Are We Really OK? The Missing Piece in Self-Care Culture

We post our walks. We share pictures of our cake. We pause for a mindful minute and capture it with the perfect caption. And I get it, I do it too.

Because self-care matters. Deeply. But somewhere along the line, it feels like we’ve been told to look inwards so much, we’ve forgotten how to look outwards.

Here’s the truth no one likes to say: Self-care without connection can start to feel... hollow.

We cheer each other on in comments, like each other’s highlights, and scroll past a hundred versions of “I’m taking time for me. ”And yet, when was the last time someone picked up the phone and asked you how you really are? When was the last time you did it for someone else?

This isn’t about guilt or finger-pointing, it’s an invitation. An invitation to remember that we are wired for connection. That sometimes, the most powerful form of care is not another bath or meditation track, it’s checking in on someone who hasn’t posted in a while. It’s noticing when someone seems a bit quiet. It’s saying, “I saw your post… but how are you really?”

So maybe today, instead of another self-care checklist, we try a connection checklist.

• Who haven’t you heard from in a while?

• Who popped into your mind recently?

• Who might be scrolling, smiling… and silently struggling?

• Reach out.

Not because you have to fix them. Not because you need to be their solution. But because being seen, truly seen, is one of the most healing gifts we can offer each other.

Self-care is essential. But care-for-each-other? That’s where the magic really lives.

• Let’s bring back the phone call.

• The doorstep hello.

• The “I’m just checking in because I care.”

This week, let’s not just be well. Let’s be there, for ourselves, and for each other.

It’s one of the most healing things we can do, for them, and for us.

Lisa Jo