conversations with friends

Friends, especially lifelong friends, are keepers of our stories, bearing witness to who we’ve been all along.

And if friends are the keepers of our stories, but there is no single friend who’s been present for each chapter—no one person to help you recall the location of that kiosk, the smell of Nürnberger sausages on a winter morning, or the poth... See more

“Say more” and “care to elaborate” are magical phrases. You can also repeat what they said. “Work has been crazy lately.” “Work has been crazy lately?” That can do a lot. The question “why is that important to you,” while more intense, can get you really far, really fast, if you sense a mood of openness, especially if you learn to ask it casually.

A beautiful quote from John O’Donahue, on friendship and conversations:

When was the last time you had a great conversation? A conversation that wasn’t just two intersecting monologues, but when you overheard yourself saying things you never knew you knew, that you heard yourself receiving from somebody words that found places within you that you th

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