dear coyote
- Thread starter coyote
- Start date
Section_31
Well-known member
Dear Coyote,
What is the meaning of life?
What is the meaning of life?
Dear coyote,
I have had social anxiety since I was very young, but I have largely overcome the problem with a lot of hard work. Lately I've been wondering if some of what I've had to do to deal with and improve my social anxiety has conditioned myself to turn off my emotional feelings so that I do not get socially anxious. I'm worried that by essentially turning off my fear response in the amygdala part of my brain to social situations, that I also have blocked positive emotions and may have become too analytical and lost a lot of my emotions, feelings, and desires to connect with my own passions and especially with other people.
Lately I have been thinking about improving my emotional side and reconnecting with my feelings, passions, and emotions. I have started reading the book Emotional Intelligence, and I am interesting in learning anything about improving my emotional side and my desire and ability to connect with other people.
Do you think there may be any truth to my theory that to overcome social anxiety I might have lost touch with my feelings? More importantly do you have any advice of what I can do to help me connect with my feelings, passions, and emotions so I can connect better with other people and bring more meaning and happiness to my life?
Awaiting your feelings on the matter,
Data
I have had social anxiety since I was very young, but I have largely overcome the problem with a lot of hard work. Lately I've been wondering if some of what I've had to do to deal with and improve my social anxiety has conditioned myself to turn off my emotional feelings so that I do not get socially anxious. I'm worried that by essentially turning off my fear response in the amygdala part of my brain to social situations, that I also have blocked positive emotions and may have become too analytical and lost a lot of my emotions, feelings, and desires to connect with my own passions and especially with other people.
Lately I have been thinking about improving my emotional side and reconnecting with my feelings, passions, and emotions. I have started reading the book Emotional Intelligence, and I am interesting in learning anything about improving my emotional side and my desire and ability to connect with other people.
Do you think there may be any truth to my theory that to overcome social anxiety I might have lost touch with my feelings? More importantly do you have any advice of what I can do to help me connect with my feelings, passions, and emotions so I can connect better with other people and bring more meaning and happiness to my life?
Awaiting your feelings on the matter,
Data
coyote
Well-known member
dear Sr Jones,
your cake is in the mail
along with a complete set of the 1984 Encyclopedia Americana, volumes A-Z
you were paying for postage, right?
coyote
Well-known member
^dear coyote, could you post in this forum just like you used to do, please?
Btw I want some cake too.
dear Srijita52,
i will continue to post in the forum, but i will keep this thread going to answer any questions posed to me as outlined above
my assistant, Hubert, needs something to occupy his time - i would not like to have a repeat of last night's incident involving the honey
p.s. - your cake is in the mail, as well - along with an autographed copy of my 5th grade school photo
coyote
Well-known member
dear The Lone Gunman,
life has no meaning whatsoever
i believe that's a good thing
it frees us from the angst of trying to figure everything out - of trying to find "the answer"
some people would rather hold onto that angst and suffer - this seems silly to me
some people would rather latch onto an "answer" (most notably provided by religion) without really knowing for sure if it's accurate or not (since there is no way to know) - this is called faith. it often relieves the suffering of the individual believer, but may increase suffering in the world if the tenets of that faith require the believer to harm others (which is often the case) - this also seems silly to me
i question the need for "the answer" in the first place
all of the other living beings in the world seem to manage just fine without knowing "why they're here" - does a tiger agonize over his place in the cosmos before leaping on a gazelle or mounting his mate?
we all exist as part of a greater whole
each one of us - you, me, the tiger - do not exist in separate universes or different realities. we are all part of the same whole - we exist together as one thing
does your pinky toe question why it exists? does it strive to differentiate itself from all the other toes, or the rest of your body?
your pinky toe exists to make your body complete
we exist to make the universe complete
to leap, to mount, to live
This is pretty much the best thing I've read all year.
coyote
Well-known member
dear Nick,
no, i have not always had this nickname - i'm not that cool, unfortunately
coyotes are one of the indigenous animal species in much of the american midwest, where i've lived most of my life
they're omnivorous scavengers, able to adapt to nearly any environment - very resourceful, cunning survivors - often at the expense of other less resourceful creatures (like livestock), and so are often considered a "nuisance species" (aka vermin)
in native american folklore, the coyote is the "trickster" figure - an important part of many world mythologies
i'm also a big fan of Golden Age animation - particularly the Warner studio work of Chuck Jones and Tex Avery. one of my favorite characters has always been Wile E. Coyote - always fails, but is never defeated, never gives up hope, never doubts his own abilities
all in all, it seemed appropriate
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Phoenixx
Well-known member
^ Agreed! Very well said, coyote! I should post this in the "Favorite Quotes" thread.
coyote
Well-known member
dear Data,
your questions are very much the same ones i've been asking myself for some time - i don't know that i really have any good answers for you
my assistant, Hubert, suggests that perhaps you should watch the old television series Star Trek: The Next Generation - many of the episodes explored these themes through the character of an android who was trying to become more "human"
good luck, it sounds like you're on a positive path toward fulfillment
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We complain about 'normies' being so quick to judge, be critical of us shy and sufferers of SA/SP/AVPD. Yet we indulge in this behaviour ourselves. To my amazement in more haste than 'normies'.
We will say something and it be taken wrongly and from the people we thought would be less judgmental and critical be instantly labeled an evil monster, unfriended, ignored and left to dry and die.
Perhaps we shouldn't judge 'normies' so harshly. At least until we see what we are first? Or should we continue our selfish ways and view 'normies' as 'normies', not human?
We will say something and it be taken wrongly and from the people we thought would be less judgmental and critical be instantly labeled an evil monster, unfriended, ignored and left to dry and die.
Perhaps we shouldn't judge 'normies' so harshly. At least until we see what we are first? Or should we continue our selfish ways and view 'normies' as 'normies', not human?
Section_31
Well-known member
Coyote,
Id like to enlist your services in aqquiring 17 vultures that bear my likeness to devour my enemies.
Can you possibly assist with your wild vulture wrangling skills?
Id like to enlist your services in aqquiring 17 vultures that bear my likeness to devour my enemies.
Can you possibly assist with your wild vulture wrangling skills?
coyote
Well-known member
dear Sial Axetder,
i'm often amazed at just how judgmental many of us here on this forum are
and not just of the rest of the world, society at large, the government, teachers, other countries, other cultures, people with different views, people with different values, bullies, therapists, doctors, the opposite sex, older people, younger people, "normal' people - but also of each other - the very people we come here to interact with, engage with, and seek comraderie and comfort with
do we judge because we feel judged?
or
do we feel judged because we, ourselves, judge - and therefore assume that everyone else does likewise?
but if we judge, where did we learn to do that?
it's like the whole chicken and egg thing, isn't it?
but, regardless of which came first, it is clear that one cannot be had without the other
i think we can all agree that we would like to be able to live our lives free from feeling like we're being judged by everyone else - isn't that what social anxiety is?
perhaps then, if we can learn to stop judging others, our natural assumption that others think the same way we do will then change to reflect one in which others do not judge us - doesn't that stand to reason?
i'm here to say it works - i've tried it myself
the more i stop judging others, the less anxious i feel that others may judge me. but the minute i start judging, i suddenly find that i'm worried what others think of me in turn
but if we don't judge - how will we know what's "right" or "wrong"? how will we know who is "good" and who is "bad"?
really? do we think we're so special that we actually think WE know better than anyone else in the world and we get to decide that?
do we also think that the sun won't come up tomorrow unless we grant it permission to do so?
"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again"
coyote
Well-known member
coyote
Well-known member
dear Me,
no, not in and of itself
i do think we do ourselves a disservice if we aren't true to ourselves
whether it's fashion, or music, or political opinion - to deny our own preferences merely to go along with the crowd is to deny our identity
but why should there be something wrong with liking the same stuff that everyone else likes?
to be a NON-conformist just to be different when you really aren't is just as bad as conforming to something you don't agree with - you're still denying who you are
sometimes it's necessary to "fit in" with a group in order to succeed - that's called self-preservation, there's nothing "wrong" with taking care of oneself
if you want a decent job in a comfy office pushing paper and sipping coffee, you may have to cut your hair, shave, put on a tie, and take the safety pins out of your face
it's all a matter of choice - which is most important to you...
paycheck or safety pins?
i'm lucky right now - i have a job where i can wear shorts and sandals everyday and grow a beard
but i gave up a lot to get here
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KiaKaha
Banned
What are your opinions on justice? - when do we have a right to complain, get upset and feel a sense of unfairness and sadness? How do you justify your reasoning with your position on these ideas and when do you feel that it is acceptable for one to feel frustrated? What is the difference between indifference and being at peace?
Your thread man - go hard. I'm listening.
Your thread man - go hard. I'm listening.
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