HandH 068: The Power of Intentional Friendship with Joy Clarkson

Joy Clarkson, podcaster, writer, teacher, lover of all things beautiful, and student currently working on her PHd in Theology, Imagination, and the Arts at St. Andrews University in Scotland, joins me on the Home and Hearth Podcast to talk about the importance of cultivating friendship in this busy world. She recently co-authored, along with her sister, Sarah, and mother, Sally, the wonderful new book, "Girls Club: Cultivating Lasting Friendship in a Lonely World". You will walk away from this chat built up and inspired to go out there and pursue friendship and community of your own!   What we Chat about in This Episode: ~Joy's new book, "Girls' Club: Cultivating Lasting Friendship in a Lonely World" - what led her to co-author it and what readers can expect ~The importance of moms viewing and treating their children as real people with interesting personalities, thoughts, and things to offer in conversation and to the world ~The new office of "Minister of Loneliness" in the UK and what this development reveals about the current loneliness epidemic ~Admitting your loneliness as a first step towards seeking community ~Tips, tricks, and ideas for practically pursuing friendship and cultivating community in the midst of everyday busyness ~The necessity of being intentional ~Practical ideas for what to talk about when meeting up with someone new whom you're trying to get to know as a friend ~Training your children to ask people questions ~Why friendship is so important and how it can actually change the world ~Jesus' example of friendship ~An example from Joy's own life of a friend who dramatically influenced and changed her life ~The beauty of daughters inheriting beautiful friendships from the circle of their mother's friends ~Female friendships in history ~Cultivating friendships between mothers and daughters ~The "good Christian girl syndrome" of thinking you have to take whatever someone dishes out to you and always turn the other cheek; the importance of boundaries and making space between you and unhealthy friendships; what that looks like  ~And more!   For full show notes, head to www.hargraveshomeandhearth.com/podcast