Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close - 'A life-affirming guide to creating and preserving great friendships' (Elle)

Aminatou grew up watching her parents convening all sorts of gatherings, which is how she learned to overcome her shyness and become a social initiator.

Even though Aminatou is embarrassed by her terrible handwriting—her penmanship took a nosedive after French school—she makes it a point to always send postcards on her travels (no better way to learn a city than having to find the post office), because she knows firsthand the thrill of opening the mailbox and finding a missive from a friend instead

There was something freeing about spending time alone with other women and allowing our own standards and definitions to flourish. Why would we go out at all when the people we were most excited to talk to were willing to walk to our house in a pair of leggings and stop by a corner store for a bottle of $6.99 Syrah and a bag of Tostitos along the w

At a cultural level, there is a lot of lip service about friendship being wonderful and important, but not a lot of social support for protecting what’s precious about it. Even deep, lasting friendships like ours need protection—and, sometimes, repair.

We had both been dreading this trip because we suspected a beautiful, distraction-free setting would highlight just how wide the space between us had become. And we had been right.

This spark didn’t carry any romantic or sexual implications for either of us. What we felt was platonic, but exciting nonetheless.