Out of all of the topics that get discussed in the writing we share on DD, there is one we could never tire of reading about: friendship.

Maybe that’s because it’s the kind of quietly steadying force that doesn’t get enough attention – it’s the accumulation of lots of little things, and we love to see your stories about it.

Seeing as our next event is Galentine’s Day-themed, you probably already knew that we were big into the power of female friendship. But it goes beyond that – after all, the idea of connection, of a network, of sharing parts of yourself with others, is right at the heart of DD.

Bridie and I formed Dear Damsels at a time when we were both relatively new to our adult lives (jobs, new flats, etc). I had just moved to London and was a wee bit lonely. And seeing as we both often turned to writing and to the words of others for comfort, we wanted to create an online space where those words could be shared; a place that felt supportive, collaborative. Personal blogs are great, but can sometimes feel like shouting into the void, and what good is that when you’re getting home to an empty flat?

Looking back, as we started sharing the themes that we wanted to get your take on, it makes complete sense that some of those clearly brought friendship and connection to mind. Our second theme ever was TRUST; in April 2017 we asked you to tell us about your TRIBE, and most recently we asked for your words on TOGETHER, anticipating stories of family at Christmastime – but instead we were blown away by your stories of companionship and the constancy of friendship.

What we’ve learned through your words over the years is that friendship comes in many forms.

You’ve talked about friendships lost – both the kind severed completely by the very worst thing, a boy – and the kind that just … peter out. You’ve talked about long-distance friendship, and the feeling of futility at being 200 miles away from a friend in need. You’ve also talked about how those friendships can be kept alive through the power of Whatsapp – or how they can even be found in the first place through the power of the internet; how internet friends can become friends IRL.

Because you’re reading this, we know that female friendship is something that matters to you – just like we know that you’ll continue to share your words on the very best women in your life with us. We can’t wait to read all that you have to say.

For now, as we prepare for next week’s event and a night of celebrating the gals in your life, we hope you’ll take the chance to catch up with all the writing we’ve shared so far on the subject – and maybe even share one of those stories with a friend.

Love,
Abs x


Dear Damsels is your collective.

We want to create a space on our website where you can find out what your collective is doing for you. Whether it be upcoming events, publications, projects or podcast episodes, this will be where we communicate directly with you about what is going on in the world of DD.

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