What I miss the most

There are very few feelings that come close to Nostalgia.

I fondly remember the times when my only concern in life was which Pokémon I wanted to have on my team to battle against the Elite Four.

Those were simpler times. A lot has certainly changed since then.

I’ve grown, I’ve worked a lot on myself and I live a life I’m truly grateful for.

But lately, I’ve realized there’s very few things in my life that I do just because.

Just because I’m curious. Just because I want to.

Somewhere along the way I’ve over-optimized my life to the point where everything has to tie into work, content, personal development or productivity.

Even reading, which is something I really enjoy, has become another vehicle for ROI. I pretty much only read books about business or self-development nowadays.

Back in university, I used to build circuits for fun. I built my own 8-bit computer from scratch using off the shelf components following a video series I found on YouTube (Series is called 8-Bit Computer by Ben Eater if you’re interested).

This had zero practical use besides satisfying my curiosity.

It was purely for me to explore and learn with no goal in mind whatsoever.

And I miss that.

I miss exploring my curiosity without feeling guilty that I’m wasting time or not being productive.

Which is pretty ironic, considering that I talk about freedom all the time.

I’ve come to realize that freedom also includes the ability to exercise my curiosity, even if it doesn’t make me money, build my brand or move my life forward.

I’ve decided to start pushing back on this and start deliberately blocking out time to just experiment with no agenda.

To reclaim that feeling of fulfillment I lost along the way.

What about you? What’s one thing you used to love doing just because… that you haven’t touched in years?