Is this the beginning...

...of forever?

There are many emotions surrounding the complex topic that is friendship. But in comparison to romantic or familial relationships, there are not a lot of studies that unpack the bonds that we have with our friends.

Enter Friends Forever:

“Friends Forever” is less of a statement, and more of a commitment. A “best case scenario” in a landscape that breeds gossip, competiveness, and cancel culture. The fact of the matter is, there is no guarantee that ANYONE can be friends forever. But through good intentions, honest conversations, and (hopefully) a lot of entries posted here, we can certainly try.

Jenn and I decided to start this Substack because we wanted to find a creative way to stay in touch. In an era of passive communication and endless scrolls, we sought to find a genuine way that we could connect without having to be physically present with each other. 

Our friendship has never been convenient: in fact, it’s been long distance from the start, with Jenn in Los Angeles and me in Toronto. While we often show the highlight reels when we’re together, it took years for us to grow our friendship into what it is today. And while it always feels like no time or distance has elapsed between our meetings, we recognize that our friendship isn’t bulletproof.

Of course, in tandem with a desire to strengthen our friendship, we also saw an opportunity to help others grow (and unpack) their own friendships. Jenn and I have often used each other as sounding boards, because we can always rely on each other to be unfiltered with only each other’s best intentions in mind. But the reality is, there’s a lot of ground we haven’t covered yet – including untapped grief surrounding past and present friendships. Through this newsletter, we’ll try our best to be as unfiltered as possible as we unpack all the nuances of what it means to be a friend. And along the way, we’ll be posing questions to you as well!

Left: Us in Toronto, 2017 / Right: Us in Palm Springs, 2022

What you can expect when you subscribe to Friends Forever:

This platform will act as the home to letters that Jenn and I write to each other. A medley of musings and a digital sounding board, “Friends Forever” will be the place in which we can transfer ideas to each other (but also directly to you and your inbox!)

For free subscribers:

We will be alternating turns, offering 1 short-form post a month. These posts might be casual musings and updates, or they might include link roundups -- including cute shoes, delicious recipes, sad songs, and mind-blowing podcasts.

For paid subscribers:

Every other week, we will upload longer form articles and essays. These will cover a vast spectrum of topics related (and adjacent) to friendship. We will ask each other tough questions like: “Am I a toxic friend?”, “Can you have platonic relationships with exes?”, and “Do I romanticize my friends?”. We will also unpack our own experiences surrounding betrayal, expectations, and the…future of friendship.

For “founding members”:

We’re still working on *exactly* what this looks like, but we hope to eventually find ways to connect directly with our Founding Members. This might be through video meetings, first access to written content, and even hand-written letters (mailed to you, like true pen pals).

Left: Us in Toronto, 2017 / Right: Us in Los Angeles, 2019

Why we should ALL be talking about friendship:

Perhaps we have a couple of individual friendships that we nourish to be sisterhoods. Or maybe we’re the type to be constantly surrounded by people but struggle to get deep. In any case, there is no “one size fits all” approach to friendships; meaning it’s often difficult to decipher when we’re in healthy or toxic ones.

Unlike romantic relationships that have a definitive “start” and “end” point, friendships can often be caught in limbo; sometimes it’s hard to justify having serious conversations with your friends because we often operate under the belief system that friendships should be “easy”. But friendships deserve closure as much as they deserve nourishment. 

We’re excited to open up the discourse around friendship through the lens of our own, as we truly believe that we can discover ourselves through our friends. Even in the most bleak situations, it’s possible to persevere so long as communication lines stay open. We hope that no matter what stage you are in within your own friendships, you’ll be able to read our words and find a way to connect.

So, please hit that subscribe button, and join Jenn and I on this journey of building a friendship that might be able to last…forever.

Photos by (our friend): Hao Nguyen