Written by Evan Bailyn on 10/13 at 09:46 PM -
11 CommentsOne night as I was lying in bed, I saw the place at the end of the earth. It was a hill, blanketed in virgin snow, at twilight. At the edge of my vision, the branches of a pine tree hung calmly, lending their aroma to the cool, comfortable air. On top of the hill was a log cabin with a chimney from which wisps of smoke drifted out into the purple-grey sky.
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Written by Evan Bailyn on 09/02 at 08:38 PM -
13 CommentsIn a society where the vast majority of people act adultlike, it helps to have a fantasy world - a place that nobody can ever see or influence no matter what is happening in your physical environment. Keeping such a place inside you, hidden away from everything else, can greatly counterbalance all the external events that are out of your control. However, even those who regularly use their imaginations to escape often do so in a passive way, minimizing the benefit of their mental hideaway.
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Written by Evan Bailyn on 08/29 at 11:54 AM -
2 CommentsTime is one of the largest ideas we never truly understand. It is a concept of the same magnitude as space and energy, but unlike them, it cannot be physically witnessed; time is simply something we believe in.
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Written by Evan Bailyn on 08/08 at 09:48 PM -
6 CommentsAll of us are under some pressure to do what is right, whether from ourselves, our family, or society. We do our best to stick to the right side of things because we feel immoral doing otherwise. Yet most of the time, we accept this ambiguous word – “right” – simply because we haven’t really thought about it. There will never be a shortage of people to opine on what the right behavior is, and yet very rarely do people admit to the subjectiveness of their beliefs. For many, it only becomes clear that there is no correct point of view when two people they respect have completely opposite opinions. Even then, one will usually relieve oneself of the discord of not knowing who to believe by taking a side. All the while, it should be clear that neither side is right: each person is merely stating his own opinion, and the only way to figure out what is right is to ask yourself.
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Written by Evan Bailyn on 04/15 at 11:01 PM -
9 CommentsIt is a small fantasy of mine to become invisible. My desire to be unnoticed usually presents itself when the pressures of life bear down on me so much that I instinctually retreat into my subconscious. When I feel the need to withdraw from reality, some aspect of the environment I am in becomes my secret hideaway. If I am in the bathroom washing up, it is down in the shadows between the bottles of moisturizer, shaving cream, and hair gel. If I am in the park, it is the recess between the roots of a large tree. It is usually a place that is small, dark, and cozy. There, I wish I were lying safe, where no one could find me.
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Written by Evan Bailyn on 03/19 at 11:25 PM -
3 CommentsThe world is filled with things we cannot control. We put ourselves out there, aware of the risk that bad things might happen, just to give ourselves the opportunity for good things to happen. We hope for the best and try to avoid the undesirable vagaries of nature. But when we depend on people, careers, or events in our lives, we are opening ourselves to possibilities we cannot foresee.
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Written by Evan Bailyn on 01/20 at 09:30 PM -
6 CommentsI 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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Written by Evan Bailyn on 10/29 at 09:04 PM -
28 CommentsA 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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Written by Evan Bailyn on 10/08 at 06:50 PM -
7 CommentsForty 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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Written by Evan Bailyn on 09/10 at 11:59 PM -
5 CommentsAdults 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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