It is unusual to cope with emotional strain by enfolding yourself in solitude. Solitude is far from a typical insulator. Rather, humans are expected to behave as social animals and interact with each other to keep our communication skills intact. Talking is a highly marketable skill, leadership quality, and compelling characteristic that sends friends your way. Even the videos we scroll through on social media involve other people and their life highlights. We cannot stand being in the dark or doing life the wrong way. We cannot stand newness, go to extreme lengths so change is avoided.
In early January, I thought I would write a blog post about nothing and send it into the Internet for no purpose whatsoever. After two minutes of reflection, I have decided that spending time in my own company has characterized my 2025 experiences so far. Uncomfortable encounters, hours spent debating whether I am using my time for something productive enough, and staring at blinking cursors: I have grown so much in twenty-nine days. Almost a full month. In a strange way, I’ve never been more inspired to create or branch out or experiment with a routine that provides me with ample stability.

Inspiration strikes, for me, on the weekends I spend at home. I am surrounded by a haphazard room that presents an almost familiar sentimentality. Instead of writing or studying for a math test, you might find me staring at a chip on the wall just above my computer. Somewhere inside my brain, a demon will be whispering: word choice matters! And yet, the words I choose are never quite right for the occasion. I admit that concise word choice does not feature in my writing (yet), but I am learning how imperfect drafts are just as beneficial for emerging creatives. After all, what is creativity but exploratory expression? And how can we find new outlets for thought and expression without spending time in our own company or engaging with our world in new ways?
So often, we begin a year searching for the stability that evaded us before. So often, I find myself forgetting that goals are not reserved for moments when we feel secure. Whoever said we all have the same 24-hours in a day would not be someone I’d spend my time with.
Still. Humans are meant to probe their curiosity, to be both silent and over the top. If you want inspiration, it requires flexibility before considering word choice. Propose new adventures for yourself. Lock yourself in a room and finish a project that scares you because we spend time rationing how much we use like it’s a maxed-out credit card.
Here’s an example ‘adventure of the day’: listen to your new recs on Spotify. You might find something interesting or disturbing about an AI’s algorithm to debunk your eclectic music taste. Shaking up your routine can start small, and flexibility is a seed that should develop strong roots before taking on a sunlight-showered world. If you forget who you are, so will everybody else.

Resources and Further Exploration
Here are some interesting articles and podcast episodes I’ve listened to recently, in case any pique your interest. If you’ve made it this far through my atom-sized pocket of Internet ramble-space, these are some congratulatory virtual bouquets:
Creativity Portal- https://www.creativity-portal.com/ (an alternative to Pinterest)
Hidden Brain (an older but still relevant podcast episode: https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/you-but-better/)
Letters to a Young Poet & Secret History are two books that have shaken me up this year on my journey to read 50 books
The podcast Neuro Transmissions or the Hubermann Labs
There was a particular video documentary about consumer culture, media or doomscrolling, but I forgot to save the video and somehow it’s not in my history, but take this as a sign to watch something intriguing on YT as well!
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