The Mind Palace

Over the years, I have begun to realise that people increasingly use their minds without truly thinking. Although many have described this phenomenon in different ways, I choose to call it Autopilot Mode. We now perform much of our daily existence in this automated state, gradually distancing ourselves from the world beyond our immediate comfort zones.

It is striking that people spend nearly half of their day on their phones, yet frequently claim they have no time for the things they genuinely wish to do. They stop messaging friends, stop socialising, stop reading, walking, improving themselves. And the explanation is always the same: we do not have enough time.

To some extent, this excuse is understandable, though it has become dangerously overused. Life places us under constant pressure. The system we have created demands survival above all else. To survive, we must work, surrendering eight hours of our day to earning money, navigating economies, politics, and endless responsibilities. It is not a system I personally admire. Yet even within it, there remains space for growth. What is often missing is not opportunity, but determination.

There are, of course, circumstances where motivation becomes nearly impossible, such as living in war zones or under extreme conditions, and these are entirely valid realities. But for many of us, the truth is simpler and more uncomfortable. We are often neither motivated nor disciplined enough to pursue improvement. Instead, we lose ourselves in mindless scrolling, numbing content, games, and effortless distractions.

In reality, we are capable of far more than we allow ourselves to believe. Yet comfort restrains us. Why exert effort, challenge the mind, or think deeply, when one can lie down, move a finger, and receive an endless stream of effortless dopamine? The path of least resistance becomes irresistible.

We must confront how brief this life truly is. It may feel distant now, as though there is ample time ahead, but history reminds us otherwise. Hundreds of years ago, someone much like us believed they had time to achieve everything they desired, and yet today, their existence has vanished without a trace.

There is a sentence that always strikes me deeply:
“When the last person who remembers you dies, you will have never existed.”

Existence, to me, is both profoundly fascinating and deeply unsettling. We must exist fully within the time we are given, because there will come a moment when even a single thought will be too late. It is time to step out of the automated mode we have created and return to awareness, to the world that still surrounds us.

As always, you see, but you do not observe.

— H.S