When your cat is scratching the couch, you could be mean to him, call him a bad cat, and withhold love from him because this negative reinforcement is the only way you’ve been taught will fix a problem. But all you’ll do is make your home an uncomfortable place, and lead the cat into a conflict between the desire to not get yelled at and their natural instincts to relieve stress and maintain their nails. I think deep down a lot of people, not everyone, knows this is true, and would never treat a cat this way. Why then, when I make a mistake, when one of my brain pathways does what it’s designed to do, do I treat myself this way? I’m never gonna make a change in myself by getting mad at myself. I need to get to the root of the problem, and buy the cat a scratching post.

Ironically, stepping away from the Internet is what made it feel like having people who follow me who I don't know personally actually isn't so bad. The difference being I now have a strong offline support network, so the reception of things I put on the Internet is no longer intermingled with my sense of community and social well being. I think it would be cool and sexy for people to call me cringe.

Obviously I don't have a friend who's an expert on any topic, but I used to believe asking people for things I could just Google would bother them, but I think in a world where we're all desperate for connection, a lot of people would love to share the knowledge they know with a friend.