Welcome to The Friends Theory, where we use pop culture and story to reframe the way you see your life, work, and what you’re capable of.

It occurred to me this week that I cried over an alien.

An alien. Specifically, a rock that clicks.

3-minute read.

The One Where I Cried Over An Alien

Insights from “Project Hail Mary” and The World Cup, 2026

🎬 Picture it:
This week I kept stumbling across the same thing in completely different places. Once I noticed it, I couldn't stop seeing it.

Earlier this week I watched Project Hail Mary. I'd listened to the first few chapters of the audiobook so I knew roughly where it was going. I was expecting a clever sci-fi film. I wasn't expecting to become emotionally attached to a giant spider-like rock that communicates through musical notes.

Two beings, trapped in space, alone, desperate to get home. What unfolds isn't really a sci-fi story at all. It's a story about two strangers trying, failing, trying again, and eventually finding a way to understand each other despite coming from entirely different planets.

It felt...human.

Which is odd, because Rocky is exactly not that.

Then there was the World Cup. People from every corner of the world, speaking different languages, wearing different shirts, singing different songs, sharing beers, swapping scarves, hugging strangers and having the time of their lives.

Different stories. Same feeling.

Maybe that's why I cried over Rocky.

Not because he's an alien. But because underneath all the clicking and chemistry and saving-the-world stuff, he's just someone trying to find another living thing that understands him.

Which, when you think about it, is pretty much all of us.

Ever Been Here?

I'm still finding my feet in Luxembourg. I've made a couple of friends, which is something. But I know I need to put myself out there more.

It's that strange in-between phase — not lonely exactly, but aware of the distance between where you are and where you want to feel at home.

I think that's why this week's pattern caught my attention.

If you spend too long reading the news or scrolling on social, it's easy to believe connection is getting harder. That everything is louder, angrier, more divided.

And yet. Rocky and his human. Thousands of football fans who've never met, singing the same songs. A start line full of strangers all going the same direction.

Maybe connection isn't as rare as it feels sometimes.

Maybe it's just in places we forget to look.

Try This On:

I've realised I've been craving a little more connection lately. Not in a huge life-changing way. Just the small stuff.

So this week I'm going to make a point of saying hello to the person standing next to me in the coffee queue.

If I admire something about someone, I'll tell them.

I'll spend a little less time looking down at my phone and a little more time looking up.

None of those things will change the world.

But they might change somebody's next five minutes. Especially mine.

And sometimes that's enough.

Final Thought

I'm running the Luxembourg Pride 10k later today.

I'll still wear my headphones because I'm not a complete psychopath. But I'll smile. I'll cheer people on. I'll high-five strangers at the finish line.

Because maybe connection doesn't need a crisis, or a space mission, or a World Cup.

Maybe it just needs one person willing to go first.

Even if they're a rock that clicks.

See you next week,

Lucy xx

P.S. If you’re craving a little more connection, start here 👇

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