I took what was supposed to be a year in 2016. I came back after like 9 months. I wish it was all "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately",

I took what was supposed to be a year in 2016. I came back after like 9 months. I wish it was all "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately", but in earnest I was going through a bit of a rough patch and felt like I needed more time for hobbies and projects. I felt like I was drowning in duties and obligations and had no time for anything I wanted to do. I had a bunch of stuff planned, didn't do any of them, but came back a different person with new and healthy perspectives on life. I don't think more time was what I needed at the time, but that is a hard notion to challenge if you're working a full time job. I actually had plenty of time for what I needed, which was to improve my balance in life. Have more hobbies that weren't all screen-based, to hang out with people that weren't all socially awkward engineer types. I realize this is a bit of a luxury, but if you need it and can afford it, I would recommend taking an extended break. It's difficult to have true opinions about life if you haven't actually lived it. You can read about it all your life, but it's nothing like that.