Nobody is Home

You are 10 years old, playing Super Mario 3D World on your new Nintendo. Your mom is cooking dinner while your dad watches TV. Your siblings are trying to distract you from playing. They're annoying, but it's fun to tease each other and chase them around the house. Everyone is home.

Before bed, you tell your parents that you can't wait to grow up, so you can play PEGI16 games. They answer that time is flying by and that you should enjoy the present instead. You shrug your shoulders, not knowing what they mean.

After drifting off into the land of your dreams, you wake up in your 20s. You pack your things to move into the first apartment of your own. Your siblings are already studying, scattered in other cities. You are the last to leave. Before you say goodbye to your parents, you notice their gray hair — they will never get used to their children leaving.

The moment you've been waiting for all these years has arrived—now your only wish is to turn back time.

Sitting on the edge of your bed, you realize you'll never live together again. 95% of the time you spend with your parents is over as soon as you turn 20. Your family isn't just in another room but in a completely different environment. Yes, you will visit each other occasionally, at Christmas and Easter. But you will never annoy your siblings again. From now on, you'll have to eat dinner alone. There will be no movie nights in front of the TV. Every day becomes a few times a year.

I would love to go home. But this young fool didn't know what he had until it disappeared. My childhood is over. The home I lived in no longer exists.

My parents knew what they were talking about all along. The cycle repeats itself in every new generation. One day, I may be the one telling my kids to enjoy their childhood. And all I'll get back are a few funny looks.

Maybe the world is meant to end at the kitchen table, where we gather sporadically to avoid losing contact.

At least everybody is home.

P.S

I didn’t want to release this piece at all - It doesn’t fit the vibe of the newsletter.

But that’s the Art I want to create.

I don’t care about giving guru advice or step-by-step guides to increase your productivity anymore.

I care about making people feel something.

Inspiring them on a deep level.

I think this piece has more value than anything I've written before.

Probably no one will read this far - so if you do, please let me know what you think.

This time, you would make my day.