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Never Letting Anyone In Has Its Cost
Being comfortable alone is a skill worth having. Cutting yourself off from people entirely is something else, and it comes for you eventually. We're not built to run solo.
Valentina Flores-Velasquez
6 days ago3 min read


The Quiet Power of Female Friendship
There's something about female friendship I've never been able to explain properly.
Valentina Flores-Velasquez
Sep 102 min read


Friendship Is Changing and So Should We
We're in a moment of trying to figure friendship out. What makes a good friend, what makes a bad one, how many you're supposed to have, how much effort is the right amount of effort.
Valentina Flores-Velasquez
Sep 33 min read


Friendship is a skill. We're losing it (and connection).
Connection is a skill, meaning it gets rusty when you stop using it.
Valentina Flores-Velasquez
Aug 273 min read


What's the real glue behind friendships?
Ask someone what comes to mind about their closest friend and they won't list personality traits. They'll go straight to the memories. Maybe what friends really have in common isn't what they like or want — it's what they've lived through side by side.
Valentina Flores-Velasquez
Aug 203 min read


The psychology of holding on to "bad" friendships
Valuing friendship doesn't mean accepting whatever's on offer. It doesn't mean letting a relationship take up space in your life while it quietly costs you something.
Valentina Flores-Velasquez
Aug 144 min read


Using technology to connect, not to replace
A tool built to close distance is somehow producing it. So do we delete everything? Declare the group chat the enemy of real friendship?
Mahika Hari
Aug 74 min read


Summer Isn't Always Sunshine
Why do we feel lonely during the one season we're supposed to be having the time of our lives?
Valentina Flores-Velasquez
Jul 314 min read


The Village Debate
On one side, people remind us how good community is for us, how much we need each other. On the other, people push back, and honestly, some of their points are fair.
Valentina Flores-Velasquez
Jul 173 min read


Friendship Is a Habit
Friendships take effort, time, a little bit of remembering. To have a village, you have to be a villager.
Valentina Flores-Velasquez
Jul 103 min read


Is it bad to keep score in a friendship?
Is it wrong to want your friends to give back as much as you do?
Valentina Flores-Velasquez
Jul 44 min read


Being alone isn't the problem. Loneliness is.
Is being alone the same thing as being lonely? I've been sitting with this question for a while, mostly because my feed won't let it go. Over the past few months there's been this wave of posts about learning to be alone, spending real time with yourself, people showing off the things they genuinely love doing solo. A long walk. Eating out by yourself. A whole night in bed with a book. And honestly, it's kind of lovely to watch. It also made something click for me: being alon
Valentina Flores-Velasquez
Jun 265 min read


It’s Not Just You. Transitions to Adulthood are Hard on Friendships
Transitions like graduation bring huge changes to our professional and personal lives, especially since they can pose a threat to the longevity of our friendships and ultimately our social health.
Valentina Flores-Velasquez
Jun 197 min read


Mourning life after graduation
Why leaving college feels like grief — and the behavioral science of how to pre-build adult friendships before graduation. Plus the NovaZoom proof of concept.
Mahika Hari
May 115 min read


The Psychology of Always Being the Planner: Why the Person Holding the Group Chat Together Is Quietly Burning Out, and How to Re-Centr Yourself
I’ve been the planner for as long as I’ve had friends. The Google Calendar invite. The reservation. The “okay so I was thinking we do drinks at 7, dinner at 8” follow-up text. The post-mortem the next day where I quietly tally who showed up, who ghosted, and whether anyone actually had a good time. If I’m being honest, the work of planning is not the heavy part. The heavy part is the 48 hours leading up to it, when I’m walking around with this low-grade dread that nobody will
Mahika Hari
May 44 min read


Selfish Friends: Why Some People Take More Than They Give and How to Re-Centr Yourself
The word "selfish" feels heavy. Most of us don't want to label someone we love as selfish. So instead we absorb it. We justify it. We tell ourselves we're being too sensitive. But there's real psychology behind why these dynamics are so draining.
Mahika Hari
Apr 224 min read


Honesty in Friendships: Why Being Honest Feels So Risky and How to Re-Centr Yourself
Being honest with friends should be simple. These are the people who are supposed to know us best, who we trust the most. So why does telling the truth feel like walking through a minefield?
Mahika Hari
Apr 154 min read


When Your Friends Exclude You: Signs You're Being Excluded, the Psychology Behind It and How to Re-Centr Yourself
There's real psychology behind why friends exclude you, and almost none of it is about something you did wrong. But you can do something now: name it, be direct about what you need, and stop shrinking to make other people comfortable. Your friendships should make you feel bigger.
Mahika Hari
Apr 84 min read


Making New Friends as an Adult: Why It Feels Impossible and What To Do About It?
Making new friends is hard, no matter how many friends you have or how outgoing you are. Your comfort zone isn't the enemy, but your village is waiting just outside of it.
Mahika Hari
Apr 15 min read


The Text You've Been Meaning to Send: On Reconnecting With Old Friends and Why You Keep Waiting
Feel guilty about losing touch with an old friend? Here's the psychology behind friendship drift, why it's not your fault, and exactly how to send that text today.
Mahika Hari
Mar 253 min read
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