There was a period this year, about six months where I genuinely did not respond to people. Not selectively. Not strategically. I just… stopped.
No explanation. No “I need space” text. I was simply unavailable and I didn’t feel the need to justify it to anyone.
What’s interesting is nobody in my circle knew what to do with that. Some got offended. Some assumed something was wrong with me. A few stopped reaching out altogether. And my honest reaction to all of it was nothing.
That indifference told me everything.
I was in my room. Working. Eating when I needed to. Sleeping when I had to. The days were almost identical and I found that genuinely satisfying in a way that no amount of socializing had ever matched. There was no performance happening. Nobody to read the room for. I was just working.
A lot of men are the opposite. They need the room, the reaction, the attention to even feel like they’re in motion.
Six months alone told me I wasn’t that. The work continued whether anyone knew about it or not.
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