life's secret ingredient

Read time: 2.5 minutes

hey friend hey!

some say “variety is the spice of life”

i prefer “friends are the spice of life”

you can't have a kick-ass meal without the perfect blend of flavors. you can't have a kick-ass life without the many flavors of friends & friendships.

you spend your life curating your spice collection of all different flavors & uses.

some are for every day, others to sweeten, a handful to spice, & several just cause.

i’ll go out on a limb to guess that salt & pepper are in your ride-or-die crew. these are your best friends that are with you through thick and thin, enhancing almost every dish. life wouldn’t be the same without them.

sweet spice friends are the ones that lift your spirits like a pinch of cinnamon, an incredible addition to sweet & savory foods. these friends feel like a warm hug, giving you never-ending love, support, & kindness.

coming in hot next are your spicy friends that know how to turn up the volume on any situation. they get you out of your comfort zone, bringing you excitement & adventure. personal preference can vary here based on your heat tolerance 😉 

last up are just cause special spices. you might use them for a recipe you make every day. or you might buy them impulsively at trader joe’s and forget about them in your pantry the next day. these friends are likely for work, convenience, or special activities.

life is your meal

there’s no one-size-fits-all spice

& only you know your flavor preferences.

mindset

that being said, if you really want to taste life, you must savor the flavor of your friendships.

we can’t expect all friendships to be salt (aka your bestie). and while you can get many types of salt, we still need the variety of spices & friendships to experience the variety of life.

life’s menu offers so many spectacular spices.

embrace your friends for who they & your friendships for what they are.

mission

finding the spice is only part of the equation, you gotta keep them too.

don’t let your spices expire.

sahil bloom, author of the 2x weekly curiosity chronicle (which i highly recommend!), said it best on a twitter thread listing 10 things he knew he’d regret on his death bed.

if you are anything like me, you likely have spices that are past their expiration. contrary to popular belief & practice, spices do expire. many in 6 months, most within a year. very few, only whole spices, can make it to the 5 year mark.

this timeline is fairly applicable to friends too.

friendship spices will expire. monitor the s(h)elf life closely.

make time to this week to reach out to the friends who add flavor to your life. whether it's through a heartfelt message, a surprise visit, or a simple "miss you." let them know how much they mean to you & the irreplaceable spice they add to your existence.

musing

i created 13 colorful cards for connecting with your crew.

each card captures a different friendship spice style.

for the partners-in-crime, sunshines, smile makers, forever friends, just get it-ers, ride-or-dies, betterers, mirrors, bests, advice givers, inspirations, gurus, & heroes.

take this week’s mindset & mission to the next level by buying all 13. use each card as a journal prompt to think about and write to the special person that most plays that role in your life. i’ll include a special surprise too ;)

the beginnings of my first self-care stationery set.

moments for merrymaking

bff&e&e,

MacK