Allow yourself to be empty

We live in a highly stimulating world. We have countless tools to distract ourselves every second of the day, and we rarely allow ourselves to be bored.

We scroll through social media, listen to the news, watch YouTube videos, and even engage in activities we consider productive, such as completing a lesson on Duolingo or chatting with a friend on WhatsApp. We constantly consume information at a volume our brains were never designed to process.

At the same time, we avoid moments of boredom and emptiness—the very moments that allow our minds to process that information and turn it into something meaningful and creative.

Most creators, intellectuals, and artists produce their best work after periods of boredom. These are the moments when the brain digests what it has absorbed from the outside world and connects it to our emotions, identity, experiences, and perspectives. It is during these quiet periods that the mind reflects, explores, and simply thinks.

We live in a world where opportunities to do nothing and think have become increasingly rare. In many ways, we are like walking computers. Yet we spend so much time receiving input that we never give ourselves enough time to process it. As a result, we struggle to create. We fail to produce meaningful output because we are overwhelmed by constant stimulation.

Allow yourself to be bored.

Allow yourself to sit in silence.

Allow yourself to be empty for a while.

These moments are not wasted time. They are often the rare occasions when you get to meet your true self, reflect on who you are, and discover what you really think.