268. Social Transitions



Do I have social anxiety, or do I simply get anxious when socializing? I don't know. Labels aren't always that important. 

When it comes to socializing, I’ve found success by forcing myself to go through the whole thing. The whole sweaty palms and quickening pulse of it. Therapists call it paradoxical intervention (it's very much like systematic desensitization for behaviorists), and it really works. Past that anxiety wall there’s been more good than bad in my life. Anxiety, like the state of Ohio, gets better when you power through it. I know I pick on Ohio, but driving through that state is when I realized Trump would win in 2016.

Even so, after all these years, my body still thinks there’s danger wherever I am in a new social situation. All the lights in my dashboard start blinking. Much like with conservative radio, I'm better off ignoring the hyperbolic warnings.

This comic is about something I really wanted as a kid; glasses that would make me forget that I’m an awkward weirdo. Glasses that would turn me into the cool Eduardo that lurks somewhere in there.

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