past two and a half years learning about it from a personal perspective.

Listening back to this episode makes me emotional, but I think there’s power in putting this stuff out there. Hopefully today’s episode will create more understanding for the neurotypical people out there and help the neurodivergent listeners feel less alone.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• Charlotte’s work with women who have ADHD and her personal journey of learning about her own diagnosis later in life
• The traits and tendencies that can make friendship for people with ADHD very difficult and how Charlotte and Alex combat some of these obstacles
• Common thought patterns (and thought spirals) for people with ADHD and Rejection Sensitive Dyasphoria
• “Regulating” ourselves for our neurotypical friends – which might sometimes feel necessary but can also be hard work that keeps us from important experiences
• Loneliness – the definition of it and the importance of rethinking what we actually want out of our friendships (which might not always be a big birthday party!)
• How a new neurodivergent diagnosis can be like bringing a new person into the equation

Resources & Links

Charlotte Dover is an ADHD coach – follow her on Instagram, reach out to her via her website, and listen to her podcast, This Beautiful Chaos.

Tune in to Episode 40: Strawberry Friends: Forming Supportive Friendships While Neurodivergent

Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram! 

Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!

This week, the Friendship IRL podcast turns a year old. One whole year!

I launched this podcast knowing this was an important topic, but the more work I do, the more I think it’s such a fundamental thing we don’t talk enough about. People have told me this podcast makes them feel seen, which makes me so happy.

But here’s the thing: I cannot do this alone. The only way we make an impact is by people listening, reflecting, and by then making small changes in their own lives. Then, we create a ripple effect, making the social fabric out there a little tighter.

Today I’m talking about why I need you to care about friendship. For me, friendship is foundational, since I didn’t have a strong support system growing up. Here, I go a little deeper into my story.

If this is your first time listening to the podcast, or if you’ve been here for the very beginning: thank you. I’m really excited to dive in on year two.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• A year with Friendship IRL: we’ve covered loneliness, different types of friendships, societal problems that friendship/connection impacts, lived experiences and more
• My story, growing up in an unpredictable household with substance abuse present – and why friendship isn’t just “nice to have,” but foundational for so many 
• How I relied on my friends, friends’ parents, coaches, neighbors, and people around me to learn how to get out of this and not be in survival mode anymore
• How I got  creative when I couldn’t find that “all consuming” support system and built a broader support system for myself on instinct made up mostly of friends
• Reasons to care about friendship: for the people who are rock bottom, but also for the people who need support in more simple ways
• The phrase “I’m fine, it’s fine, everything’s fine,” and the relief you can feel when you finally get the thing you need

Resources & Links

Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram! 

Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!

Last March, Erin Woodruff was walking through her neighborhood with her two-year-old daughter. It had been a long winter and it felt like spring would never come.

During the walk, Erin began wondering about her neighbors. Many were also moms of young children. Were they also depressed and tired of the cold weather? She wished she knew them better. So, she created a means to do so.

The next week, she hosted a “Favorite Things” party, a low-barrier gathering that had big effects. So much of the language regarding new friendships is about “joining” or “finding,” but here, Erin created her opportunity to get to know her neighbors better.

I was an event-planner for more than a decade, and I love helping people figure out how to pull off impactful, meaningful gatherings. In this episode, Erin and I talk in-depth about not only how to pull off an intentional neighborhood gathering, but why they’re so important.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• Erin’s work as a communications coach and her resolution to make more friends that live close to her after a mid-pandemic move
• The Favorite Things party – the inspiration, the details, how she prepared for it, the intentions behind it, and why the format works well with new acquaintances
• How and why you sometimes want to keep things simple at gatherings – plus, how throwing a gathering like this creates more connection opportunities for the future
• Decision fatigue and the mantra Erin learned from her mother about focusing not on who didn’t come, but instead, at who did
• Creating intentional gatherings – thinking about what your goal is in a gathering and creating an environment in which you can reach that goal

Resources & Links

Want to throw a Favorite Things party? Here are Erin’s tips. Learn more about Erin’s coaching business and check out her podcast, the Time For You Podcast.

Want to learn more about intentional gatherings? Check out The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker.

Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram! 

Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!

What does it take for a friendship to be a constant in your life for two decades?

That’s what we’re talking about with today’s guest, Elise Enriquez, a productivity coach who gives us a behind-the-scenes look at her friendship with Andrea, which she says is one of the most meaningful relationships in her life.

Elise tells us about how she and Andrea became friends, how they built the friendship, how they stayed connected through life’s big transitions, and how they fill the time between the “bright light” moments of their friendship.

They provide so many tangible examples of how they keep in touch. A lot of the time, that’s where the magic is – in the small, simple ways we show up for each other, those mundane details that can make the biggest impact.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• Elise and Andrea’s friendship: how they met, how they became close, and how they navigated through some major life changes, from divorces and kids to new marriages
• Allowing ourselves to be vulnerable in friendships, which gives other people an opportunity to really see us
• “Doing life” with our friends – debriefing in real time or spending time with them – instead of spending our time together doing catch-up
• Bright light moments in friendship, the darkness between them, and the everyday touchpoints that can fill that darkness
• Creating more “roots” or strands in your friendship that make it easier to keep connections active, from a regular activity or shared interest

Resources & Links

Learn more about Elise and follow her on Instagram!

Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram! 

Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!

Making friends as an adult is hard! And this weeks Fe-Mail/ She-Mail / Everyone-Mail asks Yvie all about how her friendships have changed since she became a household name. 

Plus she's got some tips on picking the good ones! 

And of course Useful Facts is back and today you're getting a fun history lesson about the word 'Hello' and how it became a common greeting. 

LINKS

• Yvie Jones @yvie_jones
• Nova Podcasts Instagram @novapodcastsofficial
• Don't forget you can ask us a question anytime by emailing twogirls@novaentertainment.com.au

CREDITS
Host: Yvie Jones

Executive Producer: Rachael Hart

Editor: Adrian Walton

Supervising Producer: Ricardo Bardon

Show Artwork By: @ellymalone

Find more great podcasts like this at novapodcasts.com.au

Nova Entertainment acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we recorded this podcast, Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, and the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respect to Elders past and present. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today’s episode is with Terri Huggins Hart, an award-winning journalist who has written for Parents, Good Housekeeping, and other major publications all over the country.

Back in 2015, she wrote an article on her blog, “What Everyone Ought to Know About Never Having a Best Friend,” that went viral. Turns out, many readers also related to never having had a best friend.

If you’ve been listening to this podcast, then you probably know I don’t like the term “best friend.” It’s too all-encompassing, and it’s too much pressure for one relationship.

Here, Terri and I talk about rewiring how we think of our closest relationships, the lack of language for friendship, and how the most important thing is creating connections that feel good to us – regardless of how society says they’re supposed to look.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• The lack of language for friendships and the space between “best friend, “friend” and “acquaintance”
• Thinking about friendships in terms of how we think about physical care – there is no “one-size-fits-all” – you don’t want your dentist tending to your gynecological needs
• The wellness culture and the narrow definition of what makes somebody “well” or “fit” or “healthy,” and how it often leaves out marginalized or neurodivergent populations
• Things that are often simpler than they seem – and how it’s often us who make them more complicated than they need to be
• Why many people don’t want to talk about best friends – both because they feel ashamed and because they don’t want their own friends to feel slighted

Resources & Links

Be sure to read the viral article on Terri’s blog from 2015, “What Everyone Ought to Know About Never Having a Best Friend.”

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