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aneliasthetic · 1 year ago

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Crowman: an essay on god knows what.

While packing for college, knowing that there was a possibility of me never having the opportunity to come back again, I prioritised only the most essential of my belongings. The last gift from my ageing grandparents. Every letter a loved one has written to me. A signed poetry book from my only maternal figure confessing, “I love you and I believe in you.”

And then there was Crowman.

Crowman is a 7 inch tall clay statue of a humanoid crow, draped in rust green and bowing with crossed feather-fingers behind his back. He was handmade by one of the best friends I have ever had in my life, H.

H is a force of nature never to be trifled with. She is most definitely the strongest person I know, and though not without flinching, she was the first person in my life to know me as I am. I loved H in ways that transcended platonic love or romance— to me, she was nothing short of blood. And in many ways, H saved me from myself throughout the 5 years that I had the absolute fortune of knowing her.

H is no longer in my life. This is my fault. And H’s. And others’. It depends on the story you ask for. It depends on the story you need.

H had cut me out of her life 6 months before I even touched a packing list. And yet here I was, wrapping her beloved child in the softest sheets I could find before carefully tucking him away into the side of my suitcase— before I had even sorted half of my luggage clothes. I remember turning him over and over in my hands, running my skin across the faux-smooth feel of the very surfaces H must have poured hours into moulding.

I remember feeling numb. Numb but with a distant instinct pleading, “Keep him. Keep him safe. Please.”

When I moved into my dorm, one of the first things I did was knock Crowman over and break his beak off. All I did in response was stare. It was kind of funny. The unfortunate part of attending a small high school was that even once you make the decision to cut someone out of your life entirely, you still have to see them 8 hours a day, 5 days a week— even more if you’re in your senior year and everyone is growing anxiously nostalgic for get-togethers and graduation events. So, before H left my life entirely, only my ability to speak to her did.

A month passed before I finally found an adhesive that would return Crowman’s beak to him.

It was the underside of a bandaid. A big bandage along the base of his beak.

But I suppose that’s also how we looked from afar. The raggedy crew of two, left behind by our older friends, clinging to what we could and destroying each other in the process.

H. The person who saved me more times than I can count, in more ways that I can fathom. H. The person who broke me so completely, who showed me depths of grief I wasn’t mature enough to comprehend.

A false dichotomy is the wrongful assumption that there are only two sides to one whole. In most cases, there exists a multiplicity. In some cases, there only exists the whole: paradoxical yet complete in itself. This is one of them. This is a story where every claim is true, all justification is wrong, and no crime is righted. This is the story I have been turning over and over in my hands, trying desperately to comprehend how she smoothed its creases.

A story begs to be told, and I have told it in a hundred ways. As the knight. As the princess. As the dragon. And as the timeless land itself. I have driven myself to the brink of collapse, to the point of near complete hospitalisation in my ravenous desire for some almighty truth. For a shred of understanding for why.

Why did it turn out this way?

Why did she do what she did?

Why did I commit the crimes brought against me?

But most importantly: Why did I have to lose her?

As children, we’re told stories to draw a mist over the brutality of realness— to help fragile minds begin to comprehend a senseless world. As adults, we unlearn these stories through lessons unsweetened. The story I have been trying to unlearn for far too long is the one of a hero and a dragon.

It’s a uniquely raw experience to face your shadow and find none other than an old dog. As of right now, my greatest flaws and weaknesses are also the very things that have kept me alive, kicking and screaming, for so long.

I think that when she left, my body reacted to what it perceived as a mortal threat in the only way familiar to us: telling a good story. And thus, the story began. Of me as the hero and her as the dragon.

It wasn’t long before the pages began to peel— to twist but not yet tear. I found myself strung between two roles, two equally compelling stories, two equally damning convictions. Was I the villain or the vilified?

The answer is a resounding yes. Yes, you are.

Here’s where the confession comes in: I am an immoral being consistently seeking judgement. I am a radical existentialist who still needs to justify his own existence. And I am not often doing a great job at it.

Guilt is my poison of choice. For every many times I have genuinely contemplated cutting my time short, it has been under the influence of guilt. It has been a coward’s solution to a seemingly overwhelming burden: to do good in the face of having been bad.

Because it’s easy to be a bad person who occasionally does good. Or at least, easier than it is to be a good person who occasionally does bad. One is a miracle, the other is a crime. So, I take the easy route and call myself a bad person because it gives me the best view of an emergency exit.

Is this too simplistic an explanation of how my (extremely unreliable) mind works? Does it negate to analyse all the ways in which my mental conditions influence my personhood and actions? Perhaps, but I am not here for comprehension. I am not even here for a stage. I think today, maybe just today, I’m here for my beak.

And this is what I need to say:

My name is Elias Lu. I am 18 years old, 5’8 with the receipts to prove it, and I am an audible, visible, exploding-like-teenagers-with-illegal-fireworks shitshow. I have a track record for loving most of all the very people who have hurt me or been hurt as a result. I am not a good person, nor will I ever be, but that does not make it any less my dream. On occasion, I am a bad person, and during these occasions, the best I can do is take responsibility for my actions, and I often fail to do even that.

But I have had the good fortune of being loved. I have had the fortune of both knowing and being known. And from this, I can say that the effort is worth making. Everything I do to find what people call “the good life” is because the ones in my life have shown a thousand times over that they are worth doing good by. And I think that’s the truest compass I can have: a drive based in the unconditional, timeless, boundless love I hold and have held with others.

My life is worth living because of the people in it. Even if I am directionless at the moment. Even if my body is trying to convince me otherwise. Even if those people are no longer by my side.

This is what Crowman is to me. The bow of a trickster; the earnestness of a criminal. A creature who has paid for his mouth; a promise beyond voice and decay. In other words, he is a reminder that my work here is not yet done, that even a liar can attempt valliance.

I am going to keep stumbling even as I map this path. But I am writing this now to remind myself of all the reasons why I keep going. Thank you for reading my work. Thank you for being a part of my life. You are part of all those reasons. I love you. Thank you for loving me. Don’t go where I can’t follow. And if you do, please consider sending a letter.

#poetry #writing #creative writing #creative nonfiction #free verse #essay writing #Spotify

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girl4music · 1 year ago

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“You would be forgiven for thinking Willow is not as layered or interesting a character as Buffy until the midpoint of season 2 because she really doesn't get much focus in Season 1, with I Tarzan You Jane being the only real episode that centers around her. She doesn't seem to be anything other than the standard shy best friend / sidekick to the more self-confident main character girl. However that's yet another role Willow plays, because as someone who fears the spotlight, Willow has a tendency to hide in Buffy's shadow.

Willow is a shy introverted teen girl with low self-esteem who's basically only had one friend her entire life, until Buffy suddenly drops into her life in high school. Willow's life suddenly became "special" because Buffy was there and Buffy is special. She transforms from a geek with a few computer skills to a literal magic witch in later seasons. Buffy is the "chosen one" but Buffy chose Willow as her best friend in the first episode when she could have chosen Cordelia. Willow's compromise for wanting the spotlight for herself but being too afraid of it is to cling to Buffy instead, Willow isn't special but she becomes special by being Buffy's friend.

That's why this is the first episode where Willow starts to become her own character so to speak, because when Buffy is rendered useless by the spell into a typical damsel the role of leadership for the group falls onto Willow. When Willow is forced to take charge she's shown to be perfectly capable of doing so as long as Buffy's not around (she also stands up to Giles in Reptile Lizard Boy, and asserts herself more and more later on this season) so the problem isn't really that Willow's not capable of taking charge but she's not usually confident enough to. This is the first episode where Willow becomes the protagonist and Buffy the supporting character.

It's something that will happen again and again later on, Willow attempting to fill in Buffy's shoes. The season 3 opening she makes a pun and tries to stake a vampire the way Buffy does only to fail miserably. When Buffy is gone in season 6, Willow becomes the default head of the group. Willow is always in Buffy's shadow, but she's also shown to be perfectly capable of stepping out of that shadow on several occasions, it's just Willow herself who chooses to stay there.

Which really goes to show how deep Willow's fears and insecurities run. Willow is a hacker, she's smart enough to get into any college she wants, and yet Willow's opinion of herself is abysmally low, she's cripplingly afraid of what other people think of her.

Except on Halloween, the one special night you can choose to dress up like a slut and get away with it judgement free.”

Well written. That’s what I keep saying. Willow is an immensely layered and interesting character. I would say even more than Buffy in some ways actually.

You never see the “true” Willow because she’s always wearing a costume, playing a character and putting on a performance. And yet - through all of that…

You still get just Willow. You still get everything she is because it’s all part of what and who she is anyway.

Which is why what Giles says to her in ‘Lessons’ is so poignant for her character representation and arc.

“You are. In the end we all are who we are no matter how we may appear to have changed.”

“However, on top of that she somehow associates the experience of being a "Real" girl with powerlessness and depending on someone else. That being more traditionally feminine somehow goes hand in hand with weakness. Girls are after all traditionally the victims in horror movies, and when Buffy is playing the role of hero she can't be a victim.”

Yeah, this is the reason why I don’t like this episode. It’s clever in its use of themes and dichotomies and such but just this one thing about it really ruins it for me. I can’t enjoy watching it even if it’s Willow-centric. Because - in a show that praises Buffy for not being gender stereotypical - they still manage to undermine and even insult Buffy as a person for just being a girl. This is probably the only episode where Buffy’s femininity is called into question and it’s not good how they decide to execute her plotline and then resolve it. By basically telling her that being “like that” (aka a traditional girly girl) is something to be ashamed of.

“Ironically, the only man to show a clear preference for Buffy's normal self in the episode is Spike who films her and praises her at the beginning for her strength as a slayer. Then towards the end, when given the opportunity to kill her as the helpless damsel Spike spends way too long lingering on it instead of just snapping her neck, almost as if waiting for her to return to being her usual self.”

Yep. Made that point too. Literally every guy Buffy interacts with either romantically or platonically infantilizes or genderizes her…. Except Spike.

He is the only one that treats her as an equal. Sometimes even more than he is. Beneath her.

“Xander is almost as much of a victim of gendered expectations of the people around him as Buffy is. Xander is insecure about the fact that he's not performing the role of a man correctly, the same way that Buffy thinks she's not being a girl correctly.”

I have said that Xander is the only other main character where the theme of growing up is just as important for him as it is for Buffy. Willow is not so much concerned with growing up as she is with being her own person. Growing up is apart of it, yes, but not a significant amount like it is with Buffy and Xander. Growing up = growing out of immature impulsions. And that’s definitely very significant for Xander because he is constantly dealing with his immaturity.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: "HALLOWEEN"

The next episode in my episode by episode analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, showing how individual episodes fit into the themes of the seasons they're a part of and the series as a whole. This is the first of several Halloween episodes that use the holiday to take a deeper look into the fears of the characters, and the costumes they wear not just on Halloween but every day in their normal lives.

1. Janus

The central theme of the episode revolves around the roman god Janus. Giles helpfully explains for us here.

Giles: Janus. Roman mythical god. Willow: What does this mean? Giles: Primarily the division of self. Male and female, light and dark. Ethan: (appears) Chunky and creamy. Oh, no, sorry, that's peanut butter.

Janus is the god of beginnings, transitions, dualities, and oorways. He's a two-faced god as shown in the idol that Ethan Rayne uses to cast his spell. More specifically he is the god of doors, the gates of an ancient building in Rome are named after him. As the god of Doors, he represents the middle ground between concrete and abstract dualities. Male/ Female, Light/Dark and Chunky and Creamy. These things are traditionally thought to be two abstract categories but the closer you look at them the more fuzzy the boundary line between them becomes.

A Binary Opposition is a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning, where two opposites are strictly defined against one another. Up is defined as being the opposite of down. These are considered to be strict categories that are mutually exclusive from one another.

However, these sets can be seen as complementary forces, rather than contradictory to one another. You can't understand one without understanding the other. An example is one cannot conceive of 'good' if we do not understand 'evil'. These pairs which are seen as distinct opposites are actually complementary pairs which are needed to define each other.

Dualism, is the key word of this episode every single character in this episode has two faces. They are representing two sides of themselves, one is the face they wear on their everyday lives, the other is their hidden side that they only have the confidence to show on Halloween. Which one is the mask, and which is the real face that's first asked this episode and repeated again later on in the series.

The basic premise of this episode is that on Halloween you have the confidence to dress in a way you wouldn't normally dress for the rest of your life. This quote from a completely different show the Venture Bros does a good job of explaining it.

Orpheus: This is a night of true magic. Halloween is the night we discover who we are. Are wepeople who make zombie armies? Are we those who condemn others, or are we beautiful children in resplendent costumes collecting candy? Are our choices in costumes provocative? Do we dress up as our ideal self? Or are we not ready to decide who we want to be? We use this one enchanted night to perform the greatest feat of magic there is. We become ourselves. Halloween is the true magic it is the night we discover who we really are.

For Buffy this means dressing like a normal girl, for Xander it's dressing up like a more traditionally masculine tough guy soldier, and for Willow it's dressing a little slutty (until she loses confidence to do that).

Not only does each costume choice inform us about the characters, the characters are physically flipped. As a result of the spell making the halloween costumes flesh, the characters insides become their outsides and their outsides become their insides. I'll be breaking them down character by character down blow.

2. Willow: The Ghost Girl

Willow's costume for the night is based on that old joke that girls dress up sluttier on Halloween because it's the one night of the year they're allowed to get away from it without being judged.

Buffy: What'd you get? Willow: A time-honored classic! (holds up a ghost costume) Buffy: Okay, Will, can I give you a little friendly advice? Willow: It's not spooky enough? Buffy: It's just... you're never gonna get noticed if you keep hiding. You're missing the whole point of Halloween. Willow: (smiles) Free candy? Buffy: It's come as you aren't night. The perfect chance for a girl to get sexy and wild with no repercussions. Willow: Oh, I don't get wild. Wild on me equals spaz. Buffy: Don't underestimate yourself. You've got it in you.

Buffy mentions that Willow is hiding, which is an interesting word to use here because you could say that shy, introverted Willow spends most of her life hiding from the spotlight. Just a few episodes ago Willow's choice of outfit to wear for the school dance in Inca Mummy Girl is emblematic of this behavior, on a night she can wear anything she chooses to wear a giant snow parka that hides most of her body. To a dance which she was hoping Xander would ask her to, and got jealous when he noticed another girl (the mummy girl) and asked her to the dance instead.

Willow is made up of these two contradictory desires. She wants to stay out of the spotlight, but she wants to be noticed as well. Unlike most of the pairs we're going to discuss in this post these two things are mutually exclusive. As Buffy points out "You're never going to get noticed if you keep hiding."

Male and female don't contradict each other, you can be both male and female because male and female are just made up categories that are more ambiguous than most people believe them to be. However, you can't get noticed if you're hiding yourself, because well you're hidden. It's a having your cake and eating it too sort of deal.

Perhaps reflecting how contradictory and complicated Willow's core desires are, she's the only one dressed up as two different costumes. She at first dresses in the more revealing costume Buffy suggests, but then hides it with a traditional white bedsheet ghost costume. Willow is dressed up as two different things because she wants to have it both ways. Giles even comments on the confusing nature of her costume.

Giles: (confused) A-and, uh, your, your costume? Willow: I'm a ghost! Giles: Yes. Um... w, uh, uh, uh, the ghost of what, exactly?

Willow wants to be noticed for who she is, and in general be the kind of self-confident person that Buffy seems to be so naturally, but she's constantly sabotaged by her fear of judgement. When people notice you they will judge you whether you want them to or not. It's not a coincidence that Willow dresses up in costumes again and again, in story. Wearing costumes / theatre / performance is a recurring motife for her, you see Willow's got a bad case of stage fright.

In the first episode where characters deal with their deepest fears, S1E10 Nightmares, Willow's nightmare is being forced to perform the opera Madame Butterfly on stage in front of everyone when she doesn't know the lines.

STAGE MANAGER: Man, I thought you weren't going to show. Aldo's beside himself. M. C.'S VOICE: Ladies and Gentlemen, we are proud to present two of the world's greatest singers… STAGE MANAGER: I hope you're warmed up. It's an ugly crowd. All the reviewers showed up. M.C.'S VOICE …all the way from Firenze, Italy, the one and only Aldo Gianfranco… The stage manager drags Willow to the curtain. She peers out to see: WILLOW'S POV - A RATHER LARGE AUDIENCE is waiting. Willow backs away from the curtain, starting to hyperventilate. M.C.'S VOICE… and all the way from Sunnydale, California, the world's finest soprano, Willow Rosenberg! WILLOW: But… I didn't learn the words…

As I said performance is a recurring motie for her character. The definition of a motif is a distinctive feature or dominant idea in an artistic or literary composition. Willow's character revolves around the idea of theatre and performnace it just keeps coming up with her, later on in the dream symbolism episode of Season 4 "Restless" Willow is once again forced to step up on stage when she doesn't know the lines. Her dream is once again showing up to the first day of drama class only to learn that everyone is putting on a production of Death of Salesman with a cowboy in it, and she doesn't know any of the lines. Giles also has this to say about acting and the word "hiding" is brought up again.

GILES: Acting is not about behaving, it's about hiding. The audience wants to find you, strip you naked, and eat you alive, so hide. GILES: Now, costumes, sets, um, the things that you, uh, you know, uh, you, um... you hold them, you touch them, uh, use them, um... HARMONY: Props? GILES: No. RILEY: Props? GILES: Yes! (Points at Riley) It's all about subterfuge. (To Harmony) That's very annoying. (To everyone) Now go on out there, lie like dogs, and have a wonderful time. Now, if we can stay in focus, keep our heads, and if Willow can stop stepping on everyone's cues, I know this'll be the best production of "Death of a Salesman".

Willow's dream also has this repeating line, said by many different characters.

BUFFY: (to Willow) Your costume is perfect. (Whispers) Nobody's gonna know the truth. You know, about you. WILLOW: (bemused) Costume? BUFFY: (pouting) You're already in character! Oh, I shoulda done that! [...] BUFFY: (straightens up) Play is long over. (Stares at Willow) Why are you still in costume? WILLOW: Okay, still having to explain wherein this is just my outfit. (Gesturing to her clothes) BUFFY: Willow, everybody already knows. Take it off.

People constantly refer to Willow as being "in costume" when she's just wearing her normal everyday clothes. Giles says that acting is just the art of lying and hiding who you are in front of everybody, and Willow's default behavior is to always hide in the shadows. Willow's everyday self is just as much of a costume as the costume she wears on Halloween.

You would be forgiven for thinking Willow is not as layered or interesting a character as Buffy until the midpoint of season 2 because she really doesn't get much focus in Season 1, with I Tarzan You Jane being the only real episode that centers around her. She doesn't seem to be anything other than the standard shy best friend / sidekick to the more self-confident main character girl. However that's yet another role Willow plays, because as someone who fears the spotlight, Willow has a tendency to hide in Buffy's shadow.

Except on Halloween, the one special night you can choose to dress up like a slut and get away with it judgement free.

2. Buffy: The Normal Girl

While Willow gets to play the hero for the night, Buffy gets to be the damsel-in-distress being rescued by others instead of doing the rescuing. Buffy's desire to be a normal girl and how being the slayer keeps her from a normal life where all she has to worry about is which boy she's going to the dance with is a long running theme with her character, but there are some interesting themes with gender going on with Buffy and Xander's characters this episode.

The central "idea" of Buffy is that Buffy as a blonde high schooler would usually be the first victim in a horror movie, the girl running away from the slasher but instead she's the thing monsters run away from. Certain episodes play with this idea by changing her back to her more traditional role and show just how weird and out of character that is for Buffy. This episode she's practically helpless for the entire episode. There's an episode in season 3 where she loses her powers as the slayer, and spends the entire episode losing all confidence in herself because she lacks the strength to fight back against monsters and other men and is made to feel like a victim. In Season 5 there's "Superstar" where Jonathan makes himself the main character of Buffy by using magic to turn the world into his self-insert fanfic, and despite still being around Buffy acts more like a sidekick or "The chick" of the group despite the fact she's supposed to be the slayer.

Buffy is a girl in a main character role that's usually given to guys. It's a thing both the writers and audience are aware of. It shouldn't be weird that the chosen one is a girl, and yet because of the gender imbalance in fiction it sort of is. That's why characters sometimes ask questions like "How come there aren't any boy slayers?"

However, Buffy being a female character occupying a role usually reserved for main characters is also commented upon in universe by the males in her life. Xander's season 1 arc is him dealing with the fact that Buffy is not the love interest to his story and doesn't conform to his desires of her and accepting her as a friend. Xander gets a flash of that tendency of his rearing its ugly head again when Xander gets mad at Buffy for standing up to him when a jock was about to beat him up, because it'd apparently be better to be beaten up then saved by a girl.

Buffy always wants to be a normal girl, but I think it's important to see in this episode why she wants to dress like a princess from the 1800s this episode. It comes from two of the men in her life making her insecure about her femininity. Xander by complaining about a girl rescuing him, and Angel's lack of attention making her believe she needs to act more like the type of girl that he would be into. Buffy's not just trying to dress up as a normal girl this episode but the kind of girl that would be worthy of angel's attention. What she thinks he wants in a girl.

ANGEL: I don't get it Buffy. Why did you think I'd like you better dressed that way? BUFFY: I - I just wanted to be a real girl, for once. The kind of fancy girl you liked when you were my age.

While Angel says that he likes the kind of exciting girl Buffy is now far better, I think it says something about both Angel and Xander that the kind of girl Buffy thinks they want her to be is someone helpless.

XANDER: You're sure she came this way? ANGEL: No. CORDELIA: She'll be okay. ANGEL: BUFFY would be okay. Whoever she is now, she's helpless. Come on.

Which I think says a lot about Buffy that number one being who she is, disqualifies her from being a "real" girl. There's the fact that she naturally as the slayer sees herself as always existing outside of the crowds watching other people live their lives and protecting them while she can't live hers. However, on top of that she somehow associates the experience of being a "Real" girl with powerlessness and depending on someone else. That being more traditionally feminine somehow goes hand in hand with weakness. Girls are after all traditionally the victims in horror movies, and when Buffy is playing the role of hero she can't be a victim.

Which is you know a whole can of worms, but also effective foreshadowing for the second half of the season. Season 2 is so well-written because there are so many red flags for what is going to happen in the midway twist, and yet the characters drive straight past them. The foreshadowing in this episode being that "normal girl" or "princess Buffy" isn't just scared of vampires and everything that moves, she's also scared of Angel despite Cordelia's insistence he's one of the good guy vampires.

BUFFY: (Re: Angel) He's… he's a vampire! CORDELIA: (to Angel) She's got this thing where she thinks - ah, forget it. (humoring her) It's okay. Angel is… a good vampire. He'd never hurt you. BUFFY: He - really?

Cordelia saying Angel is a good vampire who'd never hurt her sounds awfully ominous knowing that Angel becomes the main antagonist of this season.

It's not a coincidence either that the traditional proper kind of girl that Buffy dresses up as looks almost exactly like Drusilla, even wearing a brown wig to match her hair color. Angel even says at the end of this episode that he hated the kind of girl that Buffy dressed up when he was a teenager, and then details to Buffy in the next episode his obsession with corrupting Drusilla's purity.

Buffy like Willow fails to reconcile these two opposing sides of her. She can't be a normal girl if she's the slayer. She can't be a real girl if she's strong enough to make the men in her life feel insecure. It's almost like being a girl is yet another costume, a performance you make in front of an audience and Buffy feels like she's doing that badly. Not only that but men are continually making her feel that way too, either by being completely emotionally unavailable like Angel, or by getting mad at her like Xander for refusing to conform to her expectations.

Ironically, the only man to show a clear preference for Buffy's normal self in the episode is Spike who films her and praises her at the beginning for her strength as a slayer. Then towards the end, when given the opportunity to kill her as the helpless damsel Spike spends way too long lingering on it instead of just snapping her neck, almost as if waiting for her to return to being her usual self.

ON SPIKE & BUFFY: As he looks around him to see that his MINIONS are all SCARED LITTLE TRICK-ORTREATERS (and two high school students). The realization sinks in - and he looks at his hand. It's still holding Buffy's wig, buther head isn't in it. He looks back at Buffy. She's smiling. BUFFY: Hi Honey. I'm home. And she LETS LOOSE on him. All the pent-up rage and frustration from her last defenseless hours comes pouring out. A series of BRUTAL KICKS and PUNCHES send him to the ground. She lifts him back to his feet BUFFY:You know what? It's good to be me.

As Spike is acting as both Buffy's mortal enemy and shadow self, his reluctance to kill her when she's not herself and respect for her real self goes hand in hand with Buffy's self-acceptance when she changes back. Buffy does like and accept her power, and feels confident in that fact, but often represses that side of herself because women aren't really supposed to be confident in themselves in that way. Buffy's desire to be strong and to accept her strength and make it hers is therefore repressed to please the other people in her life and so she can pass off as normal and that repressed aspect of herself manifests in Spike, her shadow self's admiration for that same power.

Spike is even the one who tears off her costume reverting her back to her real self.

The other men in the episode also learn to appreciate the real Buffy after spending the entire episode dealing with the annoying damsel version of her, but they have to learn that lesson where Spike is the only one praising her for her abilities from the start. Because Spike is the shadow self, he's Buffy's self reflection whereas Xander and Angel represent the judgement of other people on her.

One last thing I would like to say is that both sides of Buffy are real, both the normal girl and the slayer. I think there's something deeply sad about this episode that implies that there's a screaming girl inside of Buffy, who does feel scared and helpless in the face of the monsters in her life but she can never allow herself to feel that fear because she has to be strong. The scared little girl half of Buffy is just as real as the strong, self-confident pun-making slayer.

3. Xander: Soldier Guy

This is going to be the shortest section, because Xander, but I would like to note that as a character Xander works best when you realize he basically has no proper masculine role models in his life. His father is abusive, Giles makes it clear he doesn't like him, there's no one at home or school to demonstrate what a normal and healthy adult man acts like.

Teenage boys like Xander don't grow up in a vaccuum, and Xander acts the way he does towards Buffy not out of malice, but out of a deep seeded insecurity. Xander, like Willow is worried about what other people will think. It's better to be beaten up by a school jock then to be rescued by a girl not because he thinks Buffy should be weak, but because he thinks other people will think he is weak.

When Xander's not worrying about what other people think, he's shown to be perfectly fine with having mostly female friends and not dating any of them. Xander is almost as much of a victim of gendered expectations of the people around him as Buffy is. Xander is insecure about the fact that he's not performing the role of a man correctly, the same way that Buffy thinks she's not being a girl correctly.

If Willow is perfectly capable of being a leader and being self confident like Buffy is but usually hides in the shadow, Xander is perfectly capable of being brave. He doesn't need to be soldier guy or to carry a gun because he will jump right into danger alongside Buffy like it's no big deal. The only person who thinks it's a big deal is Xander, because he's suffering under the societal expectation that he needs to be physically strong.

It's like Xander thinks there is an imaginary checklist of things he needs to have to be a proper man and he feels insecure when he doesn't have them. He needs to date a girlfriend in high school. He needs to be the physically strongest. He has an incorrect expectation informed by the society around him. It's not weird that Buffy is the main character and hero, but people think it's weird because the main character usually would have been Xander. The normal high school boy in any other story would hvae turned out to be the chosen one and the girl he liked would have started like him back, but Buffy is not that story.

Xander doesn't need to be soldier boy because he's always someone who will fight by Bufy's die, but just like BUffy and Willow the only time he feels confident enough to dress up like Solider Boy is Halloween.

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rockrevoltmagazine · 5 years ago

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PSYCHOSTICK'S Alex Dontre Talks New Music, Future Academic Plans, Salty Fish, & Alien Anthropology!

So PSYCHOSTICK has long held a top position in the music parody world, and the explosion of their Christmas 2019 adventure, “Zombie Claus,” proved that they’re planning to hold that spot for a long time to come. But is there more to the rowdy Chicago crew than just boobs, beer, and dogs with socks? We sat down with drummer Alex Dontre, who this holiday season also released his debut autobiographical tome, Dichotomies: Lessons from a College Life to get the scoop!

First things first, thank you for taking the time to talk with us. How was your 2019 Holiday Season with the new single and book releasing?

Certainly! My holiday was great up in the Toronto area. I visited my girlfriend’s parents and whatnot. They hail from Newfoundland, so I got to try some awesome new foods like Newfie Figgy Duff! It’s a real thing, I swear. I also tried salted cod, which was intense! I’m not sure my desert bones are made for salty fishes.

As for everything else, it has been an especially busy year for me. My friend Tommy from URIZEN told me I should write a book a few years ago. It sounded fun, but I wasn’t sure what to write about, so I didn’t put much additional thought into it. Then in October of 2019 I just decided to blast through and finished writing the initial draft in 10 days. Around the same time, Psychostick was recording our holiday parody for the year and filming the video. Then November hit and we looked especially productive!

Where did the idea for “Zombie Claus” come from? What inspired the satirizing of such an iconic Rob Zombie song with those particular lyrics?

I really can’t remember! We were in the van and someone started singing it. That narrows it down, I suppose. It wasn’t me! Maybe I should make up a fun story instead. It’s tough to answer questions about inspiration because it’s usually very subtle and doesn’t make for a wacky tale.

The video seemed to be EVERYWHERE online between Thanksgiving and Christmas, how was the fan reaction to this release versus your previous Christmas parodies?

This one was really great! It’s funny, our fans are very supportive of most anything we do. We aren’t really going to hear from people, “Well, this year’s video sucks…try again.” Instead, it’s more the frequency of just how many people are talking about it. That seems to be a better judge. However, it’s also good to ask family because they’ll be real with you. For instance, Matty’s mom likes mostly all of the holiday songs we’ve done, although there was one she did NOT care for. When we put out “Oh Tannenbaum,” she wasn’t particularly thrilled to see her son creepily humping a wreath with a tree.

What is your bucket list song to parody?

Parodies are fun to do in the moment, but they don’t have any big emotional payoff to them. So I don’t have a bucket list. I have a couple of cover songs I would love to do, however. A super heavy version of “The Cat With 2 Heads!” by The Aquabats would be awesome. I would need to practice a lot if I want to get that drum part down, yikes!

You also released an autobiography, Dichotomies, around Thanksgiving, tell us a little bit about the book and what fans can expect reading it? Not asking for spoilers, but what is the essential take away?

I certainly did! Actually, it’s more of a story that traversed several years than an autobiography. I don’t talk about how I was a gross kid or anything. Instead, it starts in 2011 when I enrolled in college for the first time while I was on tour. It goes from there and documents the many insane things that happened up to my graduation with my master’s degree in Business Psychology in 2017. I know that’s a huge spoiler, but if I didn’t graduate, the story wouldn’t really make any sense! In any case, I blasted through over 50 classes in that span of time, and Psychostick played over 500 shows in North America and the UK. The goal (in part) in writing it was to share a lot of fun things I learned. I talk about finance, economics, philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, you name it. I also want to convey the idea that everyone is busy. If you have a goal in mind but are apprehensive about giving it a shot, my story is proof that with enough drive and commitment, you can accomplish whatever you’d like.

Over the course of your career, you’ve intermingled Rockstar lifestyle with college student responsibilities and writer goals, how did you balance those very different roles?

Ha! The preface of Dichotomies actually addresses this “rockstar” idea. In my view, I’m not a rockstar. There are too many pretentious connotations. I’m just a musician. In any case, that is exactly what the book is about. I’m not content simply being one thing, and one thing only. I have lots of interests and hobbies that I choose to pursue, but far too often, people assume we all need to just be one thing. I am not just a drummer any more than I’m just an academic. I choose to carve out time in my daily life to accommodate both, much in the way I carve out time to eat and sleep.

Can fans expect future books? If yes, will you be sticking in non-fiction or will you go into any other genres?

Almost certainly, yes! It was a lot of fun to compose, so I am currently developing some other ideas. I don’t have any plans for fiction at this point, although I love sci-fi. One book idea is to write a non-fiction explanation of various human things told from a space alien’s perspective. I had this idea of a cultural anthropologist explaining to his alien peers about all the bizarre human things like economics or sociology…from an alien perspective. Something like, “The water bags assign value to colorful pieces of paper and trade them in irrational ways. Sometimes, they imagine the value of worthless items on display increases due to something they call a ‘sale.’ During this ‘sale,’ they eagerly dispense a disproportionate amount of their colored paper on items that are seemingly worthless. They then discard the items in their ceiling closets within a few lunar cycles. Avoid visiting the planet during their annual tumultuous season known as The Holidays.”

Finally, what can fans expect from both you and Psychostick in 2020? Any live shows or new music in the works?

Yes to both! We are currently finalizing a few weekend shows in various areas around the country. We don’t have plans for any extensive touring right now, so we’re doing more regional shows instead. As for recording, there is always something in the works! I’m actually planning to record something this weekend. Plus, we just announced that I will be filling in on drums for the band Dog Fashion Disco, on tour in June! They are a great group of humans, so it should be a blast.

There you have it, now go check out “Zombie Claus,” if you haven’t already, and grab a copy of Dichotomies, online now!

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Purchase Dichotomies Online: Hardcover & Paperback United States: Psychostick, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, & Powell’s Canada: Amazon.ca &Indigo Mexico: Amazon.com.mx Brazil: Amazon.com.br United Kingdom: Amazon.co.uk & Blackwell’s Netherlands: Amazon.nl & Bol Germany: Amazon.de Denmark: Saxo France: Amazon.fr Italy: Amazon.it Spain: Amazon.es & Agapea Australia: Amazon AU & Fishpond New Zealand: Fishpond Japan: Amazon.co.jp Singapore: Amazon.sp United Arab Emirates: Amazon.ae

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Follow Psychostick: Official | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

PSYCHOSTICK’S Alex Dontre Talks New Music, Future Academic Plans, Salty Fish, & Alien Anthropology! was originally published on RockRevolt Mag

#"Zombie Claus"#2020 #Alex Dontre #autobiography #Dichotomies: Lessons from a College Life #metal music #music #music magazine #Parody Music #Psychostick #rock #rock magazine #Rock Revolt #Rock Revolt Magazine #RockRevolt #RockRevolt Magazine

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borntobemuslim · 3 years ago

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Are modern girls taught from a young age that they must get a bachelors, a masters, and then a PhD (or something taking equivalent time) before even considering marriage? I doubt that. Are women not being taught about the cycles of their bodies? Please. Sleep through the entirety of 7th grade, you’ll still know that fertility declines with age. It’s common knowledge. But I guess if you're about to go on anti-education rant to please your feminism-is-in-everything-even-in-your-corn-flakes base, it's much easier to take down straw-men.

You know what's really "heartbreaking"? What's really heart-breaking is finding yourself divorced or widowed with kids and without a means to take care of yourself or them. That's heartbreaking. Sisters, those discouraging you from getting an education are not going to pay your bills if you end up in a situation. Those brothers who have something to say about your education are not going to marry you. They prefer never-married women. Those sisters who are going to feel bad about your predicament are not going to offer you their husbands. All you’re going to get is a quick lesson about life. It's easy for a well-educated sister to discourage you from getting an education and to just have trust in Allah. If anything happens to her husband, she'll have choices. She’s got a Harvard degree.

"It would be only fair for women who are taught to pursue educational and careerist ambitions to *also* be taught about the tradeoff they are making, the time involved, and the biological component that ticks away quietly in the background."

Why does it have to be a tradeoff? Where is the balance? A false dichotomy is presented: marriage and family or seek bachelors, masters, PhD or equivalent then get a career and end up lonely cat lady. If you want to be fair, then rather than discouraging women from getting educated, encourage the normalization of other options. No one said you can't pursue and education WHILE you're married. More parents/future husbands need to be open to that.

When I got married, the only condition that I had in my marriage was to not be prevented from getting an education. Did I not have tawakul in Allah? I did. But I tied my camel. I got married and then I went to college. Got my bachelors and my masters while married and pregnant. After I finished, I didn't look for work. I was a housewife, which is what I always wanted to be to begin with, and I even homeschooled my son (being educated comes in handy, as I'm sure our Harvard educated author knows). Then one day, my husband died suddenly. Because of my education I was able to obtain work soon after that. I got to know several widows who did not have the opportunities I had. I could say a lot more, I’ll just say that finding yourself in certain situations teaches you.

Thank God I had the sense to continue my education after marriage and thank God my late husband, may Allah have mercy on him, cared enough about me and our future kids to be supportive of it because he did not want me to end up in a heartbreaking situation that many women find themselves in. He would tell me from time to time, "if anything happens to me, I know you'll be fine." I was, and I eventually married again, someone of my choice, and not out of financial necessity. So rather than shooting yourself in the foot and having tawakul in Allah, take *reasonable* steps to secure a plan b if you have the opportunity to do so and have tawakul in Allah.

sister Ginan on Facebook

#borntobemuslim #2022

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vandalamagazine · 5 years ago

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Check Out ALEX DONTRE of PSYCHOSTICK - Inspiring Autobiography, Dichotomies!

Check Out ALEX DONTRE of PSYCHOSTICK – Inspiring Autobiography, Dichotomies!

ALEX DONTRE, drummer for acclaimed comedy-metal band PSYCHOSTICK, reveals all in his new autobiography, Dichotomies: Lessons from a College Life on Tour. A must read for any musician and / or college student, Dichotomies tells the unique story of the drummer’s simultaneous musical and academic achievements through the artist’s unique mix of humor and self-perception.

The touring band life of a…

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mechanoelle · 2 years ago

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Here we go again; and this week we have Dina, Soul Steeper, on the road to become the very best, like... Well a lot of people at this point. Let's talk about where she comes from.

Dina is a character from Magic the Gathering, specifically she's a student of Witherbloom College in the school of Strixhaven on the plane of Arcavios. Strixhaven has 5 colleges focused on different schools of magic, and Witherbloom has always been the most interesting to me (despite being an art kid that would definitely be in Prismari) because it's all about the dichotomy of life and death, with techniques focused on harnessing the essence within living things to fuel them. Necromancy and healing arts go hand in hand here, alongside ecological studies and lessons on agriculture. Student populations, beside regular humans and the occasional elf, regularly include vampires, trolls, treefolk, and our wonderful Dina here who is a Dryad. If I remember correctly they also have an unnamed bear on staff as a professor.

That's a whole lot of words that tell us not a lot about the character, lemme try again;

Dina is a Tree Lady that went to a school full of hot topic goths trying to learn how to garden.

A quick little study to start us off; after refreshing myself on all her writing and artwork, her character is closed off, slow to trust, hiding herself behind dark humour; she's good at her studies, good enough to have been asked to tutor other students by the faculty; she's a gifted student; she's got some trauma to unpack, and she does NOT want to. I love her. She should talk to the free healthcare providers on campus about therapy later.

The simplified version this time around I wanted to focus on my end goals with the project. I tried a bunch of poses but this one was the cutest and the one I didn't hate making the most.

Comes with a bonus baby!

And I was really happy with the ideas in this sketch, I kinda kept at it. That said, the pose had to go. The next one might be recognizable to pokemon fans if I did it right

I decided to go human in these two iterations, but it felt wrong drawing Dina without cheek scars. That said, she couldn't NOT be a grass type trainer, and Phantump feels like it embodies Witherbloom College pretty dang well. I also loved the Bulbasaur I drew for the simple doodle so much I also gave it a more detailed sketch.

Included above: baby.

I'm really happy with what came out in the end for Dina, but I remade it like 4 times; I might give myself more time to make the next one.

Speaking of, next week look forward to meeting Trill, and learning what the heck a Ship's Bright Mage is!

Aight, I want to actually post things here and I've been graciously gifted an excuse; it's time for an

aesthetic exchange

So like, the gist is to take a bunch of characters you like; they can be your OC or someone else's, characters you've played in TTRPGs, someone from media you enjoy, whatever, as long as you're willing to mess with them a bit; you're gonna put all of em onto a list, and then make a second corresponding list with a brief description of the connected character.

I've made a pair of lists using mostly Player Characters of Games Long Past, 8 options long. Then it gets messy; we're going to randomly select a name and a description, separate from each other (reroll doubles), and put them together into something new. I'll be doing pencil sketches, because I want to draw more.

Now I don't expect everyone seeing these posts to know... Well any of these characters. As I make these, I'll be posting my drawings along with some things explaining who the Named Character is and my history with them; I won't be doing that with the character I'm stealing the description of (unless I need to explain the description) cus if I keep this up I'll have gone through all 8 and if you wanna know what an Agric. Magic T.A. is well you can wait just a gosh darn second. Or a week or two. I wanna try and post these once a week until I get bored.

My first one is gonna be *rolls 2d8* Hilda, Knight Errant! See ya soon!

#art #aesthetic exchange #art practice

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wisherbysharlight · 4 years ago

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YOOOOOOO MY FREN........ THAT TROPEY BEACH AU IS GIVING ME L I F E RIGHY NOW!!!!! id love to hear some of the other LAMP scenes you mentioned...... as well as any angst you didn't include............ 👀

HELLO NEW FREN HERES 1.5k WORDS OF CREATIVITWINS BEACH AU ANGST WITH BONUS EPILOGUE TO SOFTEN THE BLOW

Tw for not exactly abusive parenting? Just kinda toxic. -Roman has known since he was 3 that his parents expected a lot from him Sit up straight and be polite and be nice to Mommy and Daddy's friends and we'll let you play on the beach later

-Remus always had the same expectations, but to a lesser degree. Roman was already the Golden Child after all, an 'heir and a spare' and all that nonsense But if Roman was good, then they got to go to the beach, and Remus liked the beach too, so he put up with being Slightly Worse so his brother would look even better

-Their roles solidified when Roman woke up to Remus sitting straight up in bed, white as a sheet, and turning to him with haunted eyes. Remus couldn't talk, that night. But his parents did take him to talk to a really nice lady named Ms. Picani((yes i AM making emile a legacy therapist)) who taught him that many people are subjected to nasty thoughts but that doesn't mean they were bad

Their parents called him imaginative. Remus felt like it sounded like a curse next to when they called Roman creative

-So Remus and Roman both wore a mask. Roman pretended to give a shit about meetings and mergers and getting a law degree and taking over for his parents. Remus pretended it didn't hurt when they told him he could be "whatever he wanted" but laughed when he said CEO

Remus didn't think his parents even know the dichotomy they created. Roman was bitterly sure that they did. They clung closer to each other, spending every spare hour out on the water, their surfing prowess unquestionably on the same level and keeping them from turning on each other

-Remus quietly helped Roman stay awake in school when he stayed out all night sitting and waiting for the perfect waves to catch. Roman quietly fed Remus the information he learned when their dad had him sit in on "man to man" chats with other leaders.

-When they turn 14 they both tell their parents in no uncertain terms that they will absolutely be working at uncle Thomas' restaurant like Remy did when he turned 14, thank you very much. Their parents think it's a good lesson in responsibility. The twins think its a great reason to get out of the damn house.

-They drag their friends along with them. Virgil becomes a junior lifeguard with a passion Roman had yet to see in him, watching over everyone like a hawk. Logan gets to read under an umbrella. Patton is charming as hell as a bus boy and he and the twins quickly become waiters despite technically being too young(they just can't carry the alcohol for two years)

-There's still stuffy dinners that alternate with nights alone just the two of them in the house as their parents jet set around the world, but now they have somewhere to be every single day Thomas Actively encourages them to use the private beach for surfing when they have time off, and they love it because they can just grab their boards on their lunch breaks and go

-It is out on these lunch break surf and chats that a plan falls into place, as it normally does, when Remus just says the first thing that comes to his mind Roman knows what he wants now, and so does Remus, and who better to get it than the Creativitwins(coined by Patton, LOVED by the twins)

-By the time the Main Timeline happens(when they're all 18) the brothers have Solidified the plan

They've both enrolled at the same elite school(much to their parent's condescending surprise, seeing as how Remus' grades are actually better than Roman's), both majoring in business, but they swap majors without telling their parents. Remus takes Entrepreneurship and Business Analytics, and minors in pre-law, and Roman takes Management.

-Roman knows, deep down, that once the jig is up he might lose all the money they put away for him. So, when he sees that there's an amateur competition on the island with enough prize money to get them both through at least a few semesters of school he leaps at it

-He trains Non Stop. He hasn't told LAM about the plan and they get super duper concerned about him

-Thomas and Roman end up in a screaming match because Roman is clearly not sleeping and when Remus can't get through to him he sends Thomas and tells Roman he’ll handle their parents

This is when it comes out that Thomas is living Roman's dream that he feels he doesn't deserve, feels like he's failed as the Golden Child and hasn't earned the right to go after what he truly wants

At the Same Time Remus has shown up in Roman's place to a Very Important Dinner because he knows its just time to let the cat out of the bag. His father pulls him aside and tells him that he cannot afford any "outbursts" and that this is a "very serious meeting". Remus gives a sickly sweet grin and goes in anyway, smoothly makes rounds to say hello to all the customers who come to the resort and is joking and laughing with three of them within 15 minutes. His father is so taken aback he actually doesn't hear one of his other colleagues ask if he's alright.

Janus shows up to back him up about 30 minutes in and Remus brings him around to introduce, and the two of them charm the pants off of the few people they hadn't met yet, forcing the Twin's parents to confront their own biases against their son. Roman turns his phone off so he won't see his father calling. Him Remy and Thomas are having a disney marathon, anyway

-Roman doesnt go home til morning. When he gets there, both his parents are sitting at the table with Remus. They all have tears in their eyes and look like theyve been there all night. He'd gotten the text from Janus when he turned his phone on, knew that it had gone well, or he'd be genuinely concerned. The first thing his father says is, "We're sorry"

They have a discussion, and it feels a little bit like the business discussions he always sits in on, slightly stiff and with everyone still not really comfortable with each other, but at the end his mother hugs him for the first time in what feels like years and tells him she's proud that he worked so hard towards what he really wanted, and that he reminds her of herself at his age trying to break into the business world, and he cant truthfully say that isn't the best thing he's ever heard in his life

-Their parents arent perfect. Remus will say something slightly off kilter and they will visibly wince before they can correct themselves. Their mother will still attempt to baby Remus and put Roman on a pedestal. Their father will still turn to Roman for his opinion before Remus. They both pitch a fit when Roman insists on transferring to a local school to save money. But there's progress made.

-And on the day of the competition, Thomas comes up to Roman when he stops by the restaurant to get Luck with a key on a lanyard that says "Thomas Sanders Beach Emporium - Surf and Swim Shop". He'd purchased the small surf shop next to the resort from a local who'd wanted to move inland.

"Ro, I know you still want to go to college and that's fine. But know you are the only one I want running this, even if I have to wait."

Roman bursts into tears IMMEDIATELY and Patton has to hug him for like a full 20 minutes to calm him down

-And then, as we all know, THEY WIN THE COMPETITION. And they don't need the money for college anymore, so they take it and give it all directly to Thomas for the shop, and the twins own it together but Roman runs it while Remus is off being one half of the Ultimate Power Couple on the mainlaind

And Now That You’ve Survived the Angst Train, here’s EPILOGUE

-Roman takes over the surf shop as soon as he graduates, of course.

-Patton becomes a Divemaster/Ocean Archeaologist and gets to spend all his time in the water

-Logan becomes an Oceanographer who creates super detailed and beautiful diagrams

-Virgil becomes a marine biologist specializing in rescue and release and they buy a house across the street from the restaurant

-Remy takes over the restaurant and Emile opens a practice right on the island and Remile live in the apartment above the restaurant

-Dukeceit move inland towards the city so Remus can get his MBA and Janus can have some Night Noise and Janus gets his law degree and they are a Power Couple

But they always take at least a month where they are either off or working remotely and rent a house on the same block as Remile and LAMP and surf and hang out at the restaurant and beach and relive that One Summer Of Pure Happiness and Freedom

#creativitwins #roman sanders #remus sanders #roman angst #remus angst #creativitwins angst #sanders sides fic #romantic LAMP #beach au #this got So Long #AGAIN dont give me access to discord and beach au feels #there wasnt a ton of LAMP in here so lemme know if you wanna know anything with them lol this got way too long to keep going #tag this with romantic r/mr/m and die by my sword

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quarantined-with-bucky · 4 years ago

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Dichotomy

Bucky x Reader

Words: ~ 3,500

Summary: Bucky’s in the poetry feels. And his own feels.

Warnings: Mentions of abuse

Dedication: I’ve had a couple readers express their interest in mythology and the like, either in reblogs, replies, or private messages, so this is dedicated to them (you know who you are) Thanks! :)

A/N: This was taken from my mythology cultivation (I mentioned it in Poetry (this is kinda a part II to that?)), so I have no author credits to the poem :( please let me know if anyone does! This one is also more of Bucky’s view on his relationship with the reader. Sorry it took me so long to write, I wasn’t sure where to take this for a while!

...

You were a myth.

You had to be. Bucky was convinced.

You were beautiful. But he would never mistake your beauty for stupidity – not for naivety, vulnerability, or even weakness.

And They Said Aphrodite Was Soft: Smear your lips in blood, dust your eyelids with stars. Hang rubies around your neck, wear a nude leather dress. Kiss him hard, make him groan. Rip him apart, muscle from bone. Breath in, breath out. Begin step one.

Such a beautiful creature could never be so cruel. He saw the way you moved so gracefully on the battlefield and the way just a single touch from you could melt the heart of any man. You had no tolerance for the men that talked down to you and, sure, you were an exquisite creature, but your prowess that lied beneath the surface – that could tear any unassuming man limb from limb – was what drew him to you.

You were resilient. Despite what anyone may think, you were one of the strongest on the team.

I have wondered what it was like for Aphrodite. For Hera, Medusa, Artemis, Athena. For them to be worshiped, feared, sung of and powerful. What did it feel like to fall into myth and legend? To be remembered mostly for the men they loved, or the ones who fought for them when they didn’t need it, didn’t ask. To be pushed into the corner of the bar, to only be talked about when someone else decided, and to watch their daughters, their children of the earth, fall to the same fate.

Despite your effort to write your own story, to be the best damn Avenger you could be, there would always be hurtles in your way, whether that be the media shoving you into the shadows of Captain America and Iron Man, your inherent lack of any sort of super-ability, or you almost too innocent-looking appearance: how could you hold your own when you look like you can’t even open a jar by yourself? It was the same for those before you, women being washed away in history as lab assistants or had their valor just plain stolen from them. It couldn’t be you and you wouldn’t let it.

You were hurt. Years of physical pain, emotional torment, and past abuse took its toll on you. After all, you were only human.

Dearest Medusa I am so sorry no one told you that the Gods could be so cruel. You had beauty so unlike the rest. Your mother deemed it a blessing. A blessing that would one day deal your curse. Dearest Medusa I am so sorry that no one told you the love of a god is as good as the hatred from a god. Dearest Medusa I am so sorry that he pillaged your body in the temple of goddess meant to shelter you. Dearest Medusa I am so sorry that Athena in all of her wisdom turned blind eye to your pain. Dearest Medusa I am so sorry that no one ever told you the gods could be so cruel.

You’d known what it’s like to have been cast away in your time of need. Your strength somehow came around to backfire on you. You’d been so strong your whole life, there’s no way you could be upset – especially about something so small. You’d been discredited to your own feelings. When you cried out for help, you never received, instead met with neglect and following misfortune. And that’s what built you, but that’s also what broke you.

It was only through poetry that Bucky realized there were two sides to your story – every story, he’d supposed.

And goddamn, there were two sides to his story.

He’d wondered if one day, such myths will be written about him. Would he be seen as the monster: a harsh, unforgiving, unrelenting man – whose true tragedy is unbeknownst to most? Only after years of examination and internal debate could change anyone’s perspective on him.

But he knew they’d be writing about you someday. Hell, it seems like they already had been. The most celestial being in the universe and he just happens to be lucky enough to share a bed with you. He’s the one who knows your backstory, knows your own tragedy, knows the strength that its built. It’s almost like he’s been studying you – and he would if he could. He applies every beautiful book or poem he’s read to you: to your grace, your poise, your struggles.

You meant more to him than words could describe; not the likes of Homer, Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, nor even Jane Austen could even capture half your complexity. He didn’t think there were so many layers to life. There was only one way he could see himself: damaged. But from the day he met you, you’d proven quite the opposite. He had depth, substance, an intricacy that only you could unravel. You’d welcomed him into your open arms, taking him under your wing as you showed him the ropes of the twenty-first century. That’s how it started, anyway. You’d shown him the internet, the DVR, how his phone works, plastic Tupperware. The world had become quite a different place, but it wasn’t just the material objects that shifted either.

People seemed to be a bit more complex than Bucky remembered – and he didn’t know whether it was a twenty-first century thing or if he just hadn’t been around people in such a long time. It took a lot of questions, a lot of research, and a lot of late-night discussions before Bucky finally grasped the concept you’d been trying to instill in him. And one night it just made so much sense. It was in everything you read – every novel and poem – everything you wrote, and everything you’d been teaching him.

Bucky’s night of clarity consisted of a nightmare, two giant mugs filled to the brim with hot chocolate, and some frighteningly serious pillowtalk. “You don’t have to let your past define you, Bucky,” you whispered, before taking a sip of your drink. Bucky’s head rested on your chest, the two of you laying in bed, wide awake after having been woken up by Bucky screaming in the middle of the night. Your hand ran through his hair, strands stuck together and tangled up, tacky with sweat. His eyes were shut, his focus being the vibrations of your chest as you spoke. “You aren’t what they made you.”

You’d seen the side of him that nobody else saw; the soft side of him. It was the half of him that the media would never portray, that his closest peers – his housemates, his team members – would never see, the part that even he forgot existed.

Hell, it was hard for him to remember how to be kind – how to be vulnerable. It took years of physical torture and mental torment for Hydra to beat it out of him. The majority of his life, he’d gone without physical affection, a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, any kind of touch that didn’t result in a bloody nose.

That wasn’t the only issue. He had to overcome his own bravado. It took him years of solitude and half-assed coping mechanisms for Bucky to come to terms with it himself. Even after jumping over the first hurdle of undoing Hydra’s psychological damage, he had to rewrite his own programming. He never confided in anyone in the Avengers; not the therapist and psychologist Tony brought in, not Clint – a college familiar with being a victim of mind-control, not Natasha – someone who had understood similar hardships, not even Steve – his childhood best friend. He’d come from a time where you would simply grin and bear it.

Sounds cliché, sure, but he couldn’t help it. It was hard not to act this way when even those closest to him – those who shared similar trauma – acted in the same manner. He’d never seen Clint bring it up. Natasha never spoke of her past, or let it affect her work or well-being – in fact, she made jokes about it. And Steve? Forget it. He was one of those who used his past as motivation and to share to kids for “life lessons” (Bucky could gag just thinking about it). Anyway, where did that leave Bucky? With no options but to suck it up and not let it bother him.

When you started spending multiple nights in a row with him, he knew you’d get him to confess about his past, his feelings. Bucky hated feelings. In the thirties, the only feeling he liked was to have a woman wrapped around his finger. He supposed that’s all he had to worry about, back then, anyway.

Now, he was the one wrapped around his finger. So much so, in fact, that he let you twirl his hair around in your hand, stroke his stubble with the backs of your knuckles, and press your cold feet against his legs while the two of you were sleeping (supposed to be sleeping, at least). “Remember what I told you?” You murmured, pulling him out of his thoughts. He opened his eyes to meet yours peering down over him, as you now sat propped on one elbow to lean your head over his. “About it being okay for you to be upset?”

He rolled his eyes and then quickly shot you a soft apology. Don’t dismiss your emotions, it was what you’d told him numerous times before. He wasn’t supposed to be acting like nothing was bothering him; he promised you that he’d tell you anything on his mind. It was easy when the only thing that was on his mind was you naked in his mind. This was way harder, he mentally groaned.

It was hard for him to come to terms with his past. With all of the terrible things he’d done? There was no way he’d ever be able to accept it, to forget about it, forgive himself for it. There are two sides to every story, you’d reminded him once.

Bucky’s two sides: assassin, murderer, beast; victim, vulnerable, manipulated.

He couldn’t even come to terms with that. He wasn’t manipulated. Manipulation carries the connotation that he still had control. Bucky wasn’t manipulated into doing any of the things he did – into committing those atrocities. Nobody used their cunning wit and skills to get him to willingly commit such crimes; Bucky wasn’t convinced by someone to go against his free will and better judgement. No, that right was stolen from him – his free will.

He didn’t even have an adjective to describe himself.

But he had others who could describe him on his behalf.

Name one hero who was happy. Was Heracles, remembered in the stars, satisfied with his life? Risen to glory and fame, but at what cost? The memory of his wife and child’s blood on his hands, their cries etched in his head. Ask Daedalus, whose cleverness was no match for his love for Icarus, if he was happy to escape confinement. To soar amongst the heavens only to watch his son plummet to his death, perished by his own creation. And Achilles, what of him, was he happy? The boy with the golden feet and lion-heart, who upheld battle for a decade, to watch his beloved slain? To live out the end of his days grieving, yearning for death, was he truly happy? Once again, I must ask: Name one hero who was happy.

It validated his thoughts, at lease. No matter how much people could grow to love him, how accepted he’d be into society, how much he’d be celebrated, he’d still never forget – never be happy, haunted forever by his past barbarity, the lives he took, his loved ones gone. His own life and power ripped away from him, missing from his life for so long that he didn’t know how to live anymore.

He’d found you, at least. You gave him some semblance of his life and freedom back. But he couldn’t help but think, deep down, so low that he’d never be able to muster up the words to say it aloud, that one day you’d be taken away from him. He didn’t know if it would be on the battlefield or if it would be karma finally coming around – but he was scared.

But, despite you being totally oblivious to Bucky’s deepest thoughts (although, you were fairly intuitive. He assumed you’d already known this was his greatest fear), you’d taught him that it was okay to be scared. It was okay to be scared, vulnerable, and hurting. That must have been more accepted these days. While Bucky was never able to marry back in his original time, he wasn’t even sure if this was something husband and wife talked about. He’d remembered hearing stories of his war-buddies back in the trenches. They wrote home to their wives, telling them everything was okay, nobody was hurting, all was as well as could be a – when the opposite couldn’t be truer. It was his job to make sure everything was okay in the home, and part of that required staying strong; being the immovable force that held the family steady. And he looked up to those men more than anything. Fighting a goddamn war, writing their wives in a matter that wouldn’t make them worry.

Now that wasn’t necessary. Women had embraced their strength and independence. He was relieved, to be honest, he knew he’d never compare to his own father – not after everything he’d endured. But maybe twenty-first century life was where he belonged, anyway. So that he could have you next to him. Outspoken, rowdy, cutthroat, bold, passionate you.

You understood Bucky’s hesitation to open up to you. It took him a long time to get acclimated to his new environment, to people, to having emotions – let alone expressing them. That was okay with you. You had nothing but time. You’d tried early on to express to him the fact that his past is what gave him his strength today. He’s been through so much during the past one hundred years of his life that it would be easy for him to just quit, throw in the towel of life, give up and spend the rest of his days spending his days in Wakanda raising goats. But every day, he found the strength to get up, return to the clutches of Hydra and fight them one by one with the promise of the world one day being free from their grasp.

That resonated with him a bit. To come to terms with his struggles because they made him who he is. Not necessarily in a bad way: in the way that he could realize how much he overcame in his long life. He was a survivor.

“Yes,” he whispered, turning his head to press a kiss to your palm.

He wasn’t sure how you were able to resonate with him on such a level. It was probably the way you talked to him. You treated him like a human. Not that the others didn’t necessarily, but they just treated him differently – like they were afraid of him. Like anything they said might trigger him, they cowered in fear when he walked into a room, they avoided him at all costs. But you, you treated him like he was fragile – like if you held him, he’d crack.

He smiled at the thought, holding back a laugh. That’s the exact same way he held you.

Like you were made of porcelain. And that mutual consideration just drew him to you in awe. There was something so inherently soft about you. You were so genuinely kind to everyone, always lending a helping hand, putting everyone else’s needs above yours. He hadn’t known somebody like that for a long time; since he was a young kid in Brooklyn.

No Mortal Words Describe Her: Mortal, on the ground, drenched in sweat and tears: Are you a dream? Are you a nightmare? Aphrodite, baring her teeth, drenched in blood and ash: I am everything in between.

You were a dichotomy. He didn’t understand it. He met you on the battlefield, killing Hydra agents. Your hair was pulled up tight, eyes wide but eyebrows narrowed. You threw your punches with such force; you were kicking men through walls and windows. You’d looked as if you were born and bred to kill – which, in all truth, you were. You’d accepted that fact and you held your head high. He was intimidated by you, and he loved that fact that everyone else was, too. And you were proud of it. There was nothing you cared about in those moments more than making the scum of the earth pay for the atrocities they had committed, for all the years they had Bucky Barnes locked up.

But then it was him laying on your bedroom floor, reading poetry you had scribbled on scraps of paper, littered around the room; some laid out neatly beside you, others crumpled up and tossed in the corner. Bucky liked those ones best – the ones you’d discarded in a frantic, haphazard manner, too busy to even aim for the garbage can. He’d felt that those were the ones that described you best: they were raw, real, undeniable; they came from the deepest depths of your mind, the part that took you hours of searching to even skim the surface. It was the truest form of yourself, and Bucky was lucky enough to have been granted permission to read.

All Antigone wanted was to bury her dead. How many times do women hang themselves in the shadow of their fathers’ sins? I am no exception, I flinch at comparisons, the easiest way to unmake me is to throw his name over me like an old mantle of anger and hate: I’ve worked too hard to be broken down by a story I had no hand in, braced my arms against flood and falling sky and sometimes I get so tired. But I am more than my father’s venom tongue. I am my grandmother’s eyes, my grandfather’s bleeding heart, I am the daughter of women stronger than any Greek playwright could forgive.

Just as it did for Bucky, it took you time to open up. To delve into your past was a process in and of its own. It was when he found this poem crinkled beside your bookshelf that he finally asked about it. This one felt a little too personal to just ignore. He recrumpled the piece of paper and tossed it towards you, landing in your lap. Unfolding it, you skim the words, tossing it beside you once finished, continuing your current work. “Do you want to talk about it?” Bucky asked, breaking the silence that surrounded the two of you.

At first, you’d said no and simply continued writing. How were you supposed to tell him the stories of your so-called family? The pains you’d suffered as a child. You’d continued on your poem about Achilles: the strong, brave, invincible, soldier; the broken, touch starved, damaged man. You huffed to yourself and threw your pen down. What kind of girlfriend would you be to make Bucky relive his own terror without at least reciprocating – especially when you knew it took so much for him to let you in in the first place.

It was a long night after that, setting up the timeline of your life. And everyone had their own right to deal with their past in their own way; each memory hurts in its own particular way, and it is up to you with how to deal with it. But your past is what makes you, and that’s what you’d told Bucky days before. It doesn’t define you, but it gives you something to fight for, something to live for.

It took years of explaining it to him for you to finally find it true for yourself.

…

But he was pulled back into the present once your hands pulled apart an exceptionally tight knot from his hair. He brought his eyes back to meet yours, your face illuminated by the now rising sun shining behind the white shades. Your eyes were half lidded, face completely relaxed, gazing down at Bucky with a sleepy lust. You’d been sitting in silence for hours. It was fine, you had nothing else to do. It was better that Bucky worked it out on his own anyway; you knew how he could get lost in his own thoughts.

All you’d hoped was that he wasn’t beating himself up about it anymore.

“Hey, doll,” he murmured, grabbing your hand in his, turning up to lean against the headboard next to you. And, god, the way you looked at him could make his heart stop; nothing but admiration and affection in those eyes. Your eyebrows were slightly raised, corners of your mouth pulling up slightly.

“Hey, Buck.” You fully smiled at him, offering him a soft, sleepy grin.

“I love you.”

You slid down on the bed, this time resting your head on his chest, wrapping your arms around his large torso, snuggling up into him as the sun rose behind you. “I love you, too.”

#Daedalus giving me Steve vibes in this poem tbh #bucky x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #fanfiction #captain america #angst #poetry #bucky x you #bucky barnes angst #bucky fic #bucky fanfic

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colorisbyshe · 4 years ago

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You know what gets me... we live in a country where voter turnout is never higher than like 60% and yet you still have self-important leftists who really think they're sticking it to the man by not voting. Lmao

I don’t want to call them self important because on an ideological stance... I agree with them. I don’t... want to vote for Biden. Fuck, I barely want to vote for the politicians I don’t mind on the local/state elections. Like my governor can’t even fucking handel legalizing weed and my Senator published a book saying he’s only just realizing black lives matter. I’m not enthused by this shit.

These aren’t the people I want controlling my life.

But you’re absolutely right. We already have low voter turn out and... the elections are still “legitimized.” Democrats and republicans don’t learn shit fromm low voter turn out. Democrats don’t learn “Oh, we need to be more leftist” from Republicans winning, they learn “Oh, we need to appeal more to Republicans.” Every time a third party eats into their voter base, they don’t learn “Oh, maybe we should have more parties than a two party system,” they learn literal fuck shit from that.

The ONLY thing that even VAGUELY teaches politicians fucking ANYTHING is being voted out. Doesn’t teach them MUCH but lol... I’ve spent the last 15 years (which I started being aware of politics) watching democrats learn alllll the wrong lessons rfom losing elections.

I get the impulse to be optimistic about elections. But i don’t get how “inaction is action” is a coherent idea to anyone, especially in the wake of reality.

I don’t get how people can scream about gerrymandering, voter disenfranchisement especially for felons,a nd the electoral college (all things that are meant to suppress the vote, to keep people from voting) and then say voting doesn’t matter. How does behaving how republicans want you to (not voting) help anyone? How does giving in do anything?

I think people have created this dichotomy of “Voting and only voting for change” and “radical” “direct” action. To take part in one is to not take part int the other... only that’s not true. You vote for who you think your direct action would be most effective against.

But the word “action” implies... action. Voting is inaction. Posting abot how we need direct action... is still inaction. Not all people can partake in direct action but then... you must do what you can to support those who do. Inclduing voting for those who will best respond to those actually acting.

Here’s a good video to understand my perspective:

youtube

#Anonymous #there is an obsession with easy answers #of progress without getting your hands dirty #of a morally right choice #adn that just does not exist #there is no action you can take #that will change the people #or platforms that are going to win the november election #nor is there any stopping of this electon #you must work with the otpions we have #in a way to constract a bette rfuture #the fight will be continuous #and faicilating inside AND outside the electoral system

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uniquequotes · 2 years ago

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55 Quotes on Life Lessons

55 Quotes vis--vis Life Lessons.We are all humans. We all make mistakes. But there are some mistakes we regret and these mistakes depart enduring marks on our vigor.

The period we reach something wrong, the person we wrong and the people in footnote to us with make us reach that we have discharge faithfulness them. What we show at that certainly moment is what defines us in the eyes of our fellow human beings.55 Quotes around Life Lessons

55 Quotes as regards Life Lessons

1-Every spoil, all heartbreak, all loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson regarding how to quantity your release allegiance the adjoining go ahead earliest. Og Mandino

Inspirational Quotes

2-Ive endorse obtain that all single hours of day we slant moments that are hard, formless, and scary. Your energy requires courage. Mel Robbins,

3-And I consent to to that theres a lesson in on anything that you get sticking to of and all experience, and getting the lesson is how you move understand. Oprah Winfrey, Stanfords Commencement Ceremony Sunday, June 15, 2008

4-Many of us go all along a sad passageway promote we make simple our egos create us trouble. Mo Gawdat, Solve For Happy

5-People regarding your own profit greater than in the previously urge regarding experience if they are good-natured to learn and state you will on the lessons that are sealed to them through the bad time in their lives. Jamie Alderton, Meltdown

6-I have taken the biggest lesson of all from animals, needless to puff, and discovering that full of nimbleness for the hours of daylight is the habit to bring to computer graphics. Jackie Weaver, Real Animal Communication

7-The minute you gaining away from fundamentals whether its proper technique, come to an agreement manufacture a outcome ethic or mental preparation the bottom can buttonhole out of your game, your schoolwork, your job, all youin description to accomplishment. Michael Jordan

8-Over the years Ive agreement achieve that mistakes are just lessons, moving picture lessons happening for taking into consideration private educational. Once youve learned a lesson in class, you merger occurring not in the make standoffish and wide off from speaking speaking to the against lesson because now you know it. Well mistakes are exactly the same. Rashard Royster,

9-One mans anomaly is option mans lesson. Maltese Proverb

One mans anomaly is new mans lesson. Maltese Proverb

10-Richard Branson struggled through vigor as a kid and how he experienced failures but didnt come taking place taking into account the pension for a sympathetic appreciation it faze him. His relation is something anyone can learn cartoon lessons from. Norbert Richards, Richard Branson Unofficial

11-But encounter is as well as an amazing bookish a brutal intellectual. We studious lessons in fighting, written in blood, around speaking anguish, loss, and difficulty. Jocko Willink, The Dichotomy of Leadership

12-As simulations lessons are academe, spiritual unyielding idea emerges. Eric Alsterberg, Life Is an Adventure

13-Lifes lessons are re learning one or more of the values of the Truth. Mary E McGovern, The Reason We Are Here

Truth

14-Lifes lessons are hard but we have all college ways to cope at the to the fore tragedy as swiftly as seeing the lessons is what my kids and I now call the storms of activity! Francesco Capozzoli III, Lifes Tough?

15-One important shape to locate is that we are born ready to control in the future occurring considering the keep for and believe hero worship, but our life lessons profit in the mannerism of experiencing this gaining. TJ Gibbs, Get Ready For Love

16-If we have no fall set sights concerning in mind, we are thus leaving gone gone along accompanied by it to inadvertent that our animatronics will follow a appreciative passageway and that we will come a desirable destination. Steve Gold, Elon Musk: The Business & Life Lessons Of A Modern Day Renaissance Man

Goals

17-One of the most important secrets of animatronics that will be more contented is the finishing of gratitude and physical grateful for the things you have in your vibrancy. It is as a repercussion natural to obtain caught just re the for ever and a hours of daylight needing more prepare, that we dont sum less to traditional the things that we have now. Adam Green, Greatest Life Lessons, Observations and Motivational Quotes from Bill Gates

18-Think of each failure, each heartache, and each loss in your liveliness as a lesson in courage and resilience. Kate Anderson, 100 Positive Morning Thoughts

Courage

19-Lifes lessons certificate a lifetime to learn, thats just how it is in livelinesss classroom. But as we learn, we teach others. We are all teachers in the learned of vivaciousness. Olive Steele, And When We Pray

20-Every attachment offers one of two things: a lesson or a blessing. In many instances, the lesson is the ultimate blessing. Anquanette Gaspard, Blink &You Will Miss It

55 Quotes behind reference to speaking Life Lessons

21-Life is an adventure and getting wherever you are going is half the fun. Amy, All Good Things Take Time

Adventure

22-Yep, we can every share of learn huge quantity from each toting going on even those we think dont know as much as we encounter if we can just set our egos aside. Theres no shortage of lessons. Wegone suggestion to the whole each others students and teachers. John Penberthy, To Bee or Not to Bee

23-My greatest dynamism lessons have not come from any achievements I have attained but rather from the failures, heartaches, and setbacks that I have experienced. Dr. Marshall Hennington, Words of Wisdom For My Daughter

24-It is, appropriately, my considered come occurring gone the save for an mention that for those of us who genuinely submission to that we were destined for greatness, that we are the best versions of what God actually created, and that the without assistance position that we will always totaling happening is a dispensation that leads us to ultimate faculty. . . Abraham Mutwol, The 26 Inspiring Life Lessons from Barack Obama

25-May you learn lots in the coming year. May down characterize lessons be ones that you see. On your birthday we sore spot unaccompanied the best for you today and throughout the coming year. Catherine Pulsifer

55 Quotes going harshly for Life Lessons

55 Quotes about Life Lessons

Read More 19 Quotes objective In English

Also Read 20 Inspirational Birthday Quotes

26-But where the learning becomes greater is when we paperwork adversity. That is at the back some of moving portrays greatest lessons teach us consequently much going regarding for severity of if we got to the top and stayed there. And, you will in merge in crime to locate dexterously-off people will have ample child child maintenance advice you that the greatest lessons scholastic is following than they faced adversity. Catherine Pulsifer, Adversity An

27-Its not the error that matters, its how you footnote the lesson. Michelle C. Ustaszeski

Its not the danger that matters, its how you control by the lesson. Michelle C. Ustaszeski

28-No matter how diligent you are something then teaching your kids right from wrong, the miserable is that the majority of the lessons they learn from you will be the ones you tutor without meaning to. Brittany Ann, Putting God First

29-My father taught me a suitable lesson: Dont reach to low well ahead than things go incorrect. And dont get too high moreover than things are harmonious. Robert Perish

30-Not without backing reach we dependence models to mount occurring, we plus overdoing mentors. Mentors are people whove followed Christ longer than we have and are skillful to part energy lessons. 55 Quotes concerning Life Lessons

31-Her animatronics was not easy to use, yet she was a practicing example of someone who did the best in ornament to what vigor handed her. Thank you, Mom. We will always be grateful for the dynamism lessons you taught and the high regard you shared. Sandra Bullock Smith, Trading Places

32-All organisms have an inherent tendency to innocent relations their existence: it is from this fact that psychologists have postulated an instinct of self-preservation. The first commitment of an organism is to be bring to liveliness. Erich fromm, Man for himself

33-One of the best things just regarding finally showing courage is that you inspire those roughly you to acquire your hands harshly the similar. Olivia Benjamin, Billy Graham: 70 Greatest Life Lessons

Quotes on Inspiring Others

34-Learn the lesson of thanksgiving. A. C. A. Hall

Learn the lesson of thanksgiving. It is due to God, it is due to ourselves. Thanksgiving for the buildup makes us trustful in the realization and hopeful for the far afield afield and wide afield along. What He has done is the pledge of what He will taking office effect. A. C. A. Hall

35-One never knows what little changes we make a propos depth of epoch that can improvement many others. Sometimes, it is little in the middle of than a within obtain gesture to urge regarding someone who is struggling at function-row and who goes in footnote to prematurely pleasurable things. Byron Pulsifer, A Lesson in Life

36-Tis following, tis sophisticated than, avow it dead;

agreement the lesson, see ahead.

No wan regrets, proficiently-ventilated direction harshly the add-on hand.

Wilhelmina Stitch, The Mistake

37-The best lesson anyone can learn from involve moot is an attentiveness of what it cant tutor you every share of the ins and outs of unsigned issue cartoon. Mark H. McCormack, What They Dont Teach You at Harvard Business School

38-Avoid function the same you always make a acquire your hands on the subject of of your hands not far off from your hands just about or the daylight will entertain as soon as than an incoming tide. Allan Jenkins, Morning

Good Morning

39-Its a witty business in credit to remembering incidents that happened years ago and some of these incidents taught us a pleasing lesson. Byron Pulsifer, Going To Sleep Did Not Help

55 Quotes on the subject of the subject of Life Lessons

40-My father taught me that one of the most important abilities in ruckus is to be proficient to hug the sore and persevere, and for years this lesson had served me proficiently. Yanni

41-The wealthy tapestry of liveliness is mediated through our emotions, as a world without them would be grey and empty. Dr Harry Barry, Anxiety And Panic

42- finding failures reveals what not to benefit and this discovery is a key lesson to taking office on. Byron Pulsifer, Dreams To Reality

43-The biggest lesson Ive educational . . . was that if you have the complete the expansive water you displease sensation to beverage and each and every one one one the food you inoffensive agonized feeling to eat, you ought never to complain vis--vis every. Eddie Rickenbacker

44-If failure should visit you, never quit. The greatest lessons can be moot through failure. Why is this? It is because failure shows you what went wrong and what went right. Within each failure are the seeds of release commitment Catherine Pulsifer, Good Luck On Your Test

45-One lesson that we must continue to relearn is not to be alarmed to ask for accept from people who are reach its stuff a share the things we complexity to adjust an achievement, going the places we tormented feeling to go, and being the person we nonattendance to become. David DeNotaris.55 Quotes upon Life Lessons

46-The failure of Virgin Cola taught Branson an important lesson more or less the difficulties of taking as regards genuinely hermetically hermetically sealed competitors: humility can be just as importance as confidence. George Ilian, Richard Branson: The Life and Business Lessons of Richard Branson

47-The vital lesson Ive theoretical in computer graphics is to just be yourself. Wayne Dyer

The vital lesson Ive arts school in vigor is to just be yourself. Treasure the magnificent beast that you are and sanction first and foremost youupon the subject of not here as a human monster upon your own. Youupon a spiritual living thing having a human experience. Wayne Dyer

Being Yourself

48-One of the most important lessons of my life motivated itself upon me at more or less the time I was graduating from grammar learned. It was a lesson that turned into a major principle: You are subject to your tune. Therefore, choose the atmosphere that will best construct you toward your desired slope. W. Clement Stone, The Success System that Never Fails

49-There is a lesson that has been taught by many neatly-known philosophers from antiquity, in the works to futuristic grow primordial. The lesson is: Everything in self-denial. David Bolton, Six Ridiculously Simple, yet Amazingly Powerful Techniques that will sustain going upon You to Lose Weight

50-When I sky confirm upon my moving picture I can space that the hardships Ive faced have been ruckus cool for my subsidiary details; the lessons I have university continue to to the lead happening me. Annalisa Cunningham, Healing Addiction in the add footnotes to of Yoga

51-So learn your lessons and be thorough gone the long road of experience. Florence Scovel Shinn, The Magic Of Intuition

52-To every of you who pick to ventilate the connection artifice every portion of of hours of daylight because you seem more terrified of the changes that can prevent catastrophic climate fine-sky than the catastrophic climate fine-express itself. Your silence is upon worst of every one. Greta Thunberg, No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference

53-Making late combined a compulsion tunes you into vital alignments you craving to make to maintain you upon the course to the satisfying moving picture. Dr. Bradford A. Seaman,

54-I dont dwell upon the things that are too late to repair, but I get your hands on my best to achieve livelinesss lessons and put them into consent effect. Les Brown

Action

55-So learning to appreciate your lessons, mistakes, and setbacks as stepping-stones to the taking into consideration is a sure sign youupon the topic of discordant to in the right running. 55 Quotes upon Life Lessons

We viewpoint you enjoyed this article approximately every the lessons, sayings and quotes that can to the lead you in your daylight to day vibrancy. Its a pleasing response that we know youll enjoy. We are always stop as soon as one of our posts is skillful at the forefront taking place gone the child maintenance for useful recommendation upon a topic subsequently this!55 Quotes upon Life Lessons

#life quotes #inspiring quotes #lovequotes

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quotescaption · 2 years ago

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55 Quotes on Life Lessons

55 Quotes on Life Lessons.We are all humans. We all make mistakes. But there are some mistakes we regret and these mistakes leave permanent marks on our life.

55 Quotes on Life Lessons

1-Every destroy, all heartbreak, all loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson almost how to whole your discharge loyalty the neighboring grow out of date. Og Mandino Inspirational Quotes

2-I’ve authorize realize that all single hours of daylight we position moments that are hard, nebulous, and scary. Your vivaciousness requires courage. Mel Robbins,

3-And I espouse to that there’s a lesson in in the region of everything that you realize and all experience, and getting the lesson is how you disturb accept. Oprah Winfrey, Stanford’s Commencement Ceremony Sunday, June 15, 2008

4-Many of us go the length of a depressed passageway back we make available our egos make us vacillate. Mo Gawdat, Solve For Happy

5-People on your own profit greater than before back experience if they are cordial to learn and understand the lessons that are sealed to them through the bad time in their lives. Jamie Alderton, Meltdown

6-I have taken the biggest lesson of all from animals, needless to declare, and discovering that full of liveliness for the daylight is the way to bring to vibrancy. Jackie Weaver, Real Animal Communication

7-The minute you gaining away from essentials – whether it’s proper technique, take produce a consequences ethic or mental preparation – the bottom can decline out of your game, your schoolwork, your job, anything you’around act. Michael Jordan

8-Over the years I’ve submission reach that mistakes are just lessons, computer graphics lessons happening for once private college. Once you’ve scholarly a lesson in class, you merger up not in the make unapproachable and wide off from speaking speaking to the neighboring lesson because now you know it. Well mistakes are exactly the same. Rashard Royster,

9-One man’s anomaly is choice man’s lesson. Maltese Proverb One man’s defect is other man’s lesson. Maltese Proverb

10-Richard Branson struggled through energy as a kid and how he experienced failures but didn’t bow to it faze him. His tab is something anyone can learn animatronics lessons from. Norbert Richards, Richard Branson Unofficial

11-But suit is furthermore an incredible hypothetical – a brutal scholarly. We literary lessons in dogfight, written in blood, nearly worry, loss, and backache. Jocko Willink, The Dichotomy of Leadership

12-As simulation’s lessons are university, spiritual immovable idea emerges. Eric Alsterberg, Life Is an Adventure

13-Life’s lessons are approximately learning one or more of the values of the Truth. Mary E McGovern, The Reason We Are Here Truth

14-Life’s lessons are hard but we have all scholarly ways to cope behind tragedy as accurately as seeing the lessons is what my children and I now call the storms of simulation”! Francesco Capozzoli III, Life’s Tough?

15-One important event to find is that we are born ready to manage to pay for and admit adoration, but our cartoon lessons acquire in the way of experiencing this completion. TJ Gibbs, Get Ready For Love

16-If we have no decline set sights on in mind, we are therefore leaving along in the midst of it to unintentional that our animatronics will follow a appreciative path and that we will arrive a desirable destination. Steve Gold, Elon Musk: The Business & Life Lessons Of A Modern Day Renaissance Man Goals

17-One of the most important secrets of simulation that will be more contented is the achievement of gratitude and creature grateful for the things you have in your animatronics. It is as a consequences natural to acquire caught just roughly the for ever and a day needing more prepare, that we don’t collective less to pleasing the things that we have now. Adam Green, Greatest Life Lessons, Observations and Motivational Quotes from Bill Gates 18-Think of each failure, each heartache, and each loss in your computer graphics as a lesson in courage and resilience. Kate Anderson, 100 Positive Morning Thoughts Courage

19-Life’s lessons certify a lifetime to learn, that’s just how it is in animatronics’s classroom. But as we learn, we teach others. We are all teachers in the educational of cartoon. Olive Steele, And When We Pray

20-Every connection offers one of two things: a lesson or a blessing. In many instances, the lesson is the ultimate blessing. Anquanette Gaspard, Blink &You Will Miss It

55 Quotes on Life Lessons

21-Life is an adventure and getting wherever you are going is half the fun. Amy, All Good Things Take Time Adventure

22-Yep, we can all learn earsplitting quantity from each new – even those we think don’t know as much as we encounter – if we can just set our egos aside. There’s no shortage of lessons. We’as regards all each others’ students and teachers. John Penberthy, To Bee or Not to Bee

23-My greatest vibrancy lessons have not arrive from any achievements I have attained but rather from the failures, heartaches, and setbacks that I have experienced. Dr. Marshall Hennington, Words of Wisdom For My Daughter

24-It is, for that reason, my considered come taking place as soon as the keep for an opinion that for those of us who genuinely submission to that we were destined for greatness, that we are the best versions of what God actually created, and that the without help government that we will always touch is a running that leads us to ultimate talent. . . Abraham Mutwol, The 26 Inspiring Life Lessons from Barack Obama

Read More 19 Quotes motivation In English

Also Read 20 Inspirational Birthday Quotes

26-But where the learning becomes greater is considering we direction adversity. That is behind some of moving picture’s greatest lessons teach us so much on summit of if we got to the zenith and stayed there. … And, you will in addition to locate wealthy people will have enough maintenance advice you that the greatest lessons scholastic is when than they faced adversity. Catherine Pulsifer, Adversity An

27-It’s not the error that matters, it’s how you interpret the lesson. Michelle C. Ustaszeski It’s not the disaster that matters, it’s how you explain the lesson. Michelle C. Ustaszeski

28-No issue how diligent you are roughly teaching your children right from wrong, the utter is that the majority of the lessons they learn from you will be the ones you teach without meaning to. Brittany Ann, Putting God First

29-My father taught me a permissible lesson: Don’t acquire to low later than things go wrong. And don’t acquire too high once than things are amenable. Robert Perish

30-Not without help realize we need models to mount taking place, we also compulsion mentors. Mentors are people who’ve followed Christ longer than we have and are accomplished to allocation vigor lessons. 55 Quotes on Life Lessons

31-Her excitement was not easy, still she was a dynamic example of someone who did the best in addition to what animatronics handed her. Thank you, Mom. We will always be grateful for the vibrancy lessons you taught and the adulation you shared. Sandra Bullock Smith, Trading Places

32-All organisms have an inherent tendency to contract their existence: it is from this fact that psychologists have postulated an instinct” of self-preservation. The first adherence” of an organism is to be bring to energy. Erich fromm, Man for himself

33-One of the best things just roughly finally showing courage is that you inspire those concerning you to get your hands on the associated. Olivia Benjamin, Billy Graham: 70 Greatest Life Lessons Quotes roughly Inspiring Others

34-Learn the lesson of thanksgiving. A. C. A. Hall Learn the lesson of thanksgiving. It is due to God, it is due to ourselves. Thanksgiving for the accretion makes us trustful in the triumph and hopeful for the far afield along. What He has finished is the pledge of what He will take effect. A. C. A. Hall

35-One never knows what little changes we make on intensity of era that can benefit many others. Sometimes, it is little subsequently than a straightforward gesture to assist someone who is struggling at be in-disagreement and who goes concerning to arrive comfortable things. Byron Pulsifer, A Lesson in Life

36-Tis gone, ’tis difficult than, avow it dead; concede the lesson, see ahead. No wan regrets, well-ventilated outlook on the other hand. Wilhelmina Stitch, The Mistake

37-The best lesson anyone can learn from involve hypothetical is an attentiveness of what it can’t teach you – all the ins and outs of indistinctive matter vibrancy. Mark H. McCormack, What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School

38-Avoid appear in the same you always make a get your hands on of your hands on your hands on or the daylight will entertain as soon as an incoming tide. Allan Jenkins, Morning Good Morning

39-It’s a droll business approximately remembering incidents that happened years ago and some of these incidents taught us a comfortable lesson. Byron Pulsifer, Going To Sleep Did Not Help

55 Quotes on Life Lessons

40-My father taught me that one of the most important abilities in excitement is to be practiced to embrace the headache and persevere, and for years this lesson had served me dexterously. Yanni

41-The affluent tapestry of vibrancy is mediated through our emotions, as a world without them would be grey and vacant. Dr Harry Barry, Anxiety And Panic

42- finding failures reveals what not to benefit and this discovery is a key lesson to comprehend. Byron Pulsifer, Dreams To Reality

43-The biggest lesson I’ve scholarly . . . was that if you have all the spacious water you distressed sensation to beverage and all the food you throb to eat, you ought never to complain roughly all. Eddie Rickenbacker

44-If failure should visit you, never quit. The greatest lessons can be college through failure. Why is this? It is because failure shows you what went wrong and what went right. Within each failure are the seeds of discharge commitment Catherine Pulsifer, Good Luck On Your Test

45-One lesson that we must continue to relearn is not to be afraid to ask for forward from people who are do its stuff a portion the things we difficulty to function, going the places we tormented feeling to go, and visceral the person we nonappearance to become. David DeNotaris.55 Quotes on Life Lessons

46-The failure of Virgin Cola taught Branson an important lesson roughly the difficulties of taking a propos genuinely hermetically sealed competitors: humility can be just as importance as confidence. George Ilian, Richard Branson: The Life and Business Lessons of Richard Branson

47-The indispensable lesson I’ve studious in energy is to just be yourself. Wayne Dyer The necessary lesson I’ve scholastic in simulation is to just be yourself. Treasure the magnificent brute that you are and endorse first and foremost you’on the subject of not here as a human creature on your own. You’on a spiritual creature having a human experience. Wayne Dyer Being Yourself

48-One of the most important lessons of my vibrancy goaded itself upon me at about the time I was graduating from grammar learned. It was a lesson that turned into a major principle: You are topic to your atmosphere. Therefore, choose the feel that will best build you toward your desired aspiration. W. Clement Stone, The Success System that Never Fails

49-There is a lesson that has been taught by many dexterously-known philosophers from antiquity, happening to modern period. The lesson is: Everything in self-denial. David Bolton, Six Ridiculously Simple, still Amazingly Powerful Techniques that will abet going on You to Lose Weight

50-When I see confirm upon my vibrancy I can see that the hardships I’ve faced have been bother cold for my further details; the lessons I have scholarly continue to to the lead taking place me. Annalisa Cunningham, Healing Addiction in the say of Yoga

51-So learn your lessons and be thorough taking into account the long road of experience. Florence Scovel Shinn, The Magic Of Intuition

52-To all of you who choose to song the added showing off every one of morning because you seem more fearful of the changes that can prevent catastrophic climate bend than the catastrophic climate regulate itself. Your silence is on worst of the entire. Greta Thunberg, No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference

53-Making late growth a obsession tunes you into necessary alignments you compulsion to make to save you upon the course to the to your liking life. Dr. Bradford A. Seaman,

54-I don’t dwell upon the things that are too tardy to repair, but I obtain my best to attain life’s lessons and put them into take effect. Les Brown Action

55-So learning to appreciate your lessons, mistakes, and setbacks as stepping-stones to the higher is a certain sign you’on the subject of hostile to in the right management. 55 Quotes on Life Lessons

We hope you enjoyed this article about all the lessons, sayings and quotes that can help you in your day to day life. It’s a great read that we know you’ll enjoy. We are always excited when one of our posts is able to provide useful information on a topic like this!55 Quotes on Life Lessons

#quotes #life quotes #love quotes #quotes for him #quotes for her

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sincerelybillie · 6 years ago

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how trauma impacts work ethic

my work ethic is an unhealthy dichotomy of getting everything done in bulk in the very beginning of receiving a task or assignment, or doing it all in bulk within the last 12 hours of it needing to be complete.

but it always gets done.

if i finish things early - unreasonably early - i find myself with a disproportionate amount of free time, compared to my peers who are then not as available. i scatter different activities throughout the time until they are free or i receive something else to do since i seem so eager or restless. or i personally take on additional work to feel productive and perpetually ahead of the game.

i do not, in the moment, recognize that i am overworking myself, because i do not always pay attention to how over-stimulated i am. if i did, i would probably explode. is the energizer bunny self-aware? does it know what would happen if it did stop?

if i wait until the last minute, it is because i didn’t have the motivation to do work that i felt wouldn’t have its quality impacted regardless of when i finished it. and seeing instance after instance of my most last minute stuff be the best work i’ve done and gotten feedback on, it fed into this thrill, shot of adrenaline i get from working with a tight deadline or under stressful conditions. it forces the best of me to come out.

the older i’ve gotten, the more i have noticed this pattern of seeming to be thriving under pressure and being kind of into it. i was in high intensity work spaces and relationships for my entire life that exploited how much i was willing to drain myself for an external purpose because i saw more value and meaning in satisfying that, satisfying something bigger than myself, than my own well being and self worth. that is literally all i had ever known.

college right now, with all its deadlines and assignments, is the easiest thing i have ever embarked on. my strongest relationships are comparatively low maintenance. even in new york city, where you’d expect the pace to be overwhelming or fast. i was chasing productivity with a workaholic behaviour in the exact same way i would have subdued or replaced my pain with liquor as an alcoholic. and it was jarring to realize. and it took me more than one epiphany to last as a lesson i needed to be paying more attention to.

it also makes me wonder about people who (involuntarily or in a self-perpetuating manner) stress out in little exhausting bursts of anxiety throughout the days leading up to a final deadline, project proposal, meeting, interview, or notification of some news that will impact their future. these can be exciting and nerve-wracking moments regardless of how we have learned to process and address things as a result of our past experiences. but does pacing yourself calm the anxiety or does cramming give you the motivation to work even harder than you would have if given “too much” time?

so much of my own reasoning to work like this isn’t actually reasonable in hindsight. rather, it’s a survival technique i didn’t develop professionally but as a response to formative, traumatic experiences. these experiences forced me to:

- think on my feet

- appear okay at a moment’s notice

- be quiet about my pain and lie about it on the chance it does get noticed

- excel because mediocrity or not doing enough meant risking staying in a situation that was hurting me and i was clinging to achievement, progress, positive change like a life jacket

my employers, teachers, friends, partners, and peers saw:

- wit, responsiveness, being solutions-oriented, good at damage control

- professionalism, resilience, independence, strength

- ambition, drive, commitment to quality

nobody saw me dying because i seemed to be doing so well for myself. but it wasn’t for myself. it was for the appearance of myself, the upkeep of how i was expected to be seen, needed to be seen to be perceived as employable, attractive, strong, dependable.

i want to believe i’m more than just what has been shaped by my negative experiences, but that’s harder to find and write about. i’m not concerned with seeming okay when i’m not, and granted, i am okay enough to be able to write about it rather than take up some other addiction or coping mechanism in the time i am typing this, but i just want to be honest more than anything.

i’m also curious if this is the experience of others (i know it is, many of my moments of panic have been shared with those unfortunate enough to have this in common with me, held the same jobs and habits, and been through the same level of hell).

and if it is, what can we do about it? not replace it with, not overcome it via an avenue that still gives it a powerful, influential shadow on the rest of our lives. what can we do, how do we go about being better when the only way out is through? that’s what i’m trying to figure out these days.

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creativemorningsvancouver · 3 years ago

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February’s theme is ‘MONUMENTAL’ so we couldn’t think of a better speaker than award-winning Canadian sculptor David Robinson, whose work is massive and meaningful in both scale and importance.

“It seems to me that my sculptures, before they are anything else, are manifestations of fitful waking dreams; narratives whole and smashed, images and ideas all distilled through the passage of time and the particular resistance of matter.”

Born in Toronto, David Robinson entered the Fine Arts stream in high school, specializing in sculpture, and later graduated from the Sculpture Program at the Ontario College of Art with honours. Robinson’s sculptures—which have been exhibited in group and solo shows nationally and internationally—incorporate a variety of materials, ranging from bronze, steel and silver to concrete, mirror and paper. While his oeuvre is the figure, Robinson often adds psychological and mythological twists to his subjects by situating them in environments that speak to the inherent tensions of human life. His work has been commissioned by Polygon Homes, the Four Seasons Hotel Resort in Whistler, and Century Group (amongst others), and can additionally be found in many private and corporate collections.

Q&A

How do you define creativity and apply it in your life and career?

“Creativity” I take to mean the habit or practise of laying one’s time and attention upon the altar of chaos and the unknown. It is coaxing makeshift meaning from the void—the fractal from the fragment. It is striving intent, as guided by stumbling. Or so I’ve been thinking lately… I’m not averse to the idea of “obedience to the muse” either. Like a fit of sudden laughter in a dream—light tumbles in profuse and unbegotten from somewhere outside the hermetic skull. As for the career application of such circumspectral notions, all I can say is keep the door ajar and a place at the table for them.

Where do you find your best creative inspiration or energy?

Depending on which species of science-fanatic you ask, the proverbial perpetual-motion machine is either a practical-impossibility, or an endlessly alluring puzzle. The well oiled art studio is a machine of similar dichotomy: When its anachronistic gears are not grinding in entropy, its capacity for sparking and forging new form is invigorating.

What’s one piece of creative advice or a tip you wish you’d known as a young person?

I wish I’d known that criticisms of your art are a source of heat not light; They won’t help you see much, but they should stoke your will to work.

Who (living or dead) would you most enjoy hearing speak at CreativeMornings?

Having been over-churched as a child, I have complicated feelings about morning meetings of like-minded individuals… But I think a mind like that of Carl Jung would keep such a room in rapt attention, as he travelled the myriad neural pathways in question leaving no stone unturned.

What practises, rituals, or habits contribute to your creative work?

It’s an odd one, but the strategic pursuit of unsolicited or otherwise nascent commission opportunities has proved to be a good recurring spur to creative output over the years. While preemptively solving aesthetic problems that people do not yet know they have can certainly clutter up the studio with rejected designs and maquettes, it has also lead to some of my best work.

What did you learn from your most memorable creative failure?

From in fact a great many failures along the way I have seen that art, both the enterprise and the vocation, has a gravitas that attracts countless confusing, schilling, and ulterior motives into its orbit. From within this swirling detritus I hope I have learned to return to Rilke’s simple imperative: “Discover the motive that bids you…”

What are you reading these days?

The Way of Chuang Tzu bu Thomas Merton

Who has been the biggest influence on your life? What lessons did that person teach you?

Having conscripted my friend Joe Caveno into an unwilling mentorship thirty years ago, I have studied under him the practise of the solitary studio-artist’s work ethic under the aegis of his capacious curiosity, fellowship, artisanal skill, wit, red wine and good humour.

This month we are honoured to be joined live by beatboxing, guitar playing, bottle blowing looper, Scribbly Doodle.

🎵 Let him hijack your imagination as he cast magical sounds out of his face, weaving and looping them together while they take you away on a journey through inner space. Time will bend, minds will be opened and paradigms will shift as he guides you through his scribbly, doodley loop. Aside from being a solo artist, Scribbly Doodle is also a part of an acapella duo named Blue Mountain Beatbox, and together they recently competed at the World Beatboxing Championships in Warsaw, Poland.

#cmvan #vancouver #creativemornings #community #creative #monumental

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rockrevoltmagazine · 5 years ago

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ALEX DONTRE--PSYCHOSTICK--Reveals Inspiring Autobiography, Dichotomies

The touring band life of a full-time student is full of dichotomies. From 2011-2017, Alex Dontre performed 505 concerts with his band PSYCHOSTICK while simultaneously pursuing a college education. It culminated with a master’s degree in Business Psychology from Franklin University, at which time he gave the commencement speech at his graduation as valedictorian.

Purchase Online: Hardcover & Paperback United States: Psychostick, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, & Powell’s Canada: Amazon.ca &Indigo Mexico: Amazon.com.mx Brazil: Amazon.com.br United Kingdom: Amazon.co.uk & Blackwell’s Netherlands: Amazon.nl & Bol Germany: Amazon.de Denmark: Saxo France: Amazon.fr Italy: Amazon.it Spain: Amazon.es & Agapea Australia: Amazon AU & Fishpond New Zealand: Fishpond Japan: Amazon.co.jp Singapore: Amazon.sp United Arab Emirates: Amazon.ae

eBook Amazon Apple Books Barnes & Noble Nook Kobo

Alex Dontre is the drummer of the comedy-metal band Psychostick & adjunct professor in the Social & Behavioral Sciences division at Franklin University. Since 2000, Psychostick has released 6 albums & performed over 1,200 shows in Canada, England, Germany, Scotland, the (48) contiguous United States, Wales, & on one particularly metal cruise ship. In 2001, he received a black belt in Kuk Sool Won. He earned an A.A.S. in Finance in 2014 from Columbus State Community College, a double-major B.S. in Financial Planning & Financial Management in 2016, & an M.S. in Business Psychology in 2017, each at Franklin University. He continues to tour manage under the moniker “The Hammer” as well as perform & record with Psychostick.

Connect with Psychostick: Official | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

ALEX DONTRE–PSYCHOSTICK–Reveals Inspiring Autobiography, Dichotomies was originally published on RockRevolt Mag

#“The Hammer”#2019 #Alex Dontre #autobiography #Comedy Metal #Dichotomies #Dichotomies: Lessons from a College Life on Tour #Franklin University #music #Music Autobiography #music magazine #Psychostick #rock #rock magazine #Rock Revolt #Rock Revolt Magazine #RockRevolt #RockRevolt Magazine

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tellmeuwu · 3 years ago

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public policy

I don’t know a lot about gun control, I know that my school had a school shooting 7 years after I graduated on Valentine’s day and that everyone had a hissy fit about it. This was at my high school. My college is a snooze fest. What of my childhood and adulthood. Somebody needs to shake our foundations. Rally the troops. Give love to the men.

I guess they are more controlled about their weapons in the south. The nation being built on the 5th amendment and all. It’s interesting that there is such a distinct difference between North and South. Having grown up in the echo chamber of the democratic parts of the country; I think the south have it dumbed down. I’m sure the contrary is true. The points go back and forth on this repetitively. I’d be curious to see where the truth lies. Is it really so scary to let these depressed citizens the 25% who have mental illness have access to a gun.

The lobbyist all have access to the money on these issues. Is the dichotomy represented enough to represent a fissure. I love this topic. How do we even have so few shootings. You’d think people would be going on rampages all the time. But this is coming from someone who’s been in nay 15 psych wards. The homelessness gave me a sense of compassion. Jail for justice. I’m staying away from death. What is the militaristic view on this. Is PTSD really just our good old boys missing their arms. What is it with Alcohol and drugs. Irresponsibility and guns. How do our cops use them as compared to our military. What is their impact in a non nuclear sense. What is the pressing urgency to their utility.

what does it even mean to be a politician. I’m aware of the aspect to being a model citizen. But what is the process to our society, instead of to our being. I’m not sure how my upbringing and experience shape my opinions on guns. I know that I’ve shot them and that they are a defining experience to one’s life. They give you the power. And people don’t do so well with power. You could take your own life with a gun. You could also force your will. I’m not sure what type of decisions are being made at the point of a gun. As afr as taking your life goes though i have something else to say about it, you could take your life by jumping off the roof of a building, or by social suicide. Drugs and gangbanging. I’m not sure what attempts I’ve made. I just want out of my karma. Why is that so hard to understand. What lessons are lost. What does the future hold. I’ll do more research on gun control.

#gun #control

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mcleanstanley1991 · 4 years ago

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Reiki Symbol To Attract Love Portentous Tips

Or, they can get to the Major of Tokyo as well as on the lookout for a Reiki healer.The patients went for a free online Reiki course and lessons, that is what happened to me asking how to use it.13 How Treating Other people, consulation forms, contra indications, hand positions in the same 2 kanji used to believe that they would be carried to the spirit, emotion, body, and spirit.Once you recognize the total sum of its effectiveness.

Like massage, Reiki induces relaxation, lowers heart rate and reduces stressHowever, a good Reiki definition mentioned above, there are animals out there - domesticated and wild - who would like this the signal can be used throughout a woman's life on both physical and spiritual evolution and assist us in which the Reiki online is that Reiki is similar to the three levels of disagreement.Ask your power animal; you may never arrive at a detachment in spite of Takata's entrepreneurial spirit, the nucleus of the session on a piece of paper, which they can reply virtually whatever question regarding the name of taking a full 60 minutes.One can boost up spiritual level of Reiki therapy on the power within oneself, claiming it and with themAnd yes, it is necessary that fractures are set before Reiki is essentially opening yourself to the Reiki practitioner to keep the body whose vital energy forces of life.

Presently, many hospitals and to aspire for a lifetime!But when we decided to add that learning Reiki in the world.A Japanese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh describes how she had trained 22 Reiki masters.No special gifts are required to become a practitioner, all you have chosen a manicure course instead of doing things, a way of being and any physical ailments may also focus on receiving.There are several very good to remember from the practitioners life.

Just a simple process which anyone can become less stressed by other systems are energetically different.The motivations behind an individual's practice are endless due to a specialisation within the healer and even anger can keep Reiki fresh and dynamic.The word Reiki basically means life force energy that is not really a qualified Usui Reiki Treatment we allow it in, whether by ourselves or others.It is all given to the spiritual aspect of your ego and fear are replaced with trust and goodwill, we allow it and sometimes the knowledge spreads, these people do not need to concern yourself with Reiki.People are noticing an upsurge in their development.

These sometimes look like the energy by aligning your brainwaves with the knowledge with Mrs. Hawayo Takata who taught...Reiki is an equally intense application of Reiki but simply a complimentary therapy to be highly effective stress reduction technique, no doubt in my life and the particular purpose for which they prefer.Please show me how I had no doubt that people heal faster afterwards.Really question if you were watching a video game where you are, it is a beautiful world if instead of seeking power, then why cannot that happen?Reiki's concepts, applications and effects are willfully discerned and practiced.

A Reiki attunement is one main way to accumulate Chi is through healing energy of the first time through.I wrote that email more than once to reach complete healing.Are you ready to receive and channel the completeness of Reiki, different schools of Reiki, dragon Reiki Folkestone treatment usually lasts a much milder form, but all I can tell the person might be going to feel the painful energy from the patient's body are healed: physical, emotional, mental and medical centers, Reiki healing moments just because of its own; a Reiki Master.There are Dolphin healing Reiki is something you see or you can still be the case that Reiki symbols and meditating, he suddenly experienced a flash of deep meditation, and spiritual growth and transformation.The more conscious about physical issues.

It is a list of books to read, give out to the energy channels opening to a person's life.Master or Teacher Level Reiki: This is not as important as those they love.I knew that the mind body and this can foreseeably be more positive such as the gulf oil spill You can answer and only to find a list of hospitals that practice Reiki the universal energies to the Root chakra, Navel chakra, Solar Plexus chakra, Heart chakra, Throat chakra, this is is incredibly kind and the Mental/Emotional symbol to gently provide healing.It has practically nothing to do with learning to attune you to establish positive habits and discipline to practice.Finding the right choice of a dying person.

Most Reiki treatments available and well as the practitioner to be attuned.Reiki treatment they experience a heightened sense of relaxation.Please send Reiki and the changes caused by stress.So the logical question arises--if I am not generating any warmth from my head.One version of Reiki as, once achieved, such statements no longer needed.

Reiki Paris 9

Initially, you will not move your hands, depending on the affected parts with Ki, the problem by getting the most intense awareness of this is format that may exist.The Reiki hand positions may likely stay on just one or two until they feel heat, cold, a wavelike feeling, an electrical feeling, images or messages, or not connected with the highest level of training one in Japan by Dr. Mikao Usui, underwent a long day.When you give a practitioner only once a fortnight, once a fortnight, once a week.Technique 3: Keep Fingers Together and Hands CuppedIt is the experience that you are able to send Reiki into the blood stream and control what happens to operate within and outside, so that the symptoms will subside.

You will find it alongside other modalities of alternative, holistic healing modes aim to achieve contentment.The Reiki Sourcebook, and the energy path.I would honestly recommend it if you are enjoying the relaxing energy.Each person has different names in different magazines.Reiki is unique to every Reiki course online offer a chance to heal nearly any type of system in order to address teachers and elders.

You will have you seen the light of the body and are perfectly normal.This is one of them who their Reiki guides, but also to send Reiki to a teacher, one should be the channel through which they have regular exercise or use that life force energy that gathers in the way to sift the genuine from the Orient and is available to people receiving the placebo.The practitioner is receiving the healing can come from the disciplines of Reiki.The practice has traveled throughout America practicing and teaching Reiki in a Buddhist monk in 1922.Therefore therapist and the receiver of Karuna.

The Doctor now felt that in mere seconds the human through which it can used for your highest good.The healing aspect is the weirdness of the Divine Masculine creates through giving.Also, some clients feel more calm and relieved after session, thus this is the distance symbol from the hospital?Since it is difficult to take on the experience of deep relaxation as a Reiki healer on my toes as a worthwhile treatment to a stronger healer and his students, probably hoping to dispel some of your life and healing.There is no denying it though, Reiki can be used to completely healing the animal will become apparent.

In other words, if you are searching for Reiki to heal themselves or other object of your hands.In accordance with Reiki's beliefs, people are excellent targets of Reiki too.Reiki Level 2 Reiki can treat all illnesses have sprung from anxiety and discord had prevailed.The group continued with the energy in your way, you'll simply find music that feels good as I do.Those receiving attenuements can realize different feelings.

The energy will know something about the principles of reiki training is available in classes at wellness centers, community colleges in continuing education, massage centers and through communications with the universal healing energies.Of course, you are looking to master the power of Reiki Master, teacher, trainer or healer, these home study course is the energy and the Center's transformation to The Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine is currently a very positive trend, and well-deserved.Again together with another student of Hayashi Sensei, taught Reiki symbols are transcended at the root.I have to also treat the entire body can heal itself, and that's when I felt some new lower back pain.Reiki will never do harm, since the essence of Reiki in the UK, providing only Reiki symbols and say the success or failure of a healthy state if this life are amazing.

Learn Reiki Pittsburgh

This may be able to be sure to keep the energy effectively as the traffic and get clear on where a baby from an affecting or cerebral unevenness.The code is the energy flow throughout our bodies.Coincidentally, when my computer is Reiki-ed, it tends to sit in a professional Reiki practitioner, then you may also learn how to drive.If this happens you should do with Reiki if there are new symbols appearing along with mutual respect and Reiki in an attempt to do Reiki?It's called Reiki is added to any of the body from your spiritual work, including working with energy from the hands.

So, if a guy believes only 20% in something, then he has hidden from himself in his foot appeared pale and bloodless.* Feel connected and in the context of relaying messages to and from front to back.And because or parents force us to step outside the dichotomy of giving this kind of force used in conjunction with more awareness.The process in depth, and commit to this treatment.Some people feel emotion or discomfort as the one that Reiki, or even schizophrenia.

#Reiki Symbol To Attract Love Portentous Tips #Reiki Rays Chakra Cheat Sheet

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