Make people feel comfortable.
They do not need to become your best friend. They should still feel that there is space for them at the table.
Good manners matter.
Notice how people behave towards everyone around them, not only the people they want something from.Politeness is not hypocrisy.
You can dislike someone and still treat them properly.You do not need everybody to like you.
Making people feel at ease is different from trying to please everyone.Not every disagreement deserves an argument.
Sometimes you are genuinely just not that angry.Mix your friends.
School, university, work, another city. Let the different chapters of your life meet each other.Let them become friends without you.
Suddenly two separate parts of your life are connected.Invite people home.
A Sunday lunch is already enough of an occasion.A dinner table is beautiful twice.
Once when everything has been arranged perfectly, and again afterwards, when the glasses are half-empty and you can see that people were there.Photograph the traces, not only the people.
Sometimes the remains of the evening tell you more about it than the group picture.Buy a disposable camera for the trip.
Take the photograph and move on.Not being able to check immediately is part of the pleasure.
Finish the camera. Forget what you took. Discover it later.A home should contain things that make you curious.
Not everything needs to serve a purpose.Lived-in is better than sterile.
Paintings, objects, details, things everywhere. A home should feel like someone actually exists inside it.Your style does not need one personality.
Bohemian one day. Minimal the next. A blouse, jeans, cowboy boots and a big belt can coexist with the polished version of you.Absorb what surrounds you without becoming it.
Jobs, cities and people will influence your taste. You still decide what feels right enough to keep.Less is better. Trends are optional.
Something being fashionable is not a particularly convincing reason to wear it.The right bag can change everything.
You can be wearing something completely basic and still let one object carry the entire outfit.Get comfortable doing things alone.
Lunch is easy. Dinner might take practice. Neither has to mean that nobody wanted to come with you.Choose instinct over unnecessary complication.
Go out when you want to go out. Stay home when you want to stay home. Invite everyone over when you feel like having people around. Some things are better left uncomplicated.
You can read the full conversation with Didi here. Find Didi’s playlist here, and the question she asked me here.
