Quiet Clarity is a 2x/week newsletter and podcast for people who want to build a life of presence, depth, and deliberate intention.
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The worst moments of my life weren't the breakdowns.
They were the ones where nothing broke at all.
Just this dull, weightless fog, where every day felt the same… and I didn't even notice.
Wake up. Scroll. Work you don't care about. More scrolling. Surface-level talk. Sleep. Repeat.
Or maybe: Party. Impress people. Feel empty. Do it again.
The "highs" weren't even real highs. They were just escapes.
What if the things giving you the most pleasure are actually leaving you the most drained?
Where It Showed Up in My Life
I lived this loop for years without knowing there was another way.
Constantly seeking the next hit. Next party, next validation, next temporary high.
And when I didn't get it? I felt even worse. But I kept doing it.
Then I did something drastic. I went full monk-mode.
Stopped going to parties. Cut back on my phone. Even got a buzz cut (because obviously, clarity requires sacrificing your dignity).
And that's when the void hit. This strange emptiness where all my distractions used to be.
What happens when you stop running from yourself and there's nowhere left to hide?
What the Wisdom Reveals
This reminds me of what Rumi wrote: "Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray."
But here's the thing - you can't feel that pull when you're constantly chasing highs.
The mystics understood something we've forgotten: emptiness isn't punishment. It's preparation.
Like a cup that must be emptied before it can be filled with something real.
Every tradition has a name for it. The dark night of the soul. The desert. The void.
It's that uncomfortable space between who you were and who you're becoming.
Where your old pleasures no longer satisfy, but your new purpose hasn't revealed itself yet.
Rumi spent years in this space after his teacher Shams disappeared.
He stopped teaching. Stopped his old routines. Just sat in the emptiness.
And from that void came his greatest poetry. His deepest wisdom.
Because in the silence, he could finally hear what his soul actually wanted.
Not what his ego craved. Not what others expected. But what truly called to him.
How I'm Trying to Live Now
Am I brave enough to sit in the void until something real emerges?
Through months of emptiness, I started noticing the difference between what lights me up and what just gets me high.
Light: Writing even if no one reads it. High: Checking likes obsessively.
Light: Lifting for how it feels. High: Flexing for validation.
Light: Real conversations. High: Performing for approval.
The void isn't comfortable, but it's where you discover what actually matters to you.
Here's what I've learned: You have to let yourself be bored.
Stop filling every moment with distraction.
Stop chasing every high.
And in that space, notice what naturally calls to you. What would you do if no one was watching? If there were no likes, no recognition, no applause?
That's your real life trying to emerge.
The void doesn't last forever. But you have to sit in it long enough for the truth to surface.
Because on the other side? You'll find something better than any high you were chasing.
You'll find what you were actually looking for all along.
