Every friendship you love started with someone risking an awkward hello.

The friendships that feel inevitable now all had a first moment that could have gone nowhere. Somebody spoke before they knew whether it would be welcome. You have forgotten that awkwardness because it was paid once and the friendship lasted years, which makes the entry price look smaller than it felt. The people you have not met yet are on the other side of the same thirty seconds.

Think of one person you see regularly and have never properly spoken to. Say something plain this week, about the class, the shift, the queue. Most attempts go nowhere, and the ones that do not are worth all of them.