Why Galentine’s Day Is A Chance To Reflect On Adult Friendship

Whether you’ve been friends since college or you’ve just met recently, in the middle of your journey, adult friendship isn’t necessarily about logging a certain amount of years.

It’s about having connections that are mutually supportive and growth-oriented, whilst remaining true to yourself; a relationship that grants us a safe zone in which we can be our authentic selves supporting each other through our personal and professional challenges.

According to a New York Times report, finding female friends past middle age, when relationships are mostly focused on work or children’s activities, can be difficult for women. But nurturing deeper relationships later in life is crucial for them to maintain their emotional equilibrium and sanity, especially as they age and most definitely when dealing with stress.

The ideal of people’s expectations for friendship is always in tension with the reality of their lives – says William Rawlins, the Stocker Professor of Interpersonal Communication at Ohio University to The Atlantic-. Any new friends people might make in middle age are likely to be grafted onto other kinds of relationships—as with co-workers, or parents of their children’s friends—because it’s easier for time-strapped adults to make friends when they already have an excuse to spend time together. Once people retire and their kids have grown up, there seems to be more time for the shared-living kind of friendship again.

So, even though your approach to friendships might have changed over the years if you are lucky enough to be surrounded by a bunch of good girlfriends, why not show them appreciation on Galentine’s day (on February 13th) remarking how important they are for you?

Celebrating Galentine’s Day

It might sound like a commercial operation, but there is nothing wrong in celebrating your best friends together with that sense of sisterhood that comes when you share a common path with like-minded souls, no matter what your age.

You could either pay tribute to Leslie Knope, the foremother of Galentine’s Day from the TV series Parks and Recreation, by hosting a brunch at home or a rom-com movie night. You can even celebrate a long-distance friendship by sending your soul-sister a book and catching up over a long video call.

Here are some ideas to honour your friend on this special day, where you ditch the dudes and just have some lady time.

• Go on a road trip with your gals

Takes your eyes off screens and reconnects to nature. Some ideas include visiting a ski lodge or the nearest natural history museum, going for a hike in the woods, enjoying a yoga retreat or simply exploring a new small town. You can either unplug for the weekend or spend just a day out: travelling with a person with whom you have a special bond can be an unpredictable adventure. Exploring a new place together will make invaluable memories.

• Cook a meal together

Cooking together inspires conversation and can help strengthen these relationships by encouraging a sense of trust, community, belonging, and closeness. With endless food apps and online tutorials at our disposal, planning a lovely feast with your friend won’t be a problem. Challenge each other with Japanese cuisine or experiment with vegan baking. Cooking together with friends can be really fun! If you like, think beyond dinner and organise a proper brunch or get creative on swapping recipes and photos with others or even invite someone to a virtual meal by walking through a recipe together.

• Schedule a Spa Day

It’s the perfect way to chat and relax. Book massages or facials or whatever pampering treatment you desire including steam rooms and hot tubs, and make a day of it. A Spa day promotes positivity and elevates your spirit by giving you the much-needed break from the daily routine and the stress. Time to have fun with your friends.

• Take a Class

Learn something new while celebrating your friendships by attending a class together. Get creative and plan something fun like a floral arranging workshop, a pole dancing class, belly dancing, knitting, painting, wine tasting or a new sport. Whatever would make you break out of your comfort zone. In the end, what’s are our friends for?

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