Almost Everyone Has Experienced Friendship Break-Up (Twice!) with Meenadchi

Ninety-four percent of people have experienced more than one friendship break-up.

Let that sink in. Nearly EVERYONE listening has been through this heartbreak multiple times – and yet, we barely even talk about it as a society!

This statistic comes from a survey conducted by today’s guest, Meenadchi, a somatic healing practitioner, communications expert, author of Decolonization Non-Violent Communication, and TEDx Talk presenter about her own friendship break-up.

This is a conversation about the losses we don't have scripts for and why that makes the healing so much harder. We share deeply about our own experiences, we talk about Meenadchi’s research, and we dive into the grief of friendship break-ups.

I hope this conversation gives you some of what I felt during this conversation – that you are not alone in this experience. The pain of friendship break-ups is real. Give yourself the space you need to grieve.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• Meenadchi’s upbringing in a Sri Lankan immigrant community, where friendships are highly valued
• Her long-term friendship that ended at age 36 and her subsequent fascination with friendship breakups
• The vulnerability and intimacy shared in childhood friendships and the impact of losing such relationships
• The concept of a "line in the sand" for setting boundaries and moving forward in relationships; when do boundaries work, and when can friendships be repaired?
• The importance of community interconnectedness in healing from friendship breakups (plus, healing strategies, from letter-writing to the internet)

Resources & Links

Visit Meenadchi’s website, see her TEDx Talk, and follow her on Instagram.

In this episode I mentioned All About Love by Bell Hooks.

Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram and TikTok!

Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!