Microdosing Friendship

If you have any friends or follow anyone in NYC, especially single people, you know that “nature is healing.” People are out and about, mask mandates in the states are being relaxed (rightly or wrongly), and we’re starting to move towards a post-pandemic reality — whatever that means.

There's a lot about the pre-pandemic world that was broken, and while the last 18+ months have done incredible damage — especially to already marginalized communities and peoples, I'm optimistic that we'll rethink so much of what we do and how we do it as we move forward. One of those things, for me, is the way I engage with people.

As an introvert, I draw so much energy from my time alone. Caveating a ton of privilege, the necessity of being indoors throughout this crisis has helped me develop a newer, more sustainable relationship with myself, especially as I renegotiate my time and relationship with others.

In that vein, I came across an amazing post from my former colleague Kat Vellos on "microdosing friendship" — a call for us to intentionally weave these moments of engagement back into our lives as the world opens again. I'm a big fan of her work, including her suggestions for better questions than "How are you?" and her recent book on developing adult friendships “We Should Get Together.”

Besides friendship, what relationships have you reconsidered, redesigned, and redefined over the past 18 months?