February will mark five years since the first Language of Friendship blog post, when Sara and I decided to write about friendship and its impact on our lives. With this anniversary approaching, I find myself reflecting on how valuable and diverse my friendships are. We make our first friends early in life, before we can... Continue Reading →
Observing MLK Day
The middle of January, one of our darkest months, seems like a fitting time for a national holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He shined a bright spotlight on the systemic racial injustice and inequality suffered by Black Americans, leading to major societal changes including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting... Continue Reading →
Embracing the Darkest Months
January is a tough month in most of the U.S. Not only is it cold and dark when I start and end my commute each day, but the return to work or school after a holiday break is just hard. Over the years, I’ve relied on a few coping techniques, such as working out more... Continue Reading →
What’s Happening in 2026
Welcome to 2026! We hope you enjoyed a festive holiday season with friends and family. Now that the new year is here, I've been looking at the calendar to see what opportunities this year has in store for making memories together with people you care about. I've found plenty of events to add to my... Continue Reading →
Reflecting With Gratitude
As we mark the final weekend of 2025, most of us are looking forward to 2026 and setting new goals while trying to put the challenges of 2025 behind us. But before we turn the page on the year, we’d like to reflect and share and some things that inspired us this year. While 2025... Continue Reading →
Holiday Wishes for Peace and Love
World events and the news have been bleak this week, but that just reinforces our message about the importance of friendship, community and connection. For nearly five years now, Julia and I have taken time each week to reflect on the vital nature of friendship to add meaning and joy to our lives, as well... Continue Reading →
Gifting on a Budget
With so much commercialization around the holidays, it can be hard to remember what makes this time of year truly meaningful – savoring connections and feelings of gratitude for the special people in our lives. At Language of Friendship, we’ve found that gift giving can be both enjoyable and memorable, especially with personal touch. Sara... Continue Reading →
Connecting an Audience in Community
As one of the best-known classical musicians in the world, Yo-Yo Ma has been delighting audiences with his masterful cello performances since he began playing publicly as a child prodigy at five years old. At 70, he is still performing but he has elevated his mission to create shared connection for his audiences beyond a... Continue Reading →
Putting Gratitude into Action
Last weekend Sara wrote about how practicing gratitude positively impacts our well-being. The recent Thanksgiving holiday served as an opportunity to notice the good, and it helps ground us in appreciation. But gratitude doesn’t have to stop at reflection; it can also be a good motivation for action. Reflecting on the many things we are... Continue Reading →
Poems of Gratitude
With Thanksgiving coming up this week, I am thinking about gratitude and how important it is to our mental and physical well-being. Julia's post about World Gratitude Day in September referenced an article published by Harvard Medical School discussing how practicing gratitude not only improves our mood but it also can extend our lives. Some... Continue Reading →