Why Your Relationships With Your Girlfriends Will Quite Literally Save Your Life

Many studies have shown that relationships among women are crucial to longevity, health, and happiness.  Understanding this research has helped me realize why I thrive in my girlfriend relationships and how they help me cope with the highs and lows of life.  

“I love my husband, but it is nothing like a conversation with a woman that understands you. I grow so much from those conversations.” – Beyonce

“Every time we get overly busy with work and family, the first thing we do is let go of friendships with other women, explains Dr. Josselson. We push them right to the back burner. That's really a mistake because women are such a source of strength to each other. We nurture one another. And we need to have unpressured space in which we can do the special kind of talk that women do when they're with other women. It's a very healing experience.” - UCLA Study on Friendship

“Men are from Mars and women are from Venus; meaning we as females are inherently different from men. We think differently, act differently, solve problems differently and are more emotionally driven than logically driven.

Although men and women do complement each other, as women, we thrive on strong relationships with our girlfriends. Such friendships give women an outlet to share their problems, thoughts, feelings, and triumphs with those they feel a close bond with. I treasure my hour-long phone conversations with my best girlfriends, special trips to Los Angeles to visit one of my favorite girlfriends from college, hilarious text messages that should always be kept secret, celebratory nights out, happy hours on a Monday, and weekend trips with my girlfriends.

Most of my emotional and mental strength comes from deep bonds with the strong females in my life. Over time, we become our friends as we mirror their thoughts, beliefs, and actions. In fact, many say that we are the average of the five people we spend most of our time with. We should choose each other wisely and with intention.” - ‘The Importance of Female Friendships Among Women’ Psychology Today

“Friends are also helping us live better. The famed Nurses' Health Study from Harvard Medical School found that the more friends women had, the less likely they were to develop physical impairments as they aged, and the more likely they were to be leading a joyful life. In fact, the results were so significant, the researchers concluded, that not having close friends or confidants was as detrimental to your health as smoking or carrying extra weight.” - UCLA Study on Friendship

“Whether it is with friends, family, a therapist or a support group, women find it healing to tell their stories. We want to talk about our emotional experiences and to process what has happened and what we might do going forward. If friendships can enrich our physical and emotional lives, the question becomes why so many women find it challenging to nourish them.” - Huffpost

“I used to be the shyest kid in school barely talked without my hands getting sweaty and my heart coming out of my chest but somehow had 5 different groups of friends don’t even know how that happened. But then we grow up, we reach our 30s, we have kids and realize it’s no longer the amount of friends we have it’s really the relationships that stick with you through it all, the friend that you make when you move to a new country and they become family as you are far away from yours, the ones that grow up with you and regardless living a different life right now they love your daughter as if were theirs, or the friend that you might not see every day but when you do it’s like not a day has passed, and the friend that might not even understand what you do for a living but will recommend you and support you like no other.

See that’s women empowerment for me, female relationships don’t mean anything if we can’t work on friendships first, investing time to know, learn, care, celebrate, support and respect one another comes when we invest our time in caring about building those relationships first! So here’s to 2020 and making more time and space in our calendars to spend it with our friends!” - Karla Melgarejo (photo, left - Karla Melgarejo Photographer and Marketing Strategist)

“Even 10 years ago, people would go out to a coffee shop and actually talk to people,” Dr. Bash notes. “Nowadays in America, we’re so isolated. With social media, technology, and texting ... people feel more alone. Even if they’re not physically alone, they're addicted to constantly seeing what everyone else is doing.

This dichotomy between our simultaneous hyperconnectedness — having the perpetual ability to check up on faraway friends — and many Americans’ rising sense of emotional alienation make our real-life, face-to-face friendships even more important to sustain.” - Healthline.com

“I've talked about those that come into your life that challenge you, but I also often talk about those that come into your life and change it for the better.  The soul sisters, the kindred spirits.  They don't come often but when they do, you feel like the absolute best version of yourself around them... And hopefully they feel the same around you. They get your facial expressions without you saying a word.  They know when you need a hug. When to crack a joke, and when to pour the champagne.  You don't have to apologize for poorly wording something because they know you would never have ill intentions.  These friendships are truly soul changing.  These are the people who get you the most (other than your spouse)

I'd be lost without my kindred spirits.  They truly help me put one foot in front of the other during those dark days.  I'm truly the lucky one to have found such incredible souls on my journey. 🖤” - Anna Dunbar (photo, right - blogger for Honestly West)

“Female friendships are the key to happiness. Once I became a mother, I realized that having people you can call at an hour of the day to laugh, cry, and vent is critical for your mental health. The women in my girl tribe are invaluable and their friendship gives me so much joy. Growing up I didn’t have many female friendships that I could count on because our family moved around a lot and I had no idea what I was missing out on. Building these friendships takes time and many, many micro moments of trust, but they are worth it and I feel so lucky to have found my tribe.” - Sydney Mintle (photo, center - Gossip and Glamour PR for greater Seattle area fashion and beauty)

"I've grown to accept that I can't do this life on my own. That's why cultivating honest, female empowered relationships is so important to me. We are not alone. And although we have many differences, we are the same. I'm so thankful to have women in my life who remind me of this daily. We are forever, better together." - XX, Demri (our fierce and beautiful photog, above for Demri Rayanne Photography)

Each woman in my life offers me something unique, special, and meaningful. Together, they form my life line and support team. I know that one will cry with me, one will tell me to get my big girl pants on and march through, one will tell me how proud they are of who I’ve become, one will always be down for dancing the night away and hold my hair back at 3am, one will tell me when my outfit is less than flattering, one will love on my daughters and build their confidence as a reminder of their importance and worth in this world. And for that, the girlfriends in my life are invaluable.

I challenge you to evaluate the women in your tribe. My hope is that they fill you up with sentiments of value, respect, and empowerment, and that they cheer you on through all of life’s ups and downs. And that you gift them the same in return.

LOCATION: THE BANANA STAND - PIONEER SQUARE SEATTLE

PHOTOS: DEMRI RAYANNE PHOTOGRAPHY