Stream of Consciousness
Notes from the Mind Palace
I’m not the kind of person you understand in one sitting. Most people meet me and think they’ve got me entirely figured out within the first five minutes. They see someone loud, expressive, fast-moving, a little chaotic, and a little sharp around the edges. They look at the alternative clothes, hear the heavy music, and assume that the outer shell is the whole story. They don’t realize that’s just the surface tension. It’s the glare on top of dark water. The real story runs underneath, miles below the noise, quieter, stranger, and far more deliberate than anyone outside ever gives me credit for. If you only look at the velocity on the outside, you miss the gravity on the inside.
By Syl De'Vil6 days ago in Humans
What Causes a Man’s Midlife Crisis?
There’s a popular image of a man going through a midlife crisis: he suddenly buys a sports car, changes his wardrobe, starts going out more, or decides he needs a dramatic new career. While these stereotypes can be amusing, a midlife crisis is often about something much deeper. For many men, it can be a period of questioning their identity, relationships, achievements, and the direction their life is taking.
By AnthonyBTV9 days ago in Humans
Memory of Limerence
I used to think memory was a kind of proof, something solid enough to hold up like a photograph and say, This is what happened. But memory is less like a photograph and more like a rumor you tell yourself until you believe it. Nothing taught me that faster than the night he and I both swear we remember, even though our versions don’t overlap in any meaningful way.
By Syl De'Vil11 days ago in Humans
An Open Letter to a Drunk Driver
To the man who killed my best friend, three years ago today, Three years ago tonight, you made a choice, like your life was the only one that mattered. You got in your car after drinking way too much (the report said your blood alcohol level was 0.22, three times the legal limit), and you drove the wrong way, and you hit her car head-on and obliterated it.
By Nicole Ellis15 days ago in Humans
Hong Kong Diary - Yet Another Bloody Murder. Top Story - September 2026.
Living in the ex-British colony of Hong Kong is an exercise in cognitive dissonance. On the surface, the city is a triumph of aggressive Asian efficiency. The streets are impossibly clean; you could realistically eat your lunch off the pavement though society prefers you to do so in a designated area. It is a safe, frictionless, well-organized society, albeit one where the prevailing sense of democracy has been recalibrated to “just listen to what the school principal says, and no running in the hall.”
By Scott Christenson🌴19 days ago in Humans
