ISO: Friendship
Welcome to Please, No Small Talk!
Welcome to Please, No Small Talk, the digital sidekick to our IRL conversation club, No Small Talk. We are so happy you found your way here!
After getting cozy on Instagram and our WhatsApp Group Chat, we thought it was time to expand our little bubble and connect with our community on a deeper level—so here we are on Substack! We’re a small (but mighty!) safe space run by just the two of us, Jennifer Pauline and Miriam Tinberg.
We met as strangers on the internet and quickly became fast friends over our shared love of meaningful conversations. Last year, we had a lightbulb moment and decided we wanted to build a community for fellow deep thinkers and no-small-talkers. A year later, here we are, doing exactly what we set out to do!
We kicked off this journey in January with Season 1, where a group of strangers gathered to dive deep into the topic of self-relationship. And now, we’re thrilled to be in the early days of Season 2, exploring what friendship truly means with a whole new cohort, fresh ideas, and tons of excitement!
To start the season off right, we hosted our No Small Talk Café in Miriam’s backyard under a dreamy canopy of trees. There were heartfelt conversations, playful moments, and a fun “conversation piece” exchange where members swapped books and magazines. It was the perfect way to kick off round two.
We made such beautiful memories (which we’ll share here soon!), but for now, we want to get back to the basics: What the heck is friendship? It’s such a crucial part of our lives—and our health—and it seems like we’re all craving deeper connections these days. Before (and as) we work to strengthen, deepen, and expand our friendships as a group, we thought it valuable to unpack our own individual foundational thoughts on friendship and give a little sneak peek into our text thread!
As you read through our chat, please add to the discussion in the comments. We hope these can act as reflection questions for your own life.
We actually created a little survey for our Season 2 cohort, and we’d love to hear your thoughts too (we will be sharing these insights in an upcoming Substack post).
Can’t wait to chat more!
Jennifer and Miriam ❤️
Blue text is Jennifer, gray is Miriam
Are we missing anything here? Anything you would add or take away from our definitions?
Long-distance friendships can both be beautiful (see above) and also really really hard. We hear a lot about maintaining long-distance romantic relationships, but friendships? Much less so. What are some specific ways you maintain connection and closeness to your LDFs (long distance friends- can we coin this here?)
How has the least few years of the pandemic changed your definition of, and relationship to, friendships? What have you removed and what have you added?
Friend vs. friendly- what does that bring up for you? Anything churning in your brain at that distinction?
What’s a friendship you have that is unique, one that you wouldn’t have expected to turn into a meaningful friendship? Maybe you’re of different generations, you’ve never met in person, you come from completely different backgrounds?
Thanks for following along. We can’t wait to go on this journey with you. If you are so inspired, send this to a friend who you want to have this kind of conversation with.
The "friends vs friendly" distinction hits so hard for me, as well as, finding discernment in who's "worth it." Something I've been working on is distinguishing and knowing the difference between who's "around me" vs who's "with/for me" because I've learned that "proximity" does not always equate to connection/quality/friendship.