The independent student newspaper of the University of Glasgow
Have you lost your mind?
by Tom Basu
Features
Don’t forget the power you have. Sit down and focus. The rewards are greater than you can imagine.
You live in a world of endless noise. Content is spat out and consumed at dizzying speed. More is better, you are told. The pace is maddening. And in the middle of all this, your ability to attend to what truly matters - your own thoughts, your creative potential - slips quietly out the back door. You didn’t notice it leaving, did you?
It’s hard to make something in a world that makes too much. That much is clear. And yet, something deep within you still wants to make it. There’s a subtle but persistent drive to produce something meaningful - not for clicks or likes or metrics, but for your own sanity. You’ve seen what happens when this drive is neglected. One day you wake up; years have passed and what have you done? Not in the sense of conventional achievement - of worldly success or productivity standards - but in the sense of listening to that voice inside that asked you to try. That asked you to protect it. To carve out space for it. To give it time and attention. Distraction is a quiet thief and this voice its target. Social media, algorithms, news cycles - they don’t just steal time; they fracture the mind.
Attention is not just a function of the brain. It is the fuel of the soul. Without it, you begin to drift, losing contact with that vital force within you that once gave life. The consequence? You’re rude without reason to a friend. You lash out, forget why, feel tired, unmotivated. This isn’t just a time management issue. It’s an identity issue.
Belief is the engine behind all creation.
In psychology, there’s growing recognition of the importance of meaningful engagement - of the deep satisfaction felt not from passive consumption, but from active immersion. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls it flow. And flow cannot happen in fragmented time. Your mind needs stillness to become absorbed, and absorption is how you reclaim yourself. Fighting for your ability to focus is not a luxury, but a psychological necessity. Nourish that thing inside you - not because it will make you successful, but because it will preserve your sanity. You don’t need to make something extraordinary. You just need to make something honestly, and with intention. There’s a part of you that craves to be heard, tugging gently at your sleeve. Your job is to listen.
There is a truth many creatives know: belief is the engine behind all creation. You cannot make something without first believing that making is worthwhile. In a world saturated with content, creating slowly, honestly, and with determined attention becomes an act of resistance. And it is this very resistance that helps you remember who you are.
So, don’t forget the power you have. Sit down. Focus. And please, don’t lose your mind.
Published 4 April 2025