The strongest part of a friendship may be the ordinary welcome after an unimpressive week.

Friendship gets described through crises and celebrations, but most of its weight is carried on ordinary evenings. The real measure is whether you can turn up with nothing to report, having achieved little and felt worse, and be received as warmly as when things go well. That steadiness is rare, and it is what makes a person somewhere you can rest rather than somewhere you perform.

See someone this week without waiting until you have news. When a friend arrives flat, ask about the week and then let the subject go. The welcome that asks nothing of the other person is the one they remember in a bad year.