Early Writings of Evan Bailyn

Individuality and Love

Posted by on Thursday, January 19th, 2012 with 0 Comments

Sometimes it strikes me how many lives exist apart from my own.  Countless minds produce countless thoughts which never touch my consciousness or make any impact at all on my existence.  I wonder how it can be possible for my inner world to be so familiar to me but non-existent to everyone else.  Occasionally when I am in a room and somebody leaves, I try to take on their perspective, mentally following them outside and leaving myself behind.  I picture ...

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The Wonder Of Crushes

Posted by on Thursday, January 19th, 2012 with 0 Comments

Having a crush is one of our original human impulses - it is the feeling of seeing in another person characteristics that compliment your being so well that you feel impelled to join their life with yours. It is a strong, passionate longing for a partnership with a person that has something you don’t have and could never possess. It is a magnetic desire for an image of beauty fetched from youth. It is a flood of emotion so mentally ...

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Does True Love Really Exist?

Posted by on Thursday, January 19th, 2012 with 0 Comments

The question of whether true love really exists cannot be answered without first clarifying what true love really is. However, the concept of “true love” has already absorbed so many qualities from literature, television, and magazines that it can no longer be approached with any objectivity. Trying to consider true love freshly at this point would be like trying to taste a wine while you are eating a hot dog. The image that comes to mind when someone mentions true love ...

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Timeline Of Sexuality

Posted by on Thursday, January 19th, 2012 with 0 Comments

Here are some of the more important benchmarks of sexuality that occur in childhood. I’ve tried to be as accurate as possible. Ages 7 - 8 (Second Grade): Some boys begin to think girls are pretty. First crushes develop, but are kept secret because it is not yet fully acceptable to like girls. Usually, there is no discussion of crushes among friends. Ages 8 – 9 (Third Grade): Crushes are now acceptable to most cliques, though a few are still uncomfortable with the idea. ...

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Understanding Marriage

Posted by on Thursday, January 19th, 2012 with 0 Comments

Coming from a divorced family, I do not have the privilege of being able to take marriage for granted. The expectation many children have of getting married in their twenties, starting a life with their spouse, and growing old together is not as firmly implanted in my mind. Rather, it is a romantic possibility - something I hope to attain. But I also have many questions about it. When I was younger, and my dad used to talk about marrying again, ...

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How Has Romance Changed Since We Were Eleven Years Old?

Posted by on Thursday, January 19th, 2012 with 0 Comments

Romance was a whole lot better when we were eleven. Back then, there was so much more to hope for, so much more to wonder and worry about. In the end, all of the hype basically boiled down to one essential question: whether or not someone liked you. If a girl liked you, you were consumed with elation. You were sparkling with specialness.  Liking a girl was exciting and mischievious; it meant you thought she was pretty, that you wanted ...

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Vulnerability In Love

Posted by on Thursday, January 19th, 2012 with 0 Comments

I have wavered on the question of whether true love really exists since the first time I told a girl I loved her nine years ago. Up until recently, I thought love was an elusive feeling, more of an ideal than a reality, something that could be felt in fragments during a beginning-of-relationship fascination but never achieved in the way shown in novels and movies. With all of my long-term girlfriends, I thought I was in love during the relationship, ...

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