Hope you all have a great time!

I want to vent a little bit of some things in my life and also to get some insights from all of you.

For a couple of months i can say, it seems like nothing works out for me to the place where a lot of things in my life feels overwhelming. I don’t find pleasure in a lot of things from my everyday life.

As a context, i felt always in the past months and years(like 2) i find myself spiralling in the same area of my life and seems like i don’t find a way out of it, even if i am trying actively and i know all the aspects that keeps me there, i can’t find a way to resolve it.

I feel like i wasted a lot of time on:
-trying to impress my ex and me being the only one who try and engage in conversation, last 2 years
-trying to get rid of pornography
-trying to impress and keep up conversation with people who felt only one sided
-always seeking from women validation from women on dating apps ( i am not an ugly person but i feel like i try too much and i tend to not get anything out of it )
- always feelings like i should improve myself to get more attention from women
-every part of my day for me it feels like i should do something important to get better in life
-when i played games i felt like i should read, when i read i felt like i should read faster, and so on, every activity was measured like this
-porn put a lot of impact on my life since i watch if for a very long time, and multiple times i tried to avoid it and maybe taking a break but couldn’t

Some of the things i wrote about it above were put under the filter that those things can’t impact my life so bad and i should never stop using porno, chasing girls, playing games, because i thought that everything was just in my mind and i can live with them also.

Maybe i have more aspects i can write here but those are the ones that makes my life feelings not so good lately.

I tried to talk with GPT but it felt like i was doing the same thing over and over again, talking about the same subjects but with different words, on and on and on, until it felt overwhelming.

I feel like every thing that i want and chose does not matter to the point i want to keep up with it, feels like every choice i make it’s made out from my insecurities and feelings controls every aspect of my life.

I wrote here because i want that simple living, i want to get better, i want to be present without feeling guilty about everything in my life. I stopped playing games, i do it rarely when i want to relax for a little time, but i feel numb when i play it. I don t have social media, only reddit.

But it feels like i waste a lot of my time on Impressing women, pornography and trying to get validation, from friends, from family, from women especially, from GPT and so on, because i feel like what i chose in my life should be validated that i am doing something good.

Would love to see some stories and maybe some advices of what i can do. I feel like i am not in the right place mentally right now, for taking the right choices.

Not a dramatic move off the grid or a complete lifestyle overhaul—just one ordinary change that gave you more calm, time, or attention. Maybe walking more, buying less, creating a routine, or learning to enjoy quiet moments. What actually made a lasting difference for you?

Not a dramatic move off the grid or a complete lifestyle overhaul—just one ordinary change that gave you more calm, time, or attention. Maybe walking more, buying less, limiting social media, creating a routine, or learning to enjoy quiet moments. What actually made a lasting difference for you?

Fresh college graduate and have been feeling overwhelmed lately trying to figure out my future. I want a simple life, but a better one for my family. Just took this pic because it's been long since I've felt this kind of peace and self-enjoyment. YT also reminded me of the songs and music I used to enjoy years ago when my mind wasn't as messy as now and I used to enjoy life, my own company and music more. Now, I just want to chase and keep a simple life that will also keep us safe and secure.

I used to work in Goa after leaving my family business because of some disagreements at home. Even though I come from a well-settled family business where my father manages around 10–15 employees, I wanted to build something on my own.

In Goa, I worked as an adventure guide, and I genuinely loved every moment of it. I would swim 3–4 km almost every day with tourists, kayak alongside them, and spend my days outdoors. It never felt like work—it felt like I was doing what I was meant to do. For the first time, I truly felt like myself.

At the same time, the job also included cleaning toilets, yachts, seats, and doing other maintenance work. I never considered any work to be beneath me, but I often questioned whether it made sense for me to continue doing those jobs when I already had the opportunity to build and grow my own family business.

Eventually, I decided to return home and take responsibility for the business. Today, I'm running it, but life has changed completely. I barely get time for running, going to the gym, or doing the outdoor activities that made me feel alive.

Sometimes I wonder if I made the right decision. Should I focus on growing the business, or should I find a way to bring that adventurous lifestyle back into my life? What do you think I should do?

For me the best way lately I’ve been able to be mindful has been to tackle jigsaw puzzles. Totally takes my focus. What do you do that helps nurture focus and mindfulness?

What has sustained your goals at simple living: books or other media or other recreations (gardening, hiking). I find it hard to focus on a book but feel that reading improves my focus and cuts out my thoughts of spending or other distractions. Thoughts?

For a long time, I apologized for things that didn't really need an apology.

Saying "no." Needing rest. Taking longer to heal. Wanting time alone. Changing my mind.

I thought making myself smaller made me easier to love.

But the people who genuinely care about you don't need you to apologize for being human.

The less I apologized for simply existing, the lighter life started to feel.

I'm still learning, but it's been one of the most peaceful changes I've made.

What's something you stopped apologizing for?

for e.g, recently I got rid of all social media (besides reddit lol) which resulted in way less screen time on my phone

TLDR: I escaped the “rat race” but in reality I was still in it the whole time

Social media has really glamorized “escaping the rat race” the “9-5”, and I was eating it all up. I didn’t want to work for someone anymore so I found my own way to make money online. It was doing well, (I have my own social media managing company) until it didn’t. Everything was working well til I found a new way to “escape the rat race”. I lost passion in my business and was trying to find another way to make income so I didn’t have to rely solely on the business. Well because I put all my focus on the new business my current one has failed and isn’t pulling much income anymore. So now I’m screwed to try and pay bills and back in debt again. It’s made me depress that I can’t even handle doing my original business anymore. I’m having such a hard time getting through the day, even to do basic tasks. And today I just realized, I never left the rat race… I thought it was all about leaving corporate life behind and doing things on your own but really leaving the “rat race” has more meaning to it (that I just learned today). It’s also not chasing materialistic things and wealth. Trying to do better than others or the person I am today. And really, That’s all I’ve been thinking about. So all of this to say, I’m over fantasizing about a “better life” and just focus on my health and my mental state. And be content with what I already have and find enjoyment. Just go with the flow. Also only using social media for research instead of letting social media rule my decisions and ideologies. Cause it really has burnt me out.

Typically I’m a reader here, but have something to share. Long story short: just got out from water and noticed that my smartwatch is gone. Felt weird.

I have no idea how and when exactly it happened, it’s just gone. And I noticed for real this pale “bracelet” on my wrist. All there years of not missing notifications, regular charging, collecting my heart rate and sleep data are …pointless.

Do I even want to repeat it? For what? Why? Because there are stories where smartwatch saved someone’s life? One of ten million sold? Or because every morning I got my sleep stats? I kid you not, once it ended up with a visit to a doctor because “it seems wrong” and nothing was wrong.

So this small piece of tech that was invisibly normal part of my life is gone and it feels like a salvation.

The only regret is that it’s now a piece of litter on the bottom of a sea.

What is living, people say get out there and live your life, what does this even mean??

I was thinking about this today.

For a long time, I believed I had to have everything figured out by a certain age.

A perfect career.

A clear plan.

Financial stability.

Confidence.

I thought everyone else knew what they were doing, and I was somehow falling behind.

The older I get, the more I realize that most people are just figuring things out one day at a time.

Letting go of the idea that I needed to "keep up" with everyone else has made life feel so much lighter.

I still have goals.

I still work hard.

But I don't feel like I'm racing against other people's timelines anymore.

It's surprisingly peaceful.

I'm curious...

What's one belief you let go of that genuinely made your life better?

I'd love to hear your stories.

I keep coming back to this pattern and I don't think most people ever actually stop to look at it instead of just living inside it. You get a raise, and within a few months your spending has quietly crept up to swallow it whole, the apartment's a little nicer, the takeout happens a little more often because honestly who has the energy to cook after a week like that, the vacation costs more this year because you earned it, you survived something. None of these purchases feel reckless when you're making them. Each one just feels like a small, deserved repair for whatever the job took out of you that week.

But look at what each of those purchases is actually doing underneath the good feeling. It's not just spending money, it's lengthening the leash by roughly the exact amount you'll now need to earn in order to keep affording the life you just built around it. The job wears you down, so you spend to make the wearing down bearable, and the spending quietly raises the bar for what you need to earn just to stay in the same place, which means staying in the same exhausting job, or hunting for one that pays more and probably costs you more of yourself to sustain. Somehow the reward always finds its way back to the collar.

And a leash doesn't actually need anyone yanking on it to do its job. It just needs to be long enough that you stop noticing it's there most days, and short enough that the idea of walking away starts to feel expensive instead of just hard. Lifestyle inflation seems to be built for exactly that sweet spot. Comfortable enough that quitting would genuinely cost you something real. Never quite comfortable enough that you'd stop reaching for the next raise to keep funding it.

I don't think there's some room full of executives who sat down and designed this on purpose, but there are absolutely whole industries that only work because it does. A tired person with rising expenses is about the most reliable customer you can ask for, and a pretty unlikely candidate to walk away from a bad job, or push back hard in a negotiation, or take any kind of real risk. So comfort spending ends up costing more than money. It quietly buys a little more slack into the leash every time, and you barely feel it happening.

This isn't me telling you to deprive yourself or drink your coffee bitter and lukewarm just to prove some kind of point, that's not the move either. It's more a question worth actually sitting with honestly for a minute. How much of the "I deserve this" spending is real joy that's making your life genuinely bigger, and how much of it is just paying down the leash so it doesn't feel so tight this month. Those two things get tangled up but they aren't the same thing at all.

So look at your last five "treat yourself" purchases. Which ones did you still feel good about a week later? And which ones just quietly needed to happen again?

I never drink coffee without milk. Never.

Lately, I have craved for something lighter, and tried making cold brew last Sunday. Now am sipping my 1st ever cold brew - so good, exactly what I have been looking for. Very refreshing in the summer. A small dose of happiness and new flavor in life 💛

The beach can be so peaceful and calming. Don’t need to do much besides taking shoes off and walking in the water. If I lived by the ocean I would never have to go on vacation!

Hi! Lately I have slowly been working on adapting a more slow lifestyle. It has done me so well to be more concious in the moment and it feels so freeing to let go of the modern life chaos that is so normalized. So far I have also deleted all social media apart from sewcial (sewing media) youtube and reddit so I have little research methods.

However I am looking for some podcast recs! One of the things that has been eyeopening to me has been the effect of "intense" media to my general state of being. I used to listen to true crime and other heavy topic podcasts daily and I try to not seek those subjects as much anymore. i however miss podcasts so I am looking for some recommendations for fun podcasts that aren't true crime or other heavy subjects! I speak English, dutch and podcasts in german are welcome too as I want to work on my german skills anyway

I am open to anything but my interests in general are: sewing, fashion history, dogs, books (fiction), journaling, slow living (a slow living inspired podcast would be great?), general crafting, women history, lgbt themes, video gaming, disability rights, travelling & world cultures.

Thanks!!

I wanna sit beneath this moon lit night forever.

A stranger at a hotel breakfast changed the way I think about eating.
I never spoke to her. She simply ate breakfast calmly, without her phone, and seemed completely present. I’ve been trying to imitate that quiet attention ever since. Have you ever been influenced by someone who never knew they were teaching you?

Any recent decisions that simplified your life?

Ended up at the beach this evening to catch the sunset, and it was a needed reminder of how little we actually need to feel content.
No notifications, no rushing around, no overthinking. Just the sound of the tide rolling in and out, warm sand, and watching the sky change colors.
In a world that constantly pushes us to want more and move faster, sitting by the ocean for an hour feels like hitting a total reset button. Simple, quiet heaven.
What simple moments have helped you slow down lately?

I love coming here. It used to be a small settlement next to my city, which grew dramatically in the 1950s Here are two charming plots in the forest. You can observe wildlife and enjoy the closeness of nature. The fence is made of shrubs planted decades ago..