Connection
Adult friendship needs scheduling, and nobody warns you
Friendships that used to run on proximity now run on logistics. That is not a failure of affection.
Elke Brandt
Contributing writer, Care Pebble
Elke writes about home environments, sensory load and the quiet business of making a space liveable.
Contact Elke through our contact page — mark your message for their attention and it will be passed on.
10 articles
Moving Gently
Exercising when you have very little energy
The standard advice assumes a baseline that fatigue, illness and caring responsibilities remove.
Connection
Being the one who organises everything
Someone in every group books the table and chases the replies, and that work is invisible until they stop.
Connection
Loneliness is not the same as being alone
It is the gap between the connection you have and the connection you want, which is why it happens in company.
Connection
Making a friend as an adult takes longer than anyone admits
The research suggests hours of contact, not conversations, and knowing the number makes the process less discouraging.
Connection
Small talk is a protocol, not a personality trait
It has an obvious structure and a purpose, and treating it as a skill rather than a gift makes it far less unpleasant.
Moving Gently
Dancing counts, and it is easier to keep going than a gym
It reaches an intensity most people would refuse to sustain deliberately, and it does it while they are enjoying themselves. That…
Connection
Asking for help is a specific request, not a general signal
People routinely hint, and hints fail. The difference between being helped and not being helped is usually how precisely the…
Connection
Group chats keep people adjacent without keeping them close
A busy thread creates the impression of an active friendship group while quietly replacing the individual contact that friendship…
Connection
Joining something, and why the boring weekly one works best
Connection is built by repeated contact with the same people, which is exactly what a recurring commitment provides and what a…