We spend so much of life trying to be other people’s idea of who we should be. We bend ourselves into shapes that fit expectation, comparison, judgment. Yet the deeper truth is that freedom comes not from meeting those demands, but from finally stepping fully into the shape of ourselves. This is the praise we rarely give: not to success, not to appearances, but to the quiet, unrepeatable miracle of being who we already are. The Discovery of Difference A decade ago, I stumbled into an unexpected revelation: I have aphantasia. I cannot visualize with my mind’s eye. When guided

I was not contemplating writing a post on the meaning of life, but repeated recent interactions and the depressing take of a few dystopian post-scarcity novels compelled me to articulate my thoughts. Nihilism I have been receiving messages like the following: “I’ve been reading your blog for a while, and I love that you have original ideas instead of recycling mainstream, “normie” talk. I wanted to ask: what keeps you motivated to do everything that you do? Do you believe in a universal meaning or purpose to life? How do you overcome nihilism and stay optimistic about the future of