Never Grow Up: Evan Bailyn's Personal Blog

The Paradox Of Writing

Written by Evan Bailyn on 01/20 at 09:30 PM - 10 Comments

I write for you. With every sentence I type, I pass my words through a filter of how I think you’ll react. If your opinion didn’t matter, I wouldn’t be distributing my writing; I would keep to journals, in which I could scribble and dabble and review every few years to see how my identity had evolved. Or, I wouldn’t write at all. Yet there is an excitement which I believe all writers feel in the prospect of creating something that translates an emotion so well that it can reach the quick of another person.

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Narcissism And Peter Pan Syndrome

Written by Evan Bailyn on 10/29 at 09:04 PM - 40 Comments

A classic characteristic of Peter Pan Syndrome is narcissism. The truth about Peter Pans is that they are self-absorbed, but not in the negative, uncaring way that narcissism connotes. They simply feel a dreamy, imaginative comfort inside of their own minds – an attraction to introspection that is positive and well-meaning.

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Living Life Consciously

Written by Evan Bailyn on 10/08 at 06:50 PM - 8 Comments

Forty years from now, you will nostalgize about today. You will think back to the present moment, recalling how youth was full of choices and hopefulness. You will marvel at how blissfully uninformed you were about what the future held in store for you. The life you live right now will be a distant, golden memory.

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The Problem With Having Too Many Responsibilities

Written by Evan Bailyn on 09/10 at 11:59 PM - 8 Comments

Adults’ lives seem to go by very quickly because of all the chores that distract them from their inner life. Adults pay taxes, apply for mortgages, climb corporate ladders, and attend superficial social functions. Their lives are structured, so much so that even their vacations follow a schedule. And yet, even though taking on responsibilities appears undesirable, adults become dependent on them. How many working mothers, for instance, embody the cliché of the harried modern parent, simultaneously preparing breakfast for their kids, scheduling a doctor’s appointment, and checking their makeup in the mirror before leaving for work? Even if they were to rid themselves of all their responsibilities for a day, they would still be unable to relax because of their need to be “busy.”

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The Ability To Concentrate

Written by Evan Bailyn on 06/21 at 11:21 AM - 12 Comments

Expressing oneself intelligently requires the synergy of many forces. One must harness one’s mental energy into an idea; compare and combine that idea with other available ideas; translate the results into an intelligible form of communication; and express that communication. Most people are able to do all these steps fairly well individually. The problem is holding each step together in one’s mind long enough to use it in the next step and come to a coherent end-product. In other words, it is not brainpower that is lacking; it is the ability to concentrate.

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Peter Pan Syndromers As Overachievers

Written by Evan Bailyn on 06/21 at 11:17 AM - 22 Comments

Peter Pan Syndromers are usually painted as grown-ups who cling to their childhood due to a fear of adult responsibility. But emotionally stunted underachievers make up only a small percentage of the Peter Pan population. Dan Kiley, author of the Peter Pan Syndrome concept, never accounted for Peter Pan overachievers: eternal children whose competitive instincts compel them to achieve high standing in the very society that they secretly shun. These people learn how to game the adult world by conforming to its conventions, all the while secretly plotting to escape as soon as they have attained the resources to do so.

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The Wonder Of Crushes

Written by Evan Bailyn on 06/21 at 11:15 AM - 363 Comments

Having a crush is one of our original human impulses - it is the feeling of seeing in another person characteristics that compliment your being so well that you feel impelled to join their life with yours. It is a strong, passionate longing for a partnership with a person that has something you don’t have and could never possess. It is a magnetic desire for an image of beauty fetched from youth. It is a flood of emotion so mentally overwhelming that it affects your physical being.

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Does True Love Really Exist?

Written by Evan Bailyn on 06/21 at 11:12 AM - 69 Comments

The question of whether true love really exists cannot be answered without first clarifying what true love really is. However, the concept of “true love” has already absorbed so many qualities from literature, television, and magazines that it can no longer be approached with any objectivity. Trying to consider true love freshly at this point would be like trying to taste a wine while you are eating a hot dog.

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