We've curated tips, stories, and inspiration to help you Skip the Small Talk in your everyday life.
Get out of your comfort zone by opening up and connecting with strangers (or friends if you bring 'em)!
Find EventsMisunderstanding, conflict, and tension are normal parts of relating. If we approach them with compassion, honesty, and curiosity they can be and are important parts of growing as people and deepening our relationships. Try these 3 questions the next time you find yourself in a rocky conversation.
Read MoreWhile you may not be snowed in from where you’re reading, winter can be a great season for slowing down and building deeper connections with new and olds friends and crushes.
Whether you love the cold or really feel that Seasonal Affective Disorder (or both) each winter, it can be harder to think of things to do when it’s dark, cold, and Netflix acquires the West Wing - so here are 5 suggestions for winter fun and connection.
Read MoreHow do we help connections last? What are lasting connections meant to feel like?
The upheaval of our 20s and 30s - moving through young adulthood, romantic relationships, different jobs, changing towns - can make us feel like we’ve forgotten (or never knew) what it takes to have something that lasts. We’ll discuss vulnerability and how to practice it.
Read MoreToday’s advice is for the down time, and the nourishing of your mind while you are navigating the world (or your world) falling apart. These books take a deeper dive into how we can use friendship, connection, and grief to forge a path in our lives, even when things look pretty bleak.
Read MoreThe turn of the year is a great time to give yourself a little shake and think about what worked, what didn’t, and how we want to be. Different that concrete resolutions or to do lists, we can think about our attitudes and challenge our assumptions.
Here at Skip the Small Talk we focus on friendship and dating, so these ideas will support you in creating, initiating, and responding to meaningful connections.
Read Morehow do we actually make the changes we want to see in our lives?
Think of it as a relational question. How do you want to be with yourself? It is a process of questioning, mystery, vulnerability, discovery, and (often) quiet joy. Ultimately, it’s the journey and not the destination.
Read MoreWe’ve got three simple tips for keeping the connection going when there aren’t enough hours in the day. These strategies show you are interested, considerate, honest, and have follow through power.
Read MoreThe apps are sending us our annual round ups, wrappeds, reports, and highlights. Our inboxes are full of holiday deals, travel tickets, extra shift assignments at work, and event invites from every list serv and maybe even a few friends. If your blood pressure is up, or it feels like the world is closing in - maybe you need a f$^#ing break. Let’s get into some strategies for identifying you’re past your limit and how to actually take that break when you need it.
Read MoreWhether your phone has run out of juice on the Greyhound home or there’s a cutie you want to keep close to your hearth, having some back pocket conversation starters can help turn an awkward moment into a lasting memory.
Read MoreBefore we put out the casting call for your Hallmark worthy holiday rom com, it’s good to get in touch with our good sense and confirm that the person we’re in to, is actually into us. So how do you tell if you’ve met someone who gets you? And what do you do after that?! Let’s get into it.
Read MoreThe days are shorter, the orange and brown holiday - followed by the red and green holiday - are taking over storefronts and algorithm-driven ads. There are 17 (and counting) winter holidays that many of us participate in. And for most of us, that means family time big time. Whether forged/chosen family or family of origin, 3 people and 2 cats, or 86 relatives in a rented hall, we want to share three strategies for navigating family gatherings.
Read MoreWe’ll tackle the problem of comparing ourselves to our acquaintances’ highlight reels by breaking down the pitfalls of comparison and suggesting strategies for engaging with social media more mindfully.
Read MoreIt feels universal: dating sucks, a horrid combination of Russian roulette and inbox management that makes OpenAI’s promise of erotic ChatGPT feel palatable.
This week I’m here to tell you 3 ways to find joy in dating again.
Read MoreReflecting on my connection my partner’s grandmother, I was moved by the fact that I had a direct, loving connection to someone who had a direct, loving connection to someone born around the time indoor electricity first became common. The memory makes me feel close and the past warmer. In the spirit of the shifting seasons, I want to offer four questions you’ll be glad you ask your elders.
Read MoreBusy is the by-word of the day, especially once we enter the working world…pretty much until we stop working, if we are so lucky. I hear frequently from casual connections that they want more friends, or they grieve the tight knit friends of their school days, but cannot imagine having time to make new friends.
If your google calendar looks like a coat of many colors, or you find yourself crashing at 10pm feeling like you’ve had no meaningful connection in a day, these 4 suggestions are for you!
Read MoreWhat can a classic sitcom teach us about friendships that last, and enrich us as people? These 4 iconic characters teach us about needing each other, the importance of getting razzed, and showing up to the hard stuff together.
Read MoreThey agreed to the first date. Butterflies are doing aerial gymnastics in your guts, scenes from any romcom you’ve seen in the last 10 years are playing in your head, and maybe you’re asking yourself “what the heck am I going to SAY?”
Read MoreEveryone’s talking about the over/use of cellphones. From school districts to psychologists to (ironically) social media influencers. Noticing how this extends even to carefully orchestrated group hangs, I want to explore: how can we consciously create time with our friends that give us a break from the phone?
Read More
