Being an urban gal, most of the social situations I find myself in have to do with going out rather than staying in. This means lots of moolah dropped on dinners out with friends and less time spent cooking at home and wielding control over nutritive content. But this isn't a post about nutritive content--it's about the fact that I really feel living in a city in which quarters are often cramped has created this environment in which we are never completely in our element, in which impersonality and speed reign supreme over intimacy and languorous conversation. There is something impersonal about meeting friends at restaurants rather than the intimacy of your own home. I can count the number of times on my fingers that I've eaten dinner at a friend's house, and vice-versa, over the last several years--which is really too bad, considering that the experience of eating dinner in someone's home is so completely different from that of eating out. It fosters a closeness that can never really be fully achieved when we remove ourselves from our most intimate environment. When we invite people into our inner sanctum, and vice-versa, we are sharing with them a part of ourselves that is deeply personal and indicative of who we are. Add the social element of eating together to the whole mix and you have a beautiful experience in which friends truly get to nurture each other. So I challenge you to second-guess yourself the next time you find yourself making a dinner date at some swanky new restaurant with your bff. Invite him or her over for dinner instead--and if you can't cook, even better. It means you can both experiment together--what better way to cement your relationship? :)
Having Dinner with Friends
Posted by Nirmala N.
Being an urban gal, most of the social situations I find myself in have to do with going out rather than staying in. This means lots of moolah dropped on dinners out with friends and less time spent cooking at home and wielding control over nutritive content. But this isn't a post about nutritive content--it's about the fact that I really feel living in a city in which quarters are often cramped has created this environment in which we are never completely in our element, in which impersonality and speed reign supreme over intimacy and languorous conversation. There is something impersonal about meeting friends at restaurants rather than the intimacy of your own home. I can count the number of times on my fingers that I've eaten dinner at a friend's house, and vice-versa, over the last several years--which is really too bad, considering that the experience of eating dinner in someone's home is so completely different from that of eating out. It fosters a closeness that can never really be fully achieved when we remove ourselves from our most intimate environment. When we invite people into our inner sanctum, and vice-versa, we are sharing with them a part of ourselves that is deeply personal and indicative of who we are. Add the social element of eating together to the whole mix and you have a beautiful experience in which friends truly get to nurture each other. So I challenge you to second-guess yourself the next time you find yourself making a dinner date at some swanky new restaurant with your bff. Invite him or her over for dinner instead--and if you can't cook, even better. It means you can both experiment together--what better way to cement your relationship? :)