flâneur

Your career break will break you. That's the point.

substack.com · 3,681 words · saved by 1 readers

On the 9-to-5 hangover, sick dogs, and the slow art of becoming someone new.

It’s 8:27 AM on a Tuesday in August 2024. I’m in bed, half-awake, reaching for my phone with the muscle memory of someone who’s done this every single morning for the past 4 years. Unlock. Slack. Scroll. Emails. Scroll. Check if anything blew up overnight. Check if anyone needs me. Except nobody does. Because I quit my job 2 months ago. My Slack is logged out. My work email doesn’t exist anymore. The notifications I’m bracing for are just a Duolingo owl guilt-tripping me about my Italian streak. And yet. Every morning. Same routine. Unlock. Slack. Oh wait. My brain has become a phantom…

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