I’ve been in this weird headspace lately where life is just… strange. On the surface, everything is fine. I go to work, eat relatively healthy, try to stay on top of errands, keep things running — the usual. But underneath it all, there’s this constant feeling of dull pressure, like I’m being stretched thin by things that don’t really matter. It’s like I’m always busy, but rarely present.

Every day feels packed, but nothing sticks. I go through the motions, check off tasks, scroll a bit, eat, sleep, repeat. I end the day drained, like I ran a marathon in my head — but can’t really remember anything meaningful that happened. It’s not burnout in the dramatic sense, just this low-grade hum of tiredness and disconnection that never really turns off.

Socially, things have gotten quieter too. I barely see my friends anymore. Most of them are still into drinking and going out — stuff that used to feel exciting but now just feels… loud and repetitive. There was no big falling out. Just different rhythms now. Slower ones. And sometimes I sit with that and wonder if it’s just part of growing up, or if something deeper got lost along the way.

And then my brain starts spinning, usually late at night, when everything’s quiet. I start thinking about the future — and it honestly kind of scares me. Not in a dramatic, apocalyptic way, but in that creeping “things-are-moving-too-fast” way. AI is suddenly everywhere. Wars are happening in the background of our everyday lives. Economies feel fragile. Everything seems more unstable than it used to be, like we’re just pretending things are normal while the ground shifts under us.

And weirdly, my mind keeps drifting back to 2006. I don’t even know why exactly — maybe because it felt slower. Simpler. The internet was just fun and weird, not all-consuming. There were fewer screens, fewer existential threats in the news feed. Boredom existed, but it didn’t feel dangerous — it felt open. It felt like space to breathe. Now everything feels compressed, even rest.

I don’t think I’m depressed. I’m not miserable. But I feel… detached. Like I’m watching my life from the outside, waiting for it to feel like mine again. There’s this quiet emptiness running underneath everything, like background static. Not loud enough to break me, just enough to make everything feel slightly out of tune.

Anyone else feel like this? Have you figured out how to shake it — or at least live with it in a way that makes sense?

  • OmegaMouse@pawb.socialEnglish
    5·
    1 day ago

    I can definitely relate to some of the points you’ve made here. Regarding things feeling the same day-in-day-out, I get this feeling when I fall into a rut. Like get home from work, play the same game I’ve been playing for a few weeks, watch the next episode of a show I’ve been watching, tidy up etc. When I notice this happening, I realise it’s time to shake things up a bit; go for a walk, draw something, alter my schedule and try a new game. Variety is the spice of life and all that.

    I think it’s pretty normal to move on from old friends after a while - life kinda just gets in the way and you get out of rhythm with them as you say. Maybe you need to find a new community to involve yourself with, one that reflects your current social needs. I might get downvoted for this, but on a personal level I’m quite glad I found the furry community after I moved away from my hometown. There’s a lot of hate online for the group, but at the end of the day it’s filled with cool nerdy people who don’t take life too seriously, and this feels especially valuable at a time when we’re bombarded with depressing news of politics and war. Obviously you don’t have to join this group in particular, but having any kind of community around you I think is really useful.

    And like someone else has said, try to step away from social media if you use it at all. The algorithms usually steer towards negative, controversial topics that gather the most clicks. It’s not a healthy thing to consume.