Reconnecting after the pandemic is really important for couples. A recent article discusses how to do this. Not that difficult. Here are a few excerpts:

• She began inviting people into her home again this fall. “I was sick of being alone,” she says. Ms. McCue is more purposeful about her invites than she was before the pandemic, though. She’s made a list of people she wants to see and is reaching out, saying: “I miss you and need to see you. Could you give me a specific date and time that you are open and can come over?” Her gatherings are also smaller and more intimate. Sometimes she plans activities, such as pumpkin carving for Halloween or a game night. And she keeps the food casual: “drinks and nibbles” or pizza and wine. “Home is the perfect place to connect,” says Ms. McCue. “You get to feel like you’re all family for one night.”

• Pick up the phone. This one hits on one of my biggest pet peeves—how no one picks up the phone anymore, either to make a call or answer one. Bill Kalmar does, though. For years, he’s made a concerted effort to call family members, friends and cherished colleagues on their birthdays, anniversaries and other significant days. To remember the dates, he records them each year in his new leather calendar as soon as it arrives in October, then checks the calendar each week to see what calls he needs to make.

• New experiences help prevent boredom and complacency. They also activate the brain’s reward system, flooding it with powerful neurochemicals related to pleasure and bonding—the same circuits triggered when we fall in love.

“Creating a Postpandemic Life Full of Connection (Wall Street Journal 12.29.22)