Happy Galentine’s Day! We hope you are able to celebrate this Leslie Knope-created holiday this year, because friendships are important and spending quality time together is quite literally good for the soul.
We’ve written about this before, but it bears repeating: Positive friendships are essential for your mental and physical health. With Galentine’s Day approaching, we wanted to highlight the importance of the friendships that bring joy to our lives and keep us going when the going gets tough. And, with Valentine’s Day coming right on the heels of Galentine’s Day, we wanted to talk about the importance of bonds that are platonic rather than romantic.
Friendship is magical. Good friends who love you deeply can make your life easier, help you bear burdens, see you through turbulent times, celebrate your victories, and be the shoulder you lean on or cry on.
Don’t just take our word for it, however. A 2022 study from the Society for Research in Child Development found that: “Supportive and high-quality friendships have been related to positive developmental outcomes and mental health, both concurrently and in the long term. Friendships also protect against negative effects of adverse experiences, such as peer victimization and internalizing behaviors.” Friendships in adulthood have also shown positive effects, including: helping a friend quit a bad habit (like smoking), helping a friend leave a harmful relationship, preventing mental health issues from becoming worse, preventing health problems due to loneliness or isolation, and even increasing longevity (yes, people with positive friendships tend to live longer!).
We know it takes time, energy, and dedication to keep your friendships on course, and sometimes life gets in the way with distractions and obligations. This Galentine’s Day, perhaps you can celebrate with good food and wine, a shared activity like hiking or watching a movie, or just by taking a moment to check in with your friends and tell them how much they mean to you.
If you’re in a giving mood, send your friend(s) our February Mystery Box with pieces honoring connection and intimacy, jewelry to help them manifest whatever they want, or a digital Galentine’s Card we’ve made especially for today.