Write Essays
That's a comment I found on a Reddit post. OP asked how they could return to their "Pre-ChatGPT brain" I didn't realize how much of an issue that is. But it's true. Consulting the internet has become a default response to perplexing situations since Google became a thing. Now chatbots have replaced it far too well.
There's a need now to preserve oneself. Retain muscle like the astronauts on the ISS. One way to do that is to write. About anything, it seems. That way, you allow yourself to distill formless thoughts into things that have texture and grip, like turning a small cloud into a crystalline kind of object.
There are two benefits. One is that the act of writing allows you to scythe out a pathway to an answer yourself. The hard work—and it can often be so taxing—strengthens you. A discovery of one path can motivate you to find another. And on and on and on.
I also find it [writing] pretty fun. In my head, I imagine I'm a swordsman. I whoosh the blade, twirl it, tighten my forearms, and slice the air. There's no real enemy but I'm exerting a great effort. It feels like a martial arts exhibition.
The second benefit is that the path you create for yourself is one that others can follow too. Confusing topics at work, decisions with weighty outcomes, a heartbreak, a promotion, a lesson learned late, a blessing arriving early: These displace you in your daily life. That's why there are books, essays, songs, and movies. They're artifacts that have bent the grass ahead and showed us where to step. It's a lifesaving thing.
So I pledge to write a bit more frequently. If it doesn't make sense, then it's a path not worth following. I'll return back to base and start forward again.