Invisible Outcast

I always struggled with social interactions ever since I was little. Now that I’m older, I have found ways to cope with the loneliness and eventually overcome my fear of socialization . However, I think that when I was younger I didn’t know how to handle a situation like “ being an outcast ” or “ feeling lonely ”. So, the solution my brain came up with for me was creating an imaginary friend. I had a strange routine where I always met the same person in my sleep . I remember his face, height, voice, personality, and several details about him . We went on adventures together in my dream world where we ran from bad guys, built a secret fort, and even. babysat for his mother’s little sister . At the time, I thought that it was obvious for me to have these types of dreams and never spoke about it because I never realized that it was abnormal for me to only be talking to an imaginary friend in my head . Over time, I joined the elementary school and started making friends . As I b...

It is a well-known debate and a saying in Korea to ask each other this question: “Would you rather be the tail of a dragon or the head of a snake?” The overall objective of this question is to analyze someone’s preference within the position of leadership. Those who wish to be the tail of a dragon claim that they would rather start low at a more advanced area of setting (such as big companies of prestigious colleges). They seek to be able to follow the greater achievers and learn underneath to build the basics in the area . On the other hand, those who wish to be the head of a snake claim that they wish to settle for a high position in a low/average area of setting (such as working in a small business or going to a public school rather than a private school). These people claim that even if the setting they are involved in is not a highly impressive position, they wish to rather be in the higher levels of the organization who leads and teaches those below them . A simple psyc...

Many people I’ve known in my life told me they struggle with public speaking or socializing with strangers because of their shyness. I can’t help but say I also struggle with this issue a lot. But are there any effective ways to help overcome this shyness? This post will contain a few links and suggestions to videos you can view to help with this issue. Before you dive into how to get rid of being shy, here is a link that takes you to an article that unravels what being “shy” truly is, and even tells you about the benefits of this trait! https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/shyness.html This article tells you not only about the mental changes you can make to improve your shyness but also the technical things in your daily life that may be affecting your approach to socialization (such as coffee drinking and more): https://psychcentral.com/anxiety/tips-for-overcoming-social-anxiety-and-shyness#consider-therapy Now, I thought it would be helpful to mention what I did to overcome my shynes...

There are many correlations between people who feel loneliness and people who are introverted. Often times those who are introverted can struggle to make social relationships and therefore feel lonely as a result of being alone. However, I want to address that being an introvert doesn’t equal being lonely, and being lonely doesn’t equal to being an introvert. Many times, they can be entirely different categories of people. Although the term “introvert” does mean that one chooses personal time over socialization, there are introverts who show enthusiasm towards bonding with others despite their personal trait. Maybe you’re an introvert who wants to socialize to relieve stress! Similarly, term “alone” doesn’t always correlate to loneliness, as that would mean that being alone can only reflect negativity. There are many benefits to being alone as you can spend quality time with yourself, recharge from a tough day, focus better, and more. Nevertheless, just because someone is an introv...

As an introvert, I always HATED group projects . The idea of being put in a position to collaborate with people you don’t know was something that stressed me out a lot as a student. However, I also understood that collaboration was an educational objective that demonstrated a student’s performance in school and that it was important for me to overcome this fear so that I didn’t struggle later on in life. So, how do you approach group activities without affecting your stress level? There are great responses people have answered to this question in previous years. For example, view this Quora post that discusses the question “How do I overcome the fear of group discussion?” : Additionally, this article explores “Ways to Handle Group Discussion Phobia”. Group work is part of growing in life . Sources like such are available everywhere on the internet, but all tell the same advice : Never let fear get to you, and believe in yourself.

My flute teacher used to say the quote “fake it til’ you make it!” every lesson, literally. She said it so much that I started to get annoyed every time she said it. That was until I was auditioning for a very prestigious music center. I kept saying that I was not prepared for an audition with this much pressure. As I was looking for almost every comfort method I knew of I even started telling myself “fake it til’ you make it” . The entire time I was waiting for someone to call me in, I continuously told myself that I knew how to play the entire music perfectly and that this audition was going to be the best performance in my flute career. As much as it sounds ridiculous, the audition indeed ended up being … the best performance in my flute career. I like to believe that this was when I started taking the words “fake it til’ you make it” more seriously. When people say “manifest your luck” , they aren’t telling you to cast a spell that alters your path but rather mentally belie...