The friend who welcomes your imperfect afternoon has made it easier to keep showing up.

Standards quietly reduce how often people see each other. If visiting requires a tidy house, a proper meal and good form, then most weeks fail the test, and friendships shrink to whenever everyone can manage a performance. Someone who lets you arrive tired, with an untidy kitchen and nothing prepared, has removed the main obstacle to seeing you at all.

Be that person for someone this month. Say come as you are and mean it, and let them see the washing up. When you are invited on those terms, accept without apologising for what your day has looked like.