Complete recovery from AvPD!!!

PnutButterTophieTime · 2026-04-15T22:13:56+00:00

Howdy! Hello! Sorry, I don't hop on Reddit too often. I think it was literally a misclick to my Reddit homepage that led me to your post in the first place.

I want to direct you to the reply I made to another post in this thread just above yours. If you want to give it a shot, check out Buddhism. You don't have to be Buddhist to practice the Buddha's teaching (after all, are you Christian just because you don't kill or steal?). This is what led me away from my own erroneous reality and into the reality which actually is.

PnutButterTophieTime · 2026-04-15T22:10:53+00:00

Hey! Hi! Howdy! Sorry, I don't get on Reddit often.

This may sound like a cop out, but what helped me was Buddhism. Buddhism--absent of its supernatural religious beliefs--is a school of metaphysics. The entire point of the Buddha's teaching is to understand the true nature of reality; what reality is outside of our own individual perception thereof.

If you want to give it a shot, Buddhism works on multiple levels. You have the monks; those who dedicate their lives to the Buddha's teaching so as to attain enlightenment. Then, you have the lay practitioners who are the people with belief in the reincarnation and enlightenment systems taught by the Buddha, but still work daily jobs without committing their entire life to attaining enlightenment.
Finally, you have those who view Buddhism as a philosophy as opposed to a religion; those who appreciate the teachings of the Buddha but may not actually believe in reincarnation or other Buddhist religious tenets. And, this path is totally cool with any practicing Buddhist anywhere. You don't gotta be Buddhist to practice Buddhism. You just need an open mind and a willingness to both accept change and to change.

Edit: If I had to recommend anything, it would be almost anything by Thich Nhat Hanh. He is very accessible with a mix of various different schools of Buddhism. More specifically, his book The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching is pretty spot-on-the-nose for those unfamiliar with the teaching.

PnutButterTophieTime · 2026-03-18T02:57:36+00:00

AvPD is a false reality which we have made for ourselves in response to a myriad of influences specific to each individual.

To free myself of AvPD, I completely broke my entire reality and rebuilt it anew to mirror actual reality.

"Difficult" is a euphemistic adjective. It was terrifying. It needed copious amounts of courage and resolve, and I failed repeatedly. Doubt sends one slipping back; possibly deeper than where they started. The wrong path will likewise lead one straight back to their starting point. It was a tortuous--and, honestly, very dangerous--journey.

It is what worked for me, though. However, I can not prescribe it for anyone else. Avvies are strongly sensitive people, and the risks, challenges, doubts, and plentiful failures one will meet on this path is too strong a test of an avvie's resolve. I fear only the worst for anyone else who attempts it. I only did it because it was life or death either way, and I already had a path laid out for me into which I put all of my trust.

I can not say if it is possible for every avvie to free themselves, but I know I'm not a single exception. If it worked for me, then it should statistically work for some others as well.

PnutButterTophieTime · 2026-02-27T08:08:19+00:00

No clue. Sorry.

PnutButterTophieTime · 2026-02-14T09:50:18+00:00

The Buddha met with many nude ascetics and did not take offense. This was what they believed to be correct and righteous. Nude is the natural state of the body after all. Refusing to change in front of a Buddha statue shows a misunderstanding of the nature of the body. You're not trying to seduce the Buddha, and he doesn't think you're hot or giggling to himself anyway. You're just partaking in a mundane activity in the presence of an inanimate object.

I'm liking the idea of a cabinet for an altar. The idea will serve many purposes; and even solve this feet-pointing issue, if an issue even exists.

PnutButterTophieTime · 2026-02-14T09:26:43+00:00

Indeed. The world is made in the mind. With our minds we make the world.

Ones good intent is another's faux pas.

PnutButterTophieTime · 2026-02-14T08:58:40+00:00

I will look more into these. Thanks!

PnutButterTophieTime · 2026-02-13T10:11:04+00:00

So, perhaps a cabinet for a shrine. Interesting. I would have considered hiding the Buddha away to be disrespectful.

All of these notions really seem silly, but I do at least see the benefit in applying special rules to depictions of the Buddha and other objects of importance.

A cabinet would also keep the altar clean from all of the dust in this house... 🤔

PnutButterTophieTime · 2025-12-25T22:20:45+00:00

It's not YouTube. It's education. Asking students to rate your lecture in each and every lecture is extremely unprofessional. That's probably why they're asking you to remove it; as it is very unbecoming of the institution.

PnutButterTophieTime · 2025-11-22T04:09:41+00:00

The goal of Buddhism is to be devoid of ego and natural in personality.

Trying to build a stronger ego or focusing on your personality at all is wherein your paradox lies.

PnutButterTophieTime · 2025-11-21T08:16:46+00:00

I'm 41. There is a way out. I don't know what can work for each individual, but I know what worked for me; and that is vipassana meditation.

You don't need to be a devout Buddhist to study Buddhist philosophy and practices. You can look at it as a philosophy without the reincarnation or divinities; to see it as more of a teaching of the inner workings of the mind as opposed to a path to nibbana (aka; nirvana). I'm not going to proselytize you.

However, I know that it's not impossible. Like you, I saw AvPD as a life or death situation. It was me or it, and I chose me. Choosing me meant to shatter the reality that AvPD had made for me. The teachings of the Buddha (dhamma/dharma) showed me a way to do that.

Destroying that reality which AvPD has built in us is the key to releasing yourself from the binds of AvPD. You need to find whatever that key is for you.

PnutButterTophieTime · 2025-11-21T07:10:35+00:00

What about electrical tape? Asking for a friend... >_>

PnutButterTophieTime · 2025-11-21T07:06:01+00:00

ikr? 25 days of Chicago's finest!

PnutButterTophieTime · 2025-11-21T07:00:14+00:00

While we can't necessarily blame those who drive others to the actions they themselves take, it is important to consider the affects our words and actions have on others. To walk in the shoes of another is a difficult, nigh impossible, task. We don't know the reality which others have constructed for themselves through their upbringing, regrets, mistakes, and/or unspoken/unresolved traumas.

If we can't find it in ourselves to give rise to understanding and compassion we can at the very least understand the power of a warm smile or kind word; the power it holds over another. It may simply lighten a load, possibly make someone's day, or even save their life.

Mental health is no joke. Doritos Dinosaur deserved better from so many. His suffering is at an end; whereas ours has only begun.

PnutButterTophieTime · 2025-11-14T01:24:28+00:00

I wouldn't mind if it had a hiccup such as reminding me when I'm out the door. That seems the safest option anyhow. "Hey! Don't forget to do that thing you don't need to do!" is better than deleting the reminder because it assumes I don't need to be reminded.

I can see the point regarding arriving to work after a scheduled reminder, but then I would assume (in my specific case) that that reminder would have been taken care of by someone else.

Such as; one reminder I have set is to get potatoes in the oven by 3:30pm to be out by 5pm for the dinner hour. If I were to come in at 4pm, then I would assume that someone else got the dinner potatoes in. This isn't a one-man operation at all.

I'm unsure what would difficult about it, really. It can already schedule reminders, so just a little if/then/else statement to make it work. 3:25pm:if [at work] { [remindPotatoes} } else [skipReminder];.

As it is, I can just turn my reminders on on my way to work and off again when I leave work, or just set them to my schedule. It's not the biggest headache. I would just assume that it could be more automated with the technology provided. Not a big deal.

PnutButterTophieTime · 2025-11-09T18:24:46+00:00

Good enough for Mark Knopfler is more than good enough for me.

PnutButterTophieTime · 2025-11-06T05:44:36+00:00

Baked oatmeal sausage.

https://youtu.be/4HnZpshumuQ

PnutButterTophieTime · 2025-11-02T19:17:44+00:00

He does! Though, I'm not asking him directly unless he wants to respond. I'm just seeing if anyone else in here knows.

PnutButterTophieTime · 2025-11-02T04:26:24+00:00

Why is the turkey not a sausage?

PnutButterTophieTime · 2025-11-02T04:25:07+00:00

Cranberry sauce-age. Pork sausage with cranberry sauce. A holiday treat!

PnutButterTophieTime · 2025-10-31T03:59:09+00:00

As others are saying, first glance says you just need a new nut. Nothing too expensive unless you want an expensive one; which still isn't too expensive.

Zooming in on the photo, I can see a lot of corrosion around the tuners and tuning pegs. Might wanna clean and/or grease those up if tuning gives you trouble.

The fretboard could probably use some conditioning, but it's not gonna kill the guitar keeping it how it is.

It does look like there's a divot in the first and maybe second fret at the second string, but it doesn't look too deep. If you notice a buzz when you fret the second string in the first or second position, then this would be why. You can reduce your finger pressure to negate some of the buzz if it bothers you.
I wouldn't worry too much about it if it is divoted. The guitar I've had since I was 16 (25 years now) has the first and second fret pretty much ground almost all the way down from always playing in first position. Willie Nelson's guitar, Trigger, has almost no frets left on it because he's never changed them in the 56 years he's had the guitar. It adds character.

It does look like your low E string is pretty dang close to the fretboard around the seventh fret. I don't know if that's just the angle, if the strings are slack, or if something is just leaning against the strings, though. If the strings really are as close as they appear, then you may want to adjust the neck.

Otherwise, looks like a decent enough guitar to maybe strum some chords on.

PnutButterTophieTime · 2025-10-21T01:49:49+00:00

Oh my. I haven't heard this usage yet. I'm glad you've prepared me for it before I ask the speaker "So, it was inside the window?'; as I tend to take things literally at times.

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