The Moments that bond us

There are those parties which go down in history; where everything which can happen, does, and it becomes woven into the history of your friendship. For me it was a party at my friend Alex's houses, where Richard fell through the ceiling, Alex fell asleep on a trampoline and I found myself a girlfriend. For Sam, Lauren, Kirsten and Karen, who we met last night, it was a New Year's Eve Party.

"Was I there", asks Karen. The others all start laughing.
"The one with Cheryl"
Karen bursts out laughing. "Oh yeah. God that was a good party." Kirsten had invited all her best friends, from uni, school and work. Karen told us about her run in with Cheryl, an immaculately dressed mutual acquaintance.
"Well first I kept calling her Helen, which obviously she wasn't too keen on. Then later on in the evening, I was plastered, and she was looking around for her cardigan, I think it was Vivienne Westwood- and there was I- standing on it and using it to clean the floor."
Sam cuts in, "And Karen said, "Sorry Helen"." They all burst out laughing.
"And James met Mo Mowlem!" We look at Lauren, a bit taken aback. "Yeah, he was wondering home afterward and he got a picture with her"

You get the impression there are a hundred other stories mutually remembered at that moment, as the whole evening rushes back to them as a group.

Electric conversation

I love this story from one of our star planners in Buenos Aires, Flora Provrebio. She spent three hours with best friends Anna and Chula, both 28. Sitting on Anna's bed, drinking, smoking and chatting, Flora observed this of their conversation:

"Conversation will flow freely from one thing to the next. It doesn’t matter whether the subject is shallow or deep – a big or small deal –they talk about everything…

"Some of the topics covered were: Dresses for upcoming weddings; Religion & marriage: are those outdated institutions, or they are evolving?; Priests and lifestyles: is a priest (who never got married or had sex) capable of giving couple advice?; Chile earthquake and natural disasters (Tsunami, Katrina): are we responsible; World ending in 2012 y new World theories; Several urban legends; Boyfriends; Laser hair removal....

"It doesn't matter whether a topic fun, frivolous, deep or intense, the conversation between best friends is electric and always entertaining."

I couldn't agree more!  

The Art of Conversation

In her book, "The Art of Conversation", Catherine Blyth argues that conversation is becoming a lost art. The modern world tends to put pressure on all of our time, but conversation is vital to our happiness. It is only through conversation that we can gain understanding of each other and learn empathy. Respect for conversation has also been central in some of history's most creative periods, from the ancient Greek forum, to Johnson's coffee houses and the French Salons. It is for these reasons that Blyth urges us to talk. Here is her manifesto:

The Manifesto
Conversation is: Mutual appreciation, Co-operation, Spontaneous

It is not: Performance, Competition, Scripted

Three Principles: Generosity, Openness, Clarity

So find your closest friends and spend time devoted to conversation, with no aim other than to communicate.