as of three days ago, i have officially reached my capacity with the amount of “how are you doing” text messages that i can respond to.

what i’ve realized as of late about myself is that frequency of communication with someone doesn’t make me feel closer to them, but rather the quality of the connection.

and while i recognize that communicating is important for maintaining and growing relationships with people, it oftentimes feels like i’m playing a never ending game of whack-a-mole from having to juggle multiple texts and DM conversations that involve paragraph responses.

weekly catch-ups make me feel trapped in a routine that i feel guilty for bailing on because i want to show up for the people in my life as much as i can. but as time goes on, and the more people that have been added to that list, it has morphed into a box i have to check off each day.

i’m currently short staffed,

(my personal assistant quit)

(…….i was my personal assistant)

so i will get back to you when i get back to you.

this is all to say that if i don’t text you on a consistent basis asking how you’re doing, it’s not because i don’t care about you.

in fact, its the complete opposite.

i love you so much that i don’t want to have to force, and therefore, fake my energy just to say something that i’m not compelled to say at the time. it doesn’t feel like a thoughtful effort on my end, and i don’t think it’s a fair exchange of time or energy on either side.

so please don’t text me asking me how i’m doing.

send me a song you’re enjoying,

an experience you’ve recently had,

something you’re working towards,

the place located thousands of miles away that you’ve added to your travel bucket list,

a podcast episode or show that you absolutely adore,

a memory that’s on your mind,

or pictures you took.

what i would like to share from this past week is that my espresso martini looked like a smiley face, which i have taken as a good omen.

thank you in advance for your cooperation.

💘, HANNA