Are we showing up for friends, or just texting?

Hey you,

I was thinking about you today … or maybe I was just thinking about us. The way we used to be.

Remember when friendship meant seeing each other’s faces, not just each other’s names lighting up our phones? When “let’s catch up soon” actually happened, and wasn’t just a polite placeholder between busy weeks and full calendars?

Now it’s memes and emojis and “thinking of you” texts sent in between meetings. It’s voice notes we never reply to, plans we can’t quite pin down, group chats that never make it past logistics.

I’m not judging.

I scroll. I double-tap. I think of you, and never actually say it. I tell myself “we’ll find time soon” – knowing full well we probably won’t.

It’s like friendship has gone digital … all signal, no sound.

I miss how easy it used to be. How showing up for friends didn’t need a Google calendar invite or weeks of back-and-forth. We’d just show up. Drop in. Bring coffee, or wine, or both. Talk for hours about everything and nothing.

Now we send each other reels that say “this is so us” instead of actually being us.

Maybe that’s just life these days. Everyone’s stretched thin, juggling jobs, kids, care, chaos. But sometimes I wonder if we’ve normalised emotional absenteeism – that quiet drifting where we’re still in touch but not really in tune.

And, yeah, connection takes energy. Most days, we’re running on fumes. But maybe showing up for friends doesn’t need to be big or dramatic. Maybe it’s just a quick check-in that isn’t rushed. A coffee. A walk. A proper conversation that isn’t squeezed in between notifications.

I don’t need more messages from you. I just miss you. The unfiltered, messy, real-life version.

Anyway, that’s all. Just wanted to say hi … and that I hope you’re okay, really okay.

Love,
Em x