lifeblood of friendship

The lifeblood of friendship is clear and consistent communication. It doesn't have to be constant, just consistent. That is to say that it should happen on a regular basis so that the power of the connection you share doesn't start to decay or atrophy.

I've talked to friends recently that I have not spoken to in a while. It feels nice to connect again using past stories and anecdotes of every shape and size, but it is hard to insert them into the stream of my everyday life these days.

What can you do about that? Not much, but do the small things until big things open up. The best thing to do, of course, is to keep the connection open. With the connection open, you should communicate. The events of the day, week, month or last 20 years is a nice way to go. Do and say the hard things. Let people get close to you. Friendship is meaningless if your friends cannot touch you. Don't hold it in your heart if someone means something to you; let them know that they do as openly as you can and as consistently as possible.