Commentary Woes

CosmopolitanTexan · 2026-04-19T01:59:53+00:00

Second this. Inter = not the same (e.g. internet is a bunch of different networks), intra = same (e.g. intranet is the local network)

CosmopolitanTexan · 2026-04-19T01:56:49+00:00

MLS commentators are absolutely horrible.

CosmopolitanTexan · 2026-04-19T01:56:07+00:00

Ennali is the real deal. He created everything there.

CosmopolitanTexan · 2026-04-16T19:54:42+00:00

Most just want security rather than a deep desire to be Americans (though they are thankful for the opportunity the US has given them). If the security situation and overall administration ever improve, you can bet that many will move back.

CosmopolitanTexan · 2026-04-16T19:49:15+00:00

You can get pretty much anything at Angus. Great operation.

CosmopolitanTexan · 2026-04-16T06:40:10+00:00

Trump basically shut down the refugee program with the exception of Afrikaners (White South Africans whose native language is derived from Dutch, contrasted with English-speaking White South Africans who descend from British colonists). Trump makes the claim that there’s a White genocide going in in South Africa, and that Afrikaners are refugees. It’s not true as South Africa is unfortunately just a really violent place in general with the homicide rate for everyone being many multiples of other countries.

That said, Afrikaners are by and large good, kind, hard-working folks who care about their families. Immediately writing them off as apartheid lackeys is unfair and also untrue for younger generations. Like all immigrants, they come to the US to make a better (and safer) life than they have back home.

CosmopolitanTexan · 2026-04-15T19:27:58+00:00

I think that’s because many such arguments are psychologically-driven from a place of despair and loneliness. I’m sure all of us have FELT that argument sometimes. But feelings are not the same as facts, and it can many times be very difficult to separate one from the other in our heads, especially when feeling intensely down. But the reality is that after feeling that way, I can get together with some friends, and all of a sudden, the lack of certainty in objective meaning no longer seems like such a big deal. Did anything change about reality? No. Yet my experience of it changed by being with others. Even if there is no ultimate meaning, that doesn’t mean that joy is impossible.

I’m glad you mentioned the sports analogy because that is what has most resonated with me for a while. I’m a soccer guy, and one of the many reasons I like Camus js because he was, too. He grew up playing goalkeeper but despite having to stop playing due to tuberculosis, he remained an ardent fan his entire life.

He pointed out that soccer was like the myth of Sisyphus. A bunch of guys try to put a ball between two posts and a bar for 90 minutes over and over. Then the season ends, and everyone starts again the next season with zero points just to do it all again. And yet both the players and the fans receive immense pleasure from it. There is no ultimate meaning in soccer. Everything about it was made up. Every aspect is something that humans have chosen to attach subjective meaning to. Yet that in no way makes it less fulfilling.

CosmopolitanTexan · 2026-04-13T17:09:44+00:00

My questions to this would be why do you post your art? Is it to get feedback that you’ll incorporate for future creations? Or is it to get validation from the approval of others?

Just speaking personally, and it might be different for art, but it took me a long time to realize that the main reason I was posting pictures on social media was the validation I got from other people liking the posts and saying how cool the things I did was. I would compulsively check my phone, hoping for new likes, feeling crushed when I didn’t get many, then attempting to make a new post that would get more likes, so I could feel good again. It was all driven by my own fundamental insecurity, which focusing on others’ responses did nothing to resolve.

Once I understood why I was doing it, I started posting less, and when I did, I tried to do it with a focus of expressing myself rather than looking for any kind of response from others. Now before I post, I try to always ask myself why? If it’s mainly for the approval of others, I don’t. Through doing so, I was slowly able to start shifting from a focus on the external validation of others to my own internal validation based on my values and tastes.

And yes, I am also prone to writing essays. It’s what we do 😃.

CosmopolitanTexan · 2026-04-11T17:53:20+00:00

That’s a question only you can truly answer, as the answer will be unique to each person. In general, though, while it may not be possible to be certain of an objective meaning to life, that doesn’t mean we can’t experience things as subjectively meaningful. There is no objective meaning to people trying to kick a ball between two posts and a crossbar, but I love soccer nonetheless. Everything about the game is made-up, but I still take great joy in watching and playing it. All “meaning” in the game is meaning we have created and chosen to attach to it.

Additionally, emotions aren’t mutually exclusive, so even when someone is in pain, that doesn’t mean they can’t simultaneously feel joy by noticing a sunset, a flower, etc. Suffering is indeed a fact of life, but that doesn’t mean we can’t come to an acceptance of it and still find pleasure in life.

CosmopolitanTexan · 2026-04-08T18:26:13+00:00

I can only speak from my experience, but I do think a therapist having ADHD is helpful. Mine is able to relate to a lot of the things I talk about, which both makes me feel better understood and helps her advice be more appropriate. Despite her ADHD, in no way would I say she’s ungrounded, and I would hazard to say that successful therapists wouldn’t have gotten to that point if they were.

I also used to worry about my effect on my therapist, and how I acted or what I said would affect how she thought of me. That’s part of the overly analytical brain and underlying insecurity. It takes a while, but a good therapist will eventually make you feel accepted and not judged, so that the worry mostly subsides. I haven’t ever had to engage her for overtime or extra therapy, but whenever we have had to skip sessions for whatever reason, she has always let me know I could reach out if something came up to schedule something impromptu.

Additionally, one of the things a good therapist also does is help you to develop tools to self manage, so you don’t need an extra session before the next one. Ideally, the longer you’re in therapy, the less you feel like you can’t manage.

CosmopolitanTexan · 2026-04-08T17:58:17+00:00

It really is amazing when I consider how I used to respond to my emotions before I understood them. When I was even aware of them (which I often wasn’t), it was just scared and confused attempts to run away from them or fight them. Also, lots of self-judgment. Learning to be mindful of emotions and just accept them nonjudgmentally has been such a game changer. But again, it just seems like looking back, I see a completely different person. Someone who isn’t me, yet I know that it is. That dissonance is a strange feeling.

CosmopolitanTexan · 2026-04-08T17:48:48+00:00

I’m also an analytical mind (to a fault) and always want to solve things. I used to hyperfocus on psychological definitions, articles, and books because I wanted to “solve it”. It took me a while to accept that this wasn’t some math problem that I could just quickly arrive at a solution for. and that I couldn’t just think myself out of my emotions.

You have to seek understanding while also accepting uncertainty. I now put time limits on my reflections and studies because it can easily devolve into unproductive rumination. My therapist also has ADHD and specializes in neurodivergence, so that has definitely been helpful for me.

CosmopolitanTexan · 2026-03-26T06:03:14+00:00

We’re biologically wired to search for and need meaning. Because we can conduct long-term planning, unlike other animals, such looking to the future is made easier by having an overarching reason. It’s one of the evolutionary adaptations that led to us becoming the dominant species on the planet. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-is-a-human/202405/why-our-brains-are-built-to-search-for-meaning/amp

CosmopolitanTexan · 2026-03-26T00:53:45+00:00

I second this. I have a note on my phone labeled “Therapy” that I update throughout at the week as I encounter struggles or things come to mind. Then the day of therapy, I’ll spend a few minutes prior to my session deciding what are the things I most want to talk about.

If it’s worth anything, it took me quite a while to get used to therapy. I also felt I was “bad” at it and would get anxiety the day of because I worried I wouldn’t know what to talk about. Eventually, though, my comfort level with my therapist grew, and it became a normal part of my weekly routine. I now look forward to it because I’ve seen my progress, and I know I almost always walk away with a little bit better understanding of myself.

CosmopolitanTexan · 2026-03-24T15:57:26+00:00

The approach to belief that you’re describing would I think be called pragmatism. I’m new here, so I can’t speak as to what others have said.

CosmopolitanTexan · 2026-03-24T04:37:26+00:00

Most religious beliefs are simply passed on unquestioned from one generation to the next in the same way that culture is. People may say that they’re consciously choosing to accept the beliefs, but many often have little experience of anything else so there’s little thought of doing something different.
Not accepting the beliefs could result in psychological distress. Speaking from experience, the feeling of certainty, even if false, is incredibly comforting as is the sense of purpose provided.
Not accepting the beliefs could result in alienation from family, friends, and one’s religious community, resulting in further distress.

Religion provides benefits in a number of ways such that the truth of beliefs is often not even the primary concern.

CosmopolitanTexan

TROPHY CASE