I’ve probably asked myself this question time and time again. Is being alone truly a choice or a result of actions we as humans have made? Loneliness can come in many forms, and the biggest motives that may trigger such effects are anxiety and depression. Over the past year, I’ve struggled with anxiety and as I thought about it, I realized I’m thinking about it too much; The culprit was overthinking. Overthinking has caused me to question even the simplest things in everyday life. I hated feeling this way and spent countless hours on the internet searching why I’ve been acting like this for the past year. I came across two things that would help stop these crazy thoughts, and I feel thankful for it every day. The first is just to write whatever came to mind and let it empty my head, so it isn’t trapped inside. The second is meditation.

Writing every single thought that crossed my mind helped and even started to expand my writing skills. Ever since I’ve entered college, I found writing not to be a chore or like an actual homework assignment; since I get to choose the topic, I feel passionate about. I didn’t have this freedom back in middle school and high school since the teachers always handpicked the topics, and they were always flat-out boring. I guess that’s why I always found writing and English classes to be difficult because I never had the freedom to “free write.” Writing clears all the clutter from my mind and allows me to grow as a person. I feel that every time I write; I’m starting to understand life more and appreciate the small things life has to offer. When I write, everything in life sort of starts to slow down and it’s just me, a pen, a paper, and my thoughts.

When I first found meditation, I was in a very dark place. But meditation helped me control my anxiety and put my thoughts into a more creative way of thinking rather than having paranoid thoughts. I would lie down on my bed, plug in my headphones and start breathing exercises through an app called “Headspace.” Because of this app, I was able to become more aware of my surroundings and channel my thinking into more of my writing. In the long run, I hope to accomplish many goals but I’m certainly not going to be a victim of overthinking anymore, thanks to my writing and meditation.