Is a journaling club a brilliant way to find friends?

Last week I organized a meeting in the afternoon to celebrate Suleika Jaouad’s new book, and got away with prospective friendships and the best start -up starter.

Did you first read Suleikas 2021 memoirs between two kingdoms? At the age of 22, Suleika Leukemia was diagnosed with a 35% probability of long -term survival. She spent a large part of the next four years in a hospital bed. But when the doctors finally spoke out their “cancer -free”, she faced her next challenge: to learn how to live.

Now Suleika has written another nice publication: The Book of Alchemy: A creative practice for an inspired life. “Journaling saved my life in difficult times,” she told us, creating a journaling guide with a thinking request and essays from co-creatives such as her husband Jon Batiste, Ann Patchett, Jia Tolentino, George Saunders and many others.

In my living room, Suleika read an essay from her book and then asked us to spend 10 minutes each – everything – everything – on our hands. The topic was so specific that everyone immediately had ideas and began to write away. And when a few people decided to share what they had written, their stories were about so much more than just a part of the body. It is incredible how a prompt with a word man can lead to profound observations about culture, identity, breed, religion and the list.

I write about biting my nails and anxiety

Before the journaling, said Suleika, she sometimes writes a question. “Elizabeth Gilbert wrote an essay for the book,” she explains. “She has a long -term practice in which she has her diary entries with” love love, what will you let you know today? “I followed her leadership and also took my own freedom. I try to write from a deep place of intuition at the top of the page.”

Another carefree request was to close our eyes and draw a giraffe. (The most difficult part was the spots.)

Clare de Boer and Deb Perelman

We laughed at our terrible results, but the exercise contributed to breaking the ice cream and reminding us that journaling is not perfect.

Bernstein Tamblyn and Suleika

After all, Suleika asked us to walk through the room and – instead of talking about our jobs – to share something that we would organize in our “unofficial resume”. For example, she has three dogs and since her husband holds three, she is a lotSuleika now helps friends to find their own ideal dogs.

Nell Diamond, Priya Parker and Brit Bennett

Priya Parker told us above that she is a good matchmaker for people who want to read again: “I ask a number of questions and then initially prescribe three books.” As for Deb Perelman from Smitten Kitchen? “I was in the high school in synchronized swimming. It is a really hard sport.”

Peyton Dix, Hrishikesh Hirway and Nell Diamond

The musician Hrishikesh Hirway explained that he is a chocolate biscuit biscuit enthusiast and can call the best chocolate biscuits in any city that he visited. (His New York winner? Jacques Torres.)

Hitha Palepu, Hunter Harris and Peyton Dix

“My secret talent is a great wedding guest,” added Hunter Harris. “I will dress for this occasion, I will take great social media pictures of the bride and groom, I always have an additional hair binding/tampon/listerine-strip/mirror and I love to make small talk with your random family member or employee.”

The whole afternoon felt so magical, in a large extent, because Suleika and her book were so magical. Journaling helps you to connect so quickly that many guests held ideas for working in the future, personally, professionally and politically. I also feel inspired to start a journaling club – you could come together to write about a common request and then discuss what comes for you. Would you ever do that? I would recommend Suleika’s wonderful book myself, a gift, everyone who likes to write, therapy, stare from windows, the meaning of life, everything!

Thank you very much, Suleika. Xoxo

PS “Nine Life Lessons, which I learned after my cancer diagnosis”, five ways to be a better listener, and how high are your basic values?

(Photos by Ana Murphy.)