Allow me to start with an introduction since this is my first article. My name is Felicia Barker. Having anxiety means that while I am often introverted, I can be quite opinionated and yet with these opinions comes a quiet need to understand how others think and how they work. I'd rather listen to other people talk about why they would vote for Trump than spend an equal amount of time failing at convincing them not to. My articles will not be written with the intent to offend or to persuade, they are more for people of my own nature, ones who are willing to sit and to listen.

I'm not necessarily a people person; I just really like to watch people. I often find myself noticing things that maybe others wouldn't. I’ve seen countless people picking their noses, I have noticed odd ticks or subtle changes. I once witnessed a patron steal a tip off a table as they were leaving the restaurant. People fascinate me but in the same moment they can terrify me. I wanted to go into neonatal nursing before I realized I wasn't going to be able to handle parents of sick babies. I almost went into psychology before realizing that merely having a fascination with dangerously insane people wasn't enough of an excuse to go into that field. I ended up pursuing a career in publishing, whether writing my own books or helping others by editing theirs. With that in mind, I'm wholly convinced that writing on the Odyssey will be a good opportunity for me and I want my future articles to lean towards just expressing my opinion.

On some of the more heated topics, I often struggle to find beliefs that mirror my own. Not that I'm under the impression of being special or unique. Actually, one of my rather unpopular opinions is that I believe no one is unique. Everyone is different certainly, but almost nothing anyone does is truly unique. We're people, not snowflakes. I tend to lean towards a level of neutrality. I enjoy happy mediums and tend to shy away from extremes in nearly all cases.

Honestly, writing these articles is going to be fun and while my opinion may differ from yours, I do not disrespect your opinion in any way. When I recently got married, the best advice I was given was not necessarily marital. A close family friend stated that I was a strong person and weak people will hate and fear me for it. He told me to never back down from my fire, and I encourage others to do the same. Never back down from your fire. Part of having anxiety is learning how to understand that your anxiety is not the boss of you, and then learning how to insure that your anxiety does not drag you down.

Finally, when I feel less inclined to sharing opinions, I would like to share with the readers’ small pieces of some stories that I write. As mentioned above I enjoy writing and the writing I do for pleasure mostly consists of fiction novels. With that being said, I hope there are readers out there who will be willing to read what I have to say. I hope this opportunity will help me find my voice.