There are times you meet friends for a long-planned dinner. And then there are times you invite them over just to hang out while you fold laundry. As I've gotten older, I've come to appreciate the second option. Friendship in adulthood can feel like a feat of organization. We meet for brunch, make dinner reservations weeks in advance, or spend days trying to find a time that works for everyone. The activity itself becomes the point. Julie Beck recently wrote about the other kind of social life: one built around doing nothing in particular. Maybe you're sitting on a couch while a friend answers emails, talking while someone packs for a trip, helping prep dinner. What you're doing hardly matters. What matters is inviting someone into the ordinary parts of your life instead of waiting for an occasion that feels worthy of an invitation. Today's newsletter explores how some of the best time we spend with other people happens not when we've planned something special, but when we simply...
learn more
