Page Turner's Blog, page 50

The More We See Intentionally Misleading Articles, the More Likely We Are to Share Them

Just because something’s said a lot, it doesn’t mean it’s true. And just because a post goes viral, it doesn’t mean it’s full of actual information.

You might be going “well, duh.” Obvious, right?

Well sorta. Because while most of us know this with our conscious minds, when it comes to our behaviors and how we react to things in the real world…  » Read more

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When Bad Things Happened to Me, I Didn’t Have the Luxury of Becoming Bitter

I don’t know how you’ve kept from becoming a hard, bitter person with what you’ve gone through, the comment reads.  It takes me a second to orient to what aspect of my history they’re talking about. In this case, it’s in response to an essay I wrote about a common bargain I made re: religion in my adolescence,  » Read more

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Don’t Forget the Good. It’s So Easy to Do.

It has been a rough spring and summer. There’s the pandemic of course. The civil unrest. And what’s going on with the economy.

On top of everything else, my father passed away the end of April, and I experienced raw, visceral grief unlike anything else I’ve ever felt before, on top of the atmospheric grief so many of us have felt in covid-19 times,  » Read more

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It’s Unfair to Compare Someone Else’s Public Best to Your Private Worst

“I did a very bad thing last night,” I say. “I compared myself to other people. And I hurt myself in the process.”

“You know better than that,” he says.

I know he’s right. I’m always saying that comparing someone else’s public best to your private worst is the road to ruin.  » Read more

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Saying “I Love You” Is for Me, Too

I find myself saying “I love you” a lot. I do it at the expected times: When we’re bonding, particularly when we’re being romantic. According to you, I say it in my sleep, even. “Love you, love you,” I mutter when I’m nudged but don’t quite wake from the jolt.

I say it so much that we’ve joked that if I were a Pokemon,  » Read more

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Working on Issues Can Look Different Depending On Who Is Doing It

I was joking the other day that my nickname should be Update Girl. But it’s true.

When I’m working on something for someone else, I’m the person who pops in and says, unprompted, “Hey, here’s how it’s going.”

I don’t assume they know I’m making progress on it, unless I tell them I am.  » Read more

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There Are Moments When Being Born Seems Like a Pyramid Scheme

“So when are you going to have kids?” “You should really get started on that.”

I can’t tell you how many times I heard that from people. Especially my own mother.

I suppose it made sense, since having four kids was a big part of her identity. A peak experience. And if pressed,  » Read more

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People Who Come From Nowhere Wear a Series of Costumes

I do not come from anywhere special, just a little town in the Maine woods. My parents both grew up poor, although my father did pretty well for himself. He was incredibly intelligent and hard working and made a name for himself in construction, a blue collar trade. This meant that my parents ended up very comfortable,  » Read more

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Trolls Manipulate Our Inability to Let Other People Be Wrong

“You’re feeding the troll. You need to stop replying to him.”

“Well, I don’t. Unless he says something wrong.”

“You see what you did there? That’s like saying, ‘don’t reply to him, except for 90% of the time.'”

People Act Especially Badly Online

I’m watching this all with great interest,  » Read more

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A Lot of What People Believe Is Simply a Servant of Their Anxieties

I made a deal with my parents when I was a teenager. If I got confirmed Catholic, I could stop attending mass. I hear a lot of other kids who were raised Catholic were offered the same deal.

Confirmation is a ritual that normally happens in the teenage years (around 14 or so).  » Read more

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