The stranger within

We spend our days surrounded by people, conversations, deadlines, and dreams — yet quietly, many of us carry an ache we can’t explain.

It’s not the loneliness of missing others.

It’s the loneliness of missing ourselves.

We live every moment in our own company, but how often do we actually meet the person within? We know our habits, our roles, our playlists — but that’s surface-level.

Knowing yourself is sitting with your mind when it’s messy, noticing your feelings without rushing to fix them, laughing at your awkwardness, holding space for your doubts.

Uncomfortable? Definitely.

But here’s the quiet truth: the more we avoid ourselves, the emptier we feel.

We fill the silence with people, work, or scrolling, not realizing the emptiness isn’t out there — it’s the distance we’ve built inside.

And the more we run, the more that stranger within waits, arms crossed, probably rolling their eyes at us.

But they’re not here to scold you.

They hold your forgotten dreams, your disappointments, your resilience, your softness — the parts you buried under “I’ll deal with that later.”

Rebuilding that connection doesn’t take a grand life reset.

It starts small: noticing when you’re hard on yourself, sitting quietly for five minutes without a screen, being curious about your own mind instead of critical.

It’s saying, “Hey, I’m here. I see you.”

And as you do, something softens.

You stop expecting the world to complete you.

You carry yourself with a little more lightness, a little more kindness.

And you realize: no matter what changes, no matter who comes or goes,

you have you.

And honestly? That’s a relationship worth showing up for.

So, when was the last time you sat quietly with yourself without trying to fix or escape anything ?