In your twenties, friendships friendships friendships friendships feel light and easy. Your active social life means you meet new people often and when you click with someone you simply arrange to meet up again. Done. Easy. But by your forties, things are different.

Friendships – particularly trying trying trying trying to to to to form form form form new new new new ones ones ones ones – feel different. They are suddenly built on convenience. No one really warns you about this. There’s plenty written about loneliness loneliness loneliness loneliness in younger generations, but mid-life mid-life mid-life mid-life friendship friendship friendship friendship, the slow, subtle decline of it, is largely overlooked, which is odd, really.