On friendship rituals

Girlhood is possibly the most beautifully ugly complex phenomena to ever exist. And it is kept alive, in my opinion, by the joint rituals of female friendships. These may seem like insignificant things, but they result in some of the best (and sometimes of course, worst) times of our lives. Here are my personal favourite rituals:

THE groupchat.
Everyone has one group chat, usually consisting of 3-6 people, that you would rather die than have anyone see. You’ve sent about a million “'you deserve better' texts in it. You’ve said things only Regina George would repeat about people in it. You’ve sent about 90 voice notes in it, telling your friends five stories at the same time. Your fittest selfies are in it (because you obviously need to ask which one to post), as well as your worst moments (that time you went on the pole in Soho). The groupchat is one of the most sacred parts of female friendships because we truly see the best and worst parts of one another.

THE debrief
You wake up Thursday morning full of hangxiety, and the one thing getting you out of bed is the desire to know where THAT friend managed to end up last night. Over about 30 cups of tea, you discover that she somehow managed to fix a middle-aged couple’s divorce in the smoking area, punch a rugby boy in the face (deservedly so, probably) and force Cosy Joes to let her sing ABBA’s entire discography. All hail the debrief.

THE rant
The moment you see your friends’ true colours. Usually begins with ‘you know who’s been doing my head in a bit recently?’ And ends with ‘not to be judgemental or anything’. I’m all for spreading kindness, but a good gossip just feeds the soul.

Hot girl walks, wholesome café trips, screaming Taylor Swift at a completely unacceptable volume: all of these things make us who we are, and they allow us to see the most amazing, and equally, the most ugly parts of each other.