Connecting with Family You Don’t Often See

Written by Seth Meyers, Psy.D.

With some extended families, they live near each other and see each other frequently. Other extended families, however, find themselves spread across a state or even country, and they see each other with far less regularity. When families live far from each other, it’s easy for people to get caught up in the demands and details of their individual lives and to tell themselves they don’t have time to go out of their way to see them.

This past weekend when I traveled across the country to an event for one of my sisters, I was reminded about the value of seeing family members I don’t often get to see due to geography. What’s important psychologically is that social psychologists confirm what we also know instinctively to be true: connection matters and also energizes us!

In your own life, think about family members that you have whom you don’t get to see as often as you’d like because of distance. When is the next time you have planned to see them? And if you don’t have a plan already set, would a phone call out of the blue simply to say hello make the two of you feel more connected? Although many got accustomed to meeting with family over Zoom during the pandemic, many of those same individuals abandoned that same communication method later. Don’t forget that you can still ask a family member who doesn’t live near you to Zoom with you to catch up. What’s more – and especially if it’s an older person of a different generation – have you ever thought about dropping a note or letter in the mail to let them know you’re thinking of them?