Whitney Pennington-Rogers

And I'm curious to hear what you've learned about what can become possible for people when we do remove the limits from friendship and how it can function.

And how have you seen people's lives improve as a result of doing this?

I think there's been so much written these days about the challenges adults face in maintaining strong relationships.

platonic relationships across different life events, whether that's relocation or marriage or children.

And I personally know that I've experienced some of these challenges as I've gotten older.

What do you see as some of the biggest barriers to developing these types of relationships?

And how do you recommend people overcome them?

So then if someone were really interested in developing more intentional platonic relationships that are deeper than friendship, as you're describing, what would be some of the steps you'd recommend people take to practice this in their lives with existing friends?

Let's start there.

What you've shared is a lot around people that maybe are already in your life in some capacity and you see some opportunity to deepen the relationship.

What are some tips you would suggest for people who are interested in meeting people with the hopes that it could turn into something more?

How do you approach those sorts of relationships?

It strikes me how much of a role, like, just saying the thing really helps here in a way that maybe we do this in romantic relationships and not in others.

Like, if someone were to say something like that to me, it would become immediately obvious how strongly you feel about that relationship.

And that feels like such a simple but profound way to think about this.

Well, we have a lot of questions from members about the important role of physically being in front of a person plays here.

So Valerie C., for instance, asks if you could tell us more about the research around how important authentic connection is when you're in person, having it be an in-person experience versus something that's virtual.

And I'd love to dive into this a little bit more later in the conversation, just sort of thinking about the future and sort of where we're headed, but sort of sticking in the space of how to cultivate these relationships, thinking about support for this.

What can loved ones or family members do to support people who have decided to deepen a platonic relationship?

And what about the structures around us?