Reframing the Friendship Fail with Shasta Nelson

+ some summer treats

This week, we reframe friendship — or more specifically, the friendship fail. To find out how a deep friendship has the potential to be rehabilitated, we talk with friendship expert Shasta Nelson, who has been called “the Brené Brown of friendship.” We talk about reframing loneliness, qualities every friendship needs, not downplaying our successes, and so much more. Listen for all the goods — your friendships will thank you.

Shasta Nelson has been studying friendship, both personally and in team environments, for 20 years. Her research has been made accessible for readers in Friendships Don’t Just Happen!, which teaches us how to make new friends as adults, and Frientimacy: How to Deepen Friendships for Lifelong Health and Happiness, which teaches us how to make our closer relationships more meaningful and healthy. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Harvard Business Review.

Links:
Follow Shasta on Twitter and Instagram, and check out her website.

We’re feeling end of summer vibes by putting as many things as we can on the bbq. Our guest Alicia Kennedy, a food writer, encouraged us to try tofu steaks on the grill. We have also now tried out cauliflower steaks on the bbq and really — honestly — veggies are winning in the land of Reframeables!

If you haven’t given these cauli steaks a try here’s how we tried (and won!):

• Start with a whole cauliflower and cut into thick slices — let’s call them steaks!

• Brush one side of your steak with a mixture of oil, mustard, garlic powder, cumin, salt

• Place steaks oiled side down on a hot grill and cook for 7-10 minutes

• While the steaks cook brush the oil mixture on the other side

• Flip and cook for another 7-10 minutes

• When both sides are nicely charred and the cauliflower is tender, plate the steaks and drizzle with some garliky tahini (garlic, lemon juice, tahini, salt and a little water to mix)

Enjoy! If you give this a go (or grill some new vegetable that you think we’d love) please send us a photo. Inspo among friends!

We’ve been running together this summer (breathlessly demanding from whoever is stuck carrying the phone how much time is left on the app). It’s hard work made a little easier from doing it with each other. In this week’s podcast conversation Shasta talked about the importance of logged hours with friends to sustain our long term health and wellbeing. So we encourage you to get out there and run or stretch or even do some errands with a friend this week, dear Reframeables. Your body will thank you.

Check out this popular episode with radio host Caitlin Green who reframed the influencer life with us. She returned to the mic this past week, having just finished up her maternity leave. Celebrating with our friend as she makes this big transition.

Author and Giller winner Ian Williams reframes community.

Rebecca and Natalie reframe grief as a duo.

Momfluencer Sara Peterson reframes the representation of motherhood online.

Natasha Nelson (some might know her as Supernova Momma) reframes neurodiversity and parenting.