When do you carve out time for your friends? Do you ever feel lonely? How do you meet new people, or stay connected with those you already know? Do you feel like you’re not social enough, or conversely, overwhelmed by plans or unanswered texts?
The poem “You Want a Social Life, with Friends” by the late American poet and playwright Kenneth Koch captures some of these wonderings. As the opening stanza goes:
You want a social life, with friends.
A passionate love life and as well
To work hard every day. What’s true
Is of these three you may have two
And two can pay you dividends
But never may have three.— Excerpt from “You Want a Social Life, with Friends” by Kenneth Koch
With so much advice around how to achieve work-life balance, optimise, and avoid burnout, there’s something refreshing about admitting no one has it all together, all of the time.
Like all things, our social lives are a constant work in progress. We’ve all made mistakes, hurt people and been hurt, faced challenging emotions and circumstances.
A social life, with friends, will be a space to ponder these things together.
Listen to the first season of the podcast
Be sure to subscribe on Apple iTunes, Spotify or wherever you like to listen to your podcasts.
Season one highlights
In the first season, you’ll find episodes on everything from navigating the friendship dip and times of retreat, to advice for bringing people together and reframing people-pleasing.
About the creator
A social life, with friends is the latest labour of love by writer, interviewer and author Madeleine Dore.
Like her previous projects Extraordinary Routines and Routines & Ruts, and current newsletter On Things, it’s also for curious, thoughtful people looking for ways to better understand themselves, strengthen their relationships, and feel connected in the world.
As Anaïs Nin said, “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”
Let’s explore those infinite worlds 🦋
