Fragments of the Quiet Mind

I didn’t notice when loneliness stopped feeling like a stranger. It was the night I sat alone in a coffee shop at closing time, the dim hum of the espresso machine and the scrape of chairs the only company. At first, that silence felt like an empty room, cold and echoing with absence. But somewhere between the second sip and the last flicker of neon outside, something shifted. Loneliness stopped knocking. It pulled up a chair. You realize it’s not about filling the void but sitting with it—an awkward dinner guest who doesn’t talk much but teaches you to listen. We live in a world terrified of being alone, as if silence is a punishment. But solitude is not a cage; it’s a mirror, reflecting parts of yourself you never bothered to meet. In that reflection, you find a strange comfort—the steady rhythm of your own breath, the unspoken stories waiting beneath the surface. And the twist? Loneliness isn’t the enemy you thought it was. It’s the familiar face in a crowd that never quite get...