How to stay close from afar.
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| | | | Since early 2020, six of my close friends and I have stayed in touch via an app called Marco Polo. This app has one simple function: It allows a group of people to make an ongoing thread of videos that the others can watch anytime. It's pretty much like a group text thread, except that you can only share videos. | | It started as a way for the group to stay in contact with Eryn, who'd just had her first baby. At that point most of us lived in different cities and, like the rest of the world, we were trying to be creative about how to stay in contact with loved ones through a global pandemic. | | In the beginning, we would make hours of videos for each other every day. I'm not joking. (How we kept our jobs is beyond me.) Four years later, most of us drop by the thread to give a life update at least once a week. | | But I'm not here to gush about the features of a smartphone app. It's not Marco Polo that has kept us all so close for so long. It's the ways we use this tool to maintain our long-distance group friendship that I want to talk about. Below, read how the seven of us have stayed so tight, despite living at opposite ends of the country. | | | | To friendship!
Ginger Wojcik
Newsletter Editor, Healthline | | | | |
| |  | | Written by Ginger Wojcik
July 5, 2024 • 4.5 min read | | | | | | | |
| |  | | | How to stay close when the people you love live far away | | Reduced stress and anxiety, increased brain power, and higher life satisfaction — there's no lack of research on the health benefits of friendship. But we all know this already. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a deluge of content about why you need close human connection to live a healthy life.️ | | Actually achieving that goal of closeness can be easier said than done, especially if you live far away from your loved ones.️️ | | For me, the following habits have been a framework for keeping in touch in a meaningful way.️️ | | Check in regularly. One of the unique things about our group is how often we leave each other videos. This obviously wouldn't work for every friend group. But for us, knowing exactly what is going on in each other's lives at all times helps maintain a feeling of closeness.️️ | | Go deep. Vulnerability can be a powerful tool for creating and maintaining connections. And that has definitely been the case for us. Over the years, we've grown comfortable expressing the full spectrum of emotions in our videos. Tears, laughter, frustration — it's all welcome in our thread.️️ | | Listen and ask questions. Someone once told me that staying curious about your partner is one of the keys to a happy marriage. I tend to believe this applies to friendships as well. We're constantly asking one another questions, and putting in effort to actively listen to the responses.️️ | | Invest the time. I'm sure many people would find it downright silly just how much time we've spent listening and responding to one another's videos over these 4 years, but we've all received something invaluable in return: a sustained and mutual love for one another that has no signs of petering out.️️ | | | | | | | |
| | | | I'm not crying, you're crying! | | | | | | |  | | Esther Perel Where Should We Begin? Game of Stories | | This deck of cards was created by renowned psychotherapist Esther Perel, who's become famous for her views on relationships. The questions are meant to go beyond drab small talk and get you to really open up — so be careful who you invite to play this game with you! | | | Every product we recommend has gone through either Healthline's or Optum Store's vetting processes. If you buy through links on this page, we may receive a small commission or other tangible benefit. Healthline has sole editorial control over this newsletter. Potential uses for the products listed here are not health claims made by the manufacturers. Healthline and Optum Store are owned by RVO Health. | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | *It can not be combined with your health insurance. Healthline and Optum Perks are owned by RVO Health. By using this Optum Perks service, we may receive a tangible benefit. | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | Thank you, as always, for reading this newsletter! I hope today's edition inspires you to say hi to someone you haven't seen or heard from in a while. Have a wonderful weekend! | | | | | | |
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