There are parts of yourself that only appear when nobody expects anything from you.

Expectation shapes behaviour continuously. Around anyone who wants something from you, even benignly, part of your attention goes to meeting it, and whatever you might have been doing without that pull never appears. Some parts of a person only exist in the absence of demand.

Arrange some time where nothing is expected of you by anyone, including yourself. No goals for the period, no productive outcome. What emerges may be idle, playful, or unexpectedly serious. Whatever it is, it is a part of you that ordinary life has no room for, and it is worth meeting occasionally.