Danielle Byard Jackson

So from the very beginning, being trained to identify who that one person is.

And I've also heard it said that, you know, relationships are a woman's primary resource.

And I wonder if it's kind of like this social currency, especially at that age, is how many friends do you have?

And we see the girl with lots of friends.

And what do I, you know, what determinations do I begin to make about her?

She must be likable, right?

And cool, you know, so the girl who's got a lot of friends, but especially if you have a bestie, because that means you matter.

This is your alliance.

You have somebody who sees you as important.

And so that best friend phenomenon, I definitely see emerge at that stage.

You are not alone.

There's some research that finds that 40% of adults don't have a best friend.

So there's a lot of people out here who don't have that, maybe in this particular season of their life.

It doesn't make you any less important or worthy or lovable to not have that one person.

And if you don't, ask yourself if you can get all the things you need from the collective rather than the singular.

I think it's a romantic notion, this idea of the one person who offers you multiple things.

She's your mom, friend, your happy hour buddy.

It's very cool when that one person satisfies all those things.

But until maybe you find that person, can you find that from the collective?

from multiple people, you're getting laughter, you're getting growth opportunities, you're sharing resources.