Where I live, “How are you?” has traditionally been more of a greeting than a question. You’re supposed to say something like, “Good! You?” and then talk about whatever you were going to talk about.
In the last three months, it seems to have become a question again. People genuinely want to know how friends and neighbors are doing, so there’s often an added inflection to indicate that they are indeed asking: “So… how are you?”
This seems healthy. It also seems healthy that “I don’t know” has become a perfectly acceptable and relatable answer.
Like many people I’ve spoken to this spring, I don’t know how I’m doing, only that some things feel off. I’m not particularly anxious or worried, but getting ordinary things done has become inexplicably difficult.
I hope you’re doing okay in your corner of civilization. But in case you’re not, I want to share something that has helped me move through the murk, even though I don’t know what the murk is exactly.
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I'm David, and Raptitude is a blog about getting better at being human -- things we can do to improve our lives today.
To avoid falling back into the rut of ingratitude for the miracle of being alive, I use the snooze feature on gmail to send this essay to myself once a month. Thank you.