In the Jan/Feb 2014 edition of The Atlantic, journalist Scott Stossel told about his own lifelong debilitating anxiety, then discussed the nature of anxiety, ending with this: Is pathological anxiety a medical illness, as Hippocrates and Aristotle and many modern psychopharmacologists would have it? Or is it a philosophical problem, as Plato and Spinoza and … Continue reading Is Anxiety Natural?
Shyness |Accept yourself, but don’t expect them to accept you
My book The Shyness Guide basically does three things: It presents the evidence that shyness is natural It tries to convince you to accept yourself as a shy person It shows how you can function in the social world in a shy way, rather than in the outgoing way that is constantly urged on you. … Continue reading Shyness |Accept yourself, but don’t expect them to accept you
Shy Careers
In one section of my book The Shyness Guide, I discuss the problems shy people encounter in workplaces today. Though not insurmountable, those problems are significant enough that I included this recommendation: There are shy careers. I was hoping to one day become a field geologist or biologist, so I could live my life in … Continue reading Shy Careers
Morning Mashup |What is all the Talking about?
One morning I was drinking coffee in McDonalds and reading/writing while, courtesy of McDonalds, I involuntarily listened to Nicole, Ryan, etc on the Sirius Satellite radio 'Morning Mashup'. The aim of all their talk, as far as I could tell, seemed to be just to keep talking, with the ultimate goal being those raucous moments … Continue reading Morning Mashup |What is all the Talking about?
Rescuing Loners | The Firing of Dwane Casey
I have to say something about the firing this week of Toronto Raptors coach, Dwane Casey. Though named a finalist for 2018 Coach of the Year, after the best-ever season by a Raptors team, and winning the first round in the playoffs before losing to Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Casey was dismissed. Yet … Continue reading Rescuing Loners | The Firing of Dwane Casey
World War 4 | Don’t you want to know what happened?
Back on Jan 1, 2018 I put my little three page World War 4 story (Dawn of a New World on the White House Lawn) on this site as a free PDF, and I see that it has had almost no takers. Hmmm ...... can it really be that no one wants to know the outcome … Continue reading World War 4 | Don’t you want to know what happened?
The Lost 11 year-old Loner |Was he really Lost?
Last week I went for a walk below the Scarborough Bluffs, the 12,000 year old cliff along the north shore of Lake Ontario created by a giant glacial river during the last ice age. After a long winter, I walked in the spring sunshine there, and explored the woods that grow in the deep gullies … Continue reading The Lost 11 year-old Loner |Was he really Lost?
Autism and Toronto’s Van Rampage
When a van drove down Yonge Street April 23, 2018, our first real spring day in this city, deliberately attacking pedestrians, killing 10 and injuring at least 14, it was with added dismay that I learned that the alleged driver, Alek Minassian, age 25, has been diagnosed with Asperger's. It wasn't a surprise though. Young … Continue reading Autism and Toronto’s Van Rampage
Watch out for Narcissists and Sociopaths
(This was a post on my previous blog, Loner's Highway, where I presented narcissists as another type of loner. Because they're such problematic people, especially for shy people, I'm including them here.) According to The Everything Guide to Narcissistic Personality Disorder, by Cynthia Lechan Goodman, MEd, and Barbara Leff, LCSW, someone may have narcissistic personality … Continue reading Watch out for Narcissists and Sociopaths
Alan Conrad 