I haven’t posted in a while cause I’ve been going through a phase of losing interest in most of the things that used to excite me (watching movies, writing stories and poems, etc.). Thankfully, after a few months of soul-searching, I’m finally starting to get into a new rhythm that I’m happy with, so I figured I might as well share here what I’ve learned along the way, cause it can really be boiled down to just three steps in particular…
So, without further ado, let’s get right to it:
1.Do Nothing
Yes, as counter-intuitive as it sounds, I’ve learned now that, sometimes, you just have to do absolutely nothing. Clear your mind as much as possible. When you’re burned out on everything, you need to take a break from the world, before you can figure out how to step back into it…
2.Find “Inputs” to Take In
Once you’ve spent enough time doing absolutely nothing, the next step is to find content to absorb that makes you feel inspired. This part might require a bit of thinking outside the box, though, as well as a bit of trial-and-error (don’t be afraid to go back to doing nothing now and then if you have to). Part of my burnout involved the fact that I was creating so much stuff, but not taking in anything to keep “fueling the fire.” But as I said before, the stuff that used to interest me no longer did. That said, I had two different friends, who don’t even know each other, tell me the same thing: “Sounds like you have a lot of great outputs with your writing and stuff, but no inputs.” Eventually, after enough brainstorming, I had an epiphany: I loved journaling, but was only jotting down my own internal thoughts, instead of journaling about things around me. I then thought about the fact that my dad also likes to journal, and that he often writes down quotes he finds that peak his interest, in some form or another. So I started doing the same, and also started writing down lyrics to songs I like, as well as googling poems that fit a certain topic, and writing down the ones that spoke to me the most. Heck, I even started watching cooking videos, and writing down the recipes as the video would play. Just simply passing the time with these “copying” activities started to feel rewarding to me…
3.Find a New Purpose, but Take Your Time with It
While taking in inputs has been nice (and is probably enough for some people), something still felt missing for me. This part is a little more personal, but something I’ve always struggled with is assuming the worst possible things are always gonna happen in my life (my brain is always in “Murphy’s Law mode,” if that makes sense). Creating content used to always help keep that part of me at bay, but losing interest in all the stuff I used to do brought back a lot of that anxiety. I eventually realized that, in order to overcome all those anxious thoughts again, I would need to get back to creating consistent content, in some shape or form. I had always told myself that I would write an autobiography about my own life someday, and had tried again and again to do it, only to give up pretty early on, every single time. Recently, I decided to try again. Only this time, instead of writing my first draft by hand like I usually do, I decided to just go straight to typing, and doing so has been helping a lot, thankfully. I imagine I’ll be working on this project slowly for years, if not decades. I’m betting I’ll wait until I’m an old man to release it. In fact, I may never release it at all. But that’s not the point. Rather, the point is that I finally feel like I have a new purpose. A new “foundation,” so to speak, that’s keeping my anxiety at bay again. I recommend everyone find a similar function in life, so that they can be at peace, regardless of whatever their life circumstances may be…
Welp, that’s pretty much it! As always, I hope at least something here speaks to someone…
Peace!
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