Since I was a kid, Iāve never been able to consistently look at ppl in the eye during conversations.
You know when you say a word too many times that it starts losing its meaning and you donāt even know what youāre saying anymore? (re: semantic satiation)
The same thing happens to me with eye contact. If I stare at someone for too long, I start losing sense of their face because Iāve been too hyper focused on looking into their eyes. And if I get too caught up in maintaining eye contact, I risk potentially losing track of what the person was even saying to begin with; which generally just comes off as me being rude/inconsiderate of the other person in the convo.
Iāve definitely gotten better at maintaining better eye contact as Iāve gotten older, but itās still a struggle. I generally have to do a little dance with my own eyes and alternate between looking at different parts of a personās face (or occasionally look elsewhere/fidget with something for a couple of seconds between stares) so that Iām still ālookingā at them most of the time without appearing like Iām uninterested or risk losing focus on what theyāre saying.
Aug 8, 2024
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I'm a well known eye contact avoider. after my college graduation my family had a little celebration dinner with some family friends and my dad got up and made a toast. he started his speech by saying "for years we thought Nicholas was autistic because as a child he would never look you in the eye!" which was very cringe inducing but he had a point i suppose.
i've gotten better about it as i've gotten older and been more intentional with it, but there's definitely a moment where i have to override my instinct to look away. generally i find that when i get going on a topic during conversation i kinda naturally look away from the person i'm talking to, i'm a verbal processor so guess it helps me focus?
Aug 8, 2024
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i struggle with eye contact big time and force it when iām at work so as not to seem rude, but i have to break it constantly before i explode. even if someone is pretty to look at :( i can usually only do it with my closest friends. it makes me very sad because i enjoy connecting and interacting with people sometimes i just wish our eyeballs didnāt have to telepathically kiss when we do it. i like how cats slow blink at you as a way to break eye contact bc they Know. so strangers will not be getting a single eyeball from me.
Aug 8, 2024
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When I was young, I generally avoided eye contact with people, but working in a research library broke me of this habit (you can't help people at an information desk unless you look at them for clues about their needs).
I usually make eye contact now just to find that person in the people sea that is not staring at their phone. I try not to be a creeper though. Just an acknowledgement that we are both taking a break from the screenlords and their algorithms for that moment.
Aug 9, 2024
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I adore finding a random video from like 2005 and reading through the comments the way a historian would examine an old manuscript from the 1700s. Are these people still active YouTube users? Or are they forgotten accounts? What did @jjlwis mean by "awww im gonna miss rob too!!!" ? Who even is Rob?? Anthropology in the digital age... so many questions... it's fascinating.
The important thing for me is not to add new comments. I feel like I'm disturbing an old archeological dig site and my sticky modern commentary will make the video crumble away into oblivion. More importantly, I don't want the algorithm to suggest the video to a bunch of people who will spam the comments sectionā major yuck š¤¢
Jan 25, 2024
early 80s to early 2000s truck models are the perfect sizes imo. current trucks are transformer-sized behemoths that could easily crush normal vehicles into smithereens upon impact and i legit donāt know how those things are even street-legal. also, idk if itās their design, reliability or the nostalgia factor per-se, but thereās a certain sazĆ³n those older trucks have that newer ones donāt.
2024 Ford F-150? š¤®š¤¢
1980 Ford F-150? š«¦š«¦
Feb 9, 2025
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with social media being this pervasive entity that has weeded its way into our daily routines for the past 20ish years (plus a global pandemic that really solidified those habits), many young adults today have spent a large amount of their lives living online. it has become the new norm and iām not gonna pretend iām above any of this because itās so easy to fall into it (i am literally writing this rec on my phone whilst itās a perfectly sunny day that i should probably go out to enjoy).
with that being said, in the larger scheme of life, being in your 20s is still in a weird way the beginning stages of your life. itās a period to try new things, make mistakes, learn from them and develop an identity thatās independent from the environment and people who raised you. though you can learn to do some of those things online, they donāt hold a candle to actually experiencing those things for yourself in real life.
all in all, the best way to not sleep thru your 20s is to prioritize in-person experiences that allow you to get a better understanding of yourself and your values. whether that be getting your first tattoo, moving to a new city or country, exploring your personal style or taking up hobbies you couldnāt or wouldāve never done as a kid, this is an important formative time to venture out and get a sense of who you truly are.
Sep 30, 2024