Friendships compound like savings. Small deposits, over years, turn into something you couldn’t buy.

Depth is produced by volume of small contact, not by intensity. A message that takes ten seconds, a visit, a remembered detail: each one is nearly worthless on its own, and the accumulation is the entire asset. Nobody arrives at a twenty-year friendship quickly, which is why the ones you have are worth maintaining even in the dull stretches.

Send the low-effort message today rather than waiting until you have something substantial to say. Keep the contact frequent and light instead of rare and significant. The interest builds quietly, and you notice it decades later rather than this week.