A deep dive into the overlooked factors causing loneliness — and what they can teach us about human connections — I’m so stupid. It’s all my fault. How could I let this happen to me? My thoughts spun like a carousel as I walked along an empty beach, somewhere in the North of Portugal. Waves crashed into the shore like relentless soldiers storming sandcastles. Hungry seagulls screamed into the salty…

Five hard-learned lessons for more intentionality and fewer distractions from ‘Digital Minimalism’ by Cal Newport. — “I finally finished it!” my brother told me on a train headed to the north of Germany. By “it,” I could tell, he meant Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. Not just because I had recommended the book to him a few months prior, but also because there was a smugness…

Purpose doesn’t come from reflection but from immersion. — I’m prone to slipping into existential crises. Sometimes, they have a specific cause. For instance, when I overly draw meaning from one thing (a relationship, work project, or hobby), and then, suddenly, that thing ceases to exist. But other times, the existential crisis comes out of nowhere — while loading…

An evidence-based guideline to evaluate your (hidden) feelings of loneliness — In the summer of 2017, I got lonely without knowing it. I remember feeling uneasy at the time. Anxious, restless, constantly craving distractions. But loneliness? I didn’t even consider it. A few weeks earlier, I had moved away from home and into a one-bedroom apartment. It was my first time…

Three rules for taming impulsive buying that are better than “delay the purchase.” — Of all the advice minimalism sprinkles into the world, I’ve always found one area particularly unsatisfying and one-dimensional: impulse purchases. Conventional tips include: Delay the purchase. Stick to your budget. Shop with a plan. And sure, these things might pamper ascetics or seasoned minimalists, but they never worked for me…

On the quiet strength of confident shyness. — When I go to a party, I avoid standing in the middle of the room. When I sit at a table with more than five people, I hate being the only person talking. When I meet new people, the vast possibilities of greeting them intimidate me: Should I give them…

We all experience loneliness but still feel ashamed to admit it. Why is that, and what can we do about it? — “I don’t believe the cure for loneliness is meeting someone, not necessarily. I think it’s about two things: learning how to befriend yourself and understanding that many of the things that seem to afflict us as individuals are in fact a result of larger forces of stigma and exclusion which…

5 curated lessons on dopamine, pain, and pleasure from Dopamine Nation by Dr. Anna Lembke. — When I was stuck in a deep rut and YouTube rabbit hole a few months ago, I randomly came across an interview with Dr. Anna Lembke — a psychiatrist, author, and addiction specialist. Unexpectedly, I heard her say something that pierced through my apathetic slumber: “We’ve reached a tipping point…

Sometimes, real growth means giving up on growth. — This year, I had two exam periods that couldn’t have been more different. During the first one, I was highly committed. I had to confront five exams in four days — which included studying the most difficult philosophical text I’d ever read, the entire history of Romance languages, and the…