I’ve been filling every in-between moment with noise—music, podcasts, clips—and I’m starting to wonder what that’s costing me. So I’m trying boredom on purpose: one silent commute, one headphone-free dog walk, and ten minutes in a chair with no goal—then seeing what the quiet says back. Along the way: 90s-kid imagination, why “relaxing” isn’t the same as rest, and how hot takes age when we finally sit with nothing.