Let’s check in for a minute. How are you? How are you really doing? It’s the big week. Daylight Savings ended. Restrictions are being tightened right and left–have you checked in on your loved ones?

I don’t mean checking in like “thinking of you, hope you’re good!” but really, truly checking in. I had the most fun dressing up with the family and watching them enjoy the festivities, I did the returns and unpacking I’d been dreading and enjoyed a weekend with essentially no plans whatsoever. But even in the midst of all the joy, I found myself low.
I threw my back out and had a flare up that felt like a setback. I hit a low point in my restricted eating where I was tired of eating the foods available to me and just wanted the foods I’ve been craving for years (soft pretzels, goldfish, a cinnamon roll and real pizza-i’m looking at you.) And the tension of a country more divided than ever on top of it all created a haze I had to fight through.
Whether someone you love has an autoimmune disease or not, battles anxiety and depression or not, is alone or not, is a new mother or not, is vocal about their struggles or not-everyone needs to be checked in on every now and then. Here is a simple checklist to work through. We all need to be better friends than we’ve ever been, even from a distance.