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ex relationships

When Your Ex Asks How You Are, What Are They Really Asking?

August 30, 2026 by Absence
Woman looking at a smartphone after receiving a message from an ex, illustrating how to respond when your ex asks how you are.

A simple “How are you?” from an ex can carry far more emotional weight than the words themselves. The real question is often not what they mean, but what you want to happen next.

Categories Relationship Research, Breakups & Recovery, Longing Tags boundaries, breakup, breakup recovery, ex contact, ex relationships, relationships

The Draft You Keep Rewriting

June 2, 2026 by Absence

Sometimes the hardest message is the one you never send. A reflection on breakup silence, unsent texts, and the words that remain after someone leaves.

Categories Relationship Research Tags absence, breakup grief, emotional processing, ex relationships, heartbreak, letting go, longing, love and loss, memory, missing someone, moving on, silence, unsent letters, unsent messages

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