Hello, everyone 👋

Recently, I’ve been thinking about how easy it is to lose contact with friends.

By default, my attention tends to get absorbed by whatever is directly in front of me, and I fairly regularly think of someone who, in theory, I consider to be one of my best friends but who, in practice, I last spoke to almost a year ago. 

This email (and you can expect others to land in your inbox monthly, unless you ask me to stop) is one of my attempts to chip away at that problem.

In it, I’ll share:

• Opportunities for us to hang out (events I’m planning to host or attend)
• Recommendations of things I found useful or interesting
• Things that I know some of you are needing help with (and I’ll need your help to get this moving)

So, please reply to anything you find interesting (that’s kind of the point), and I’ll hopefully see you all soon. Here’s hoping this gives us more ‘surface area’ to interact.

Thanks for being a friend (and for staying one!)

Let’s hang out

1. SAVE THE DATE: I’m aiming to put on an informal party somewhere in Central London on Wednesday 16th September. Timeboxed (normally 7pm - 9:30pm), super-not-awkward, with drinks and snacks. The usual rules (to be formalised, but broadly: be kind, be curious, don’t sell). Location TBC - if you’d like to join, shoot me a quick “yes please for the party” and it’ll help me size a venue.
2. Bucking all middle-aged-male stereotypes, I’ve started playing padel. I’m somewhere between awful and mediocre, but at the very cheerful and energetic end of the other axis. If anyone wants to play, drop me a note.

Some things I’ve been telling people about

1. I read The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life. It’s a simple book, with an underlying message you’ve almost certainly read before, but I’m feeling inspired nonetheless (and more than a little intrigued by the idea of organising a group retreat to wilderness).
2. I’ve been telling a bunch of people about Matthew Dicks and his Homework for Life. He designed what was meant to be a method for capturing moments from his life for his storytelling (and he’s an exceptional storyteller - for anyone who likes listening to stories, you’ll find him all over The Moth). Instead, he ended up designing an easy-but-powerful practice for reflection and (my words, not his) capturing all the memories that make a life feel well-lived. As a parent, it’s been fantastic so far.

Friends in need

1. Me! I’m heading to Denmark next week (a four-generation family trip with a touch of Legoland for my little boy). If anyone has any recommendations in Copenhagen, they’d be much appreciated.
2. You? To get the ball rolling, please fill my inbox with anything I can help with, or that someone I know might be able to. No cries for help are too mundane, grandiose or weird. No guarantees beyond consideration, effort and the power of community.

One last question

One that I’ve asked a few people over recent weeks: what's a skill you'd teach a friend for free, just for the fun of teaching it? This question is part of a longer-term ambition of mine: watch this space 👀

See you next month,

Paul

PS If you think there’s someone fun I should add to this list, let me know. If you want off the list, unsubscribe, and there’ll be no hard feelings 💔