#center of meditation in va

[misty1111]

I have a new creation that I’d love to share with you all! I went to group art therapy today at the VA and the prompt was to create a piece of art depicting an armor that protects you from anxiety and stress. So I created this!

It’s a representation of my energetic shield that I create every morning and night with the help of this guided meditation (I can not recommend this video enough, it’s amazing! https://youtu.be/pmrmK0HwAWM?si=L-Jq4H_T4WcqwE3G) where I first release all energy that is not of unconditional love and light and then I visualize a shield made of unconditional light and love that encompasses my body and connects up to the cosmos and higher dimensions as well as deep down to the center of the earth. There are other protection actions that the meditation guides me through but that’s the important part for the sake of the painting.

So I wanted to paint the ground with a layer of grass and roots and a clear blue sky. And the little pink blob represents my energetic self. I imagine that my energetic self would be a bright pink.

So yeah that’s my new painting. 🥰

[Image ID: The image is a photo of a painting against a wood grained desk. The painting shows a clear blue sky, a layer of grass and roots, and a deep brown ground stretching to the bottom of the canvas. On the right side of the canvas is a bright pink blob in a shape of a figure eight with a slightly bigger bottom than top that is hovering over the grass. Encompassing the blob is a column of bright yellow that extends from the top of the blue sky to the bottom of the canvas. In the bottom left corner is my signature in yellow. ./End ID]

[vipassana4u]

Healing Courses: Viassana Healing Meditation

Healing courses focused on Viassana healing meditation provide a unique and transformative approach to personal development and well-being. Viassana, a blend of mindfulness, visualization, and deep relaxation techniques, offers a comprehensive framework for healing both emotional and physical ailments. These courses are designed for individuals seeking to enhance their self-awareness, achieve emotional balance, and cultivate a deeper connection with themselves and the universe.

Understanding Viassana Healing Meditation

Viassana healing meditation is rooted in ancient wisdom and contemporary psychological principles. It emphasizes the importance of being present and mindful, allowing individuals to become aware of their thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations without judgment. This practice encourages participants to connect with their inner selves, facilitating healing from within.

The term "Viassana" may derive from the Sanskrit word "Vas," meaning to dwell or reside, and "Sana," which can imply health or healing. Together, they embody the essence of creating a safe mental space where individuals can explore their inner landscapes and find healing. Viassana meditation typically includes several key components:

Mindfulness: Participants learn to focus on the present moment, observing their thoughts and feelings without attachment. This practice helps in recognizing negative thought patterns that may contribute to emotional distress.

Breathwork: Deep and intentional breathing is central to Viassana meditation. Breathwork techniques help calm the nervous system, reduce anxiety, and promote relaxation, facilitating deeper meditation experiences.

Visualization: Guided imagery is often used to help participants visualize their desired states of well-being. This technique fosters positive thinking and encourages the manifestation of healing intentions.

Self-Reflection: Participants engage in self-reflection exercises that encourage them to explore their emotions, past experiences, and beliefs. This process of self-inquiry promotes healing by allowing individuals to identify and release emotional blockages.

Community Support: Many Viassana healing courses offer a supportive environment where participants can share their experiences, fostering a sense of connection and understanding.

Benefits of Viassana Healing Courses

Engaging in Viassana healing meditation courses can yield numerous benefits for participants:

Emotional Healing: The process of self-reflection and mindfulness allows individuals to confront and release unresolved emotions. This emotional healing can lead to increased emotional resilience and overall well-being.

Stress Reduction: The relaxation techniques taught in these courses help reduce stress and anxiety, promoting a sense of calm and tranquility. Participants often report feeling more grounded and centered in their daily lives.

Enhanced Self-Awareness: Through mindfulness practices, individuals become more aware of their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. This increased self-awareness can lead to personal growth and a greater understanding of one’s motivations and desires.

Improved Relationships: As individuals heal emotionally and develop greater self-awareness, their relationships with others often improve. Participants learn to communicate more effectively and respond to conflicts with empathy and compassion.

Physical Well-Being: The mind-body connection emphasized in Viassana healing can contribute to improved physical health. Participants often report reduced symptoms of chronic pain, improved sleep, and enhanced overall vitality.

Spiritual Growth: Many individuals find that Viassana healing meditation fosters a deeper spiritual connection. Participants often experience a sense of oneness with themselves and the universe, leading to a more profound understanding of their purpose and existence.

Course Structure

Viassana healing meditation courses are typically structured to accommodate individuals of all experience levels, from beginners to advanced practitioners. A typical course may include:

Introduction Session: Participants are introduced to the principles of Viassana healing meditation, the course structure, and what to expect during the journey.

Guided Meditations: Each session usually includes guided meditations focusing on various themes, such as emotional release, stress reduction, or self-empowerment.

Workshops and Discussions: Courses often incorporate workshops and group discussions where participants can share their experiences, ask questions, and support one another.

Homework Assignments: Participants may be encouraged to practice mindfulness and meditation techniques at home, fostering a consistent practice that reinforces the lessons learned during the course.

Closing Ceremony: At the end of the course, participants often gather for a closing ceremony that may include a group meditation, sharing of insights, and setting intentions for continued practice.

Finding a Viassana Healing Course

When looking for a Viassana healing meditation course, consider the following factors:

Qualified Instructors: Seek courses led by experienced instructors who have a deep understanding of Viassana principles and practices.

Course Length and Format: Courses can vary in length, from weekend workshops to multi-week programs. Choose a format that fits your schedule and learning preferences.

Community and Support: Look for courses that emphasize community support and provide opportunities for group interactions, as this can enhance the healing experience.

Reviews and Recommendations: Reading reviews or seeking recommendations from others who have taken the course can provide insight into the quality and effectiveness of the program.

Alignment with Personal Goals: Ensure that the course content aligns with your personal healing goals and interests.

Conclusion

Viassana healing meditation courses offer a holistic approach to self-healing, personal growth, and emotional well-being. By integrating mindfulness, breathwork, visualization, and community support, these courses provide participants with valuable tools for transforming their lives. Whether you are seeking to alleviate stress, heal emotional wounds, or deepen your spiritual practice, Viassana healing meditation can guide you on a transformative journey toward self-discovery and holistic wellness. Embracing this practice can empower you to live a more fulfilling and balanced life, creating a lasting impact on your overall well-being.

[melissa-driggers-photography]

Living Life Fully with Sunflowers Healing and Wellness

Life can be complicated, but you never have to navigate it alone! Organizations like Sunflowers Healing and Wellness stay dedicated to helping couples and individuals find clarity in their journeys. From life and relationship coaching to birth doula services and hypnobirthing, Sunflowers is an amazing resource - and with primarily virtual services, you can take advantage of their expertise wherever you live!  

About Sunflowers Healing and Wellness

  2016 Mt Vernon Ave #209, Alexandria, VA 22301 Sunflowers Healing and Wellness is a virtual healing arts center with the mission to “empower clients with custom tools to help them overcome the ongoing challenges in every phase of life.” Whether it’s life or relationship counseling, birthing support, or energy healing services, Sunflowers Healing and Wellness has always been dedicated to supporting their community. Composed of two independent organizations, Blissful Lives, and Blissful Bellies, almost all of their services are offered virtually, meaning they are available and accessible no matter where you live!  Founder, co-owner, and Wellness Director Lindsey Vick is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Usui Reiki master teacher, Certified HypnoBirthing Practitioner, and a Birth Doula. Her co-owner, Mark Vick, is a Balanced Life Coach and Reiki Master. They are joined by four other Certified Doulas who make up Blissful Bellies, creating a well-rounded team of wellness providers.    Services While many of the services offered by Sunflowers Healing and Wellness are designed to support pregnant women, they offer a variety of treatments and therapies for individuals in all phases of life. They offer Life Coaching for anyone in need of a little extra guidance and support, as well as in-depth Couples Counseling for relationships in need of structured communication and a better work/life balance.  Blissful Bellies offers birth doula services for expectant mamas, coaching and supporting them through labor and delivery. Their doulas train in mindfulness and hypnosis. Equipping you with the tools and mindsets needed to approach your birth experience with peace and confidence. These techniques, have been known to decrease labor time, discomfort, as well as cesarean rates. You can also go to their website to get to know their individual doulas a bit better. Then set up a complimentary consultation with whichever doula you think best meets your needs!   Specialty While life coaching and birth doula services became a huge part of Sunflowers Healing and Wellness, they also offer a variety of other services. All are designed to improve clarity and quality of life as well. Hypnotherapy and Reiki Healing offer two unique, holistic ways to take control of your mind, behavior, and, ultimately, your life. Hypnotherapy techniques like Past Life Regression help you approach traumatic (or wonderful!) life events with caution. Allowing you to process and heal in a safe, supportive space. Alternatively, virtual Reiki sessions allow clients to experience true relaxation and Chakra balancing with guided meditation. They even offer Reiki treatments for pets!  Sunflowers Healing and Wellness also offers birth-related services like virtual classes, placenta encapsulation, birth tub rentals, and more!  

Sunflowers Healing and Wellness

  The team at Sunflowers Healing and Wellness is dedicated to providing compassionate, holistic support for people in every walk of life. If you’re in need of a little support and guidance, check out their offerings. Then see if you could benefit from their help. It never hurts to reach out and ask!    While you’re planning your journey into motherhood, don’t forget about pictures! As a Northern Virginia photographer, I love celebrating families. I’m a mom who understands how fast this season flies. So I want to ensure you have gorgeous memories made in heirlooms! Contact me today to find out more!   For more motherhood content, check out these blog posts: - Unlock the Fun of Scramble in Alexandria: Birthday Parties & More! - Balanced Birth Support: Support for Your Birthing Journey Read the full article

[wandringaesthetic]

A meditation regarding voice acting in video games, inspired by last reblog:

On the one hand, having voice acting (especially if you have it for EVERY line) forces games to have a little bit (A LITTLE BIT) of restraint in how much dialogue they have. Because they have to pay the actors and they have to be able to fit the requisite amount of audio on the disc (or in a file that won't take up the entire volume of your hard drive), versus being able to fit for all practical purposes infinite text in modern data storage and transfer. I feel like some restraint is a good thing.

I love FFXIV to pieces, but because it has hybrid voice acted/not voice acted scenes, there is no restraint and there is just so much fucking text. No one in that game ever shuts the fuck up, including, like inconsequential quest NPCs. Occasionally you get one that's interesting or gives you some interesting bit of flavor and lore but for the most part not really. If all that stuff was voice acted, it would be MISERABLE. Like, if you insist on voice acting all that stuff you had better make it fuckin interesting and I don't know if that's possible or even desirable in a video game because some of this dialogue's primary purpose is going to be to convey information. Conveying this info in a way that is fun or interesting, i.e. in a way that conveys character/location/texture and would therefore be interesting to listen to, means more fucking text that I have to parse to get to the point and please, dear God, all of you: say LESS. I care about some of these characters and want to hear everything they have to say, but some of them I really don't!

Compounding this is something that is probably a personal problem, but it does effect my enjoyment of things and I'm maybe not the only one: I read faster than anyone but an auctioneer talks, but while I'm reading I can't really listen. It is my preference, generally, to turn off subtitles for this reason. I get an effect with subtitles (if it's spoken and written in a language that I understand) like listening to two TVs tuned to the same station in two different rooms where the timing is about a second off. It makes the words difficult and unpleasant to parse.

In some games, you can't turn off subtitles/text boxes, and in others you can, but that also turns off subtitles for party chatter or ambient NPC chatter, which I *do* appreciate the subtitles for, because sometimes I wasn't paying attention or the stereo picture makes it difficult to hear, so it's nice to be able to see that since I can't turn my head over my shoulder and ask my imaginary buddy "WHAT did you just say??" Most games handle this by putting those subtitles in a bottom corner, which is a good way to handle that, imo. It's there and you can choose to shift your eyes and read it or not.

I have mostly adapted to all of this by EITHER listening to the voice acting OR reading the text and trying to turn the part of my brain off that does the other. But this only kinda works and only sometimes. I have, like, this instinctive need to read text for some reason, so it's sometimes difficult for me to do if the subtitles are in the center of my field of vision. It also fucks up any emotional content of the text for me, because if I'm reading, I'm usually trying to read really fast so I run ahead of that bad stereo lag effect because I can't totally close my ears. So I'm not even really hearing the VA's performance, and I'm also not injecting any emotional color from my imagination because I'm trying to sprint ahead of the VA. For dramatic scenes, I usually listen to the whole thing and try not to read, but it's hard. Sometimes I just get bored with the dialogue and want to run ahead and read it instead of listening because that way I can go faster. Sometimes I feel like I'm disrespecting the voice actors by doing this.

The summary of all the above is NOT EVERY LINE NEEDS TO BE VOICE ACTED. Also, brevity is the soul of wit, normalize shutting the fuck up, etc.

[realtorjamier]

Things to Do in January in the DMV 2024!

Start the new year with a First Day Hike or a New Year’s Day 5K! Too cold for your liking? Stay warm inside The Kennedy Center while enjoying Disney’s “Frozen” Broadway production. Holiday revelry may have passed, but there’s no need to hibernate in January.

Disney’s Frozen The Kennedy Center 2700 F St NW Washington, DC January 1 – 21 An unforgettable theatrical experience filled with powerful performances, sensational special effects, stunning sets, and costumes, Frozen is a spectacular Broadway musical playing for a limited time at the Kennedy Center.

New Year’s Day 5K Maybe you’ve overindulged over the holidays. Get a running start on a healthy 2024 by running a 5K on New Year’s Day! Fredericksburg, Ashburn, Reston, Gaithersburg, Arlington, and several other cities in the D.C. area will offer up their streets for a cold-weather frolic into fitness. Click on the link above to search a location near you, or check out these links for races in these cities: Arlington, Va. Ashburn, Va. Fredericksburg, Va. Gaithersburg, Md. Reston, Va.

First Day Hikes If hiking is more your speed, check out the First Day Hikes (ranger-led or self-guided) available as part of a nationwide initiative led by America’s State Parks. First Day Hikes in Maryland First Day Hikes in Virginia First Day Hikes in West Virginia January 1

Winter Lantern Festival Lerner Town Square 8025 Galleria Drive Tysons, Va. January 1 – February 12 Experience a dazzling landscape of lights! Over 1,000 Chinese lanterns – all handmade by artisans – display their light and warmth for your amazement and for great photo ops!

Twelfth Night at Kenmore Historic Kenmore 1201 Washington Ave. Fredericksburg, Va. January 5 – 7 View dramatic scenes by costumed actors in the first-floor rooms of Kenmore with special musical performances by Colonial Faire. Experience the candlelight, music, and decorations of a colonial Christmas  – and the uncertainty of Revolution.

Women Soldiers in the American Civil War National Museum of Civil War Medicine 48 East Patrick Street Frederick, Md. January 6 Civil War scholars explore an unusual and courageous group of soldiers seldom discussed in the annals of Civil War history. Although women were forbidden by social custom and army regulations to enter military service in the Union and Confederate armies, a surprising number of women disguised themselves as young men and “went for a soldier.” Come learn about the best documented of these woman combatants.

Interfusion Festival Crystal Gateway Marriott 700 Richmond Hwy. Arlington, Va. January 11 – 15 “Building resilience is what enables us to not only rise, but ultimately, thrive.” Founded in 2016 under The Institute for Integrative Wellness, this festival includes educational offerings in positive psychology, meditation, and expressive arts. The Interfusion Festival aims to bring awareness of practices that may help combat mental health crises.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Richard Montgomery High School 250 Richard Montgomery Drive Rockville, Md. January 13 This year celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in a meaningful way. This Rockville event will showcase a panel discussion with city and county justice, equity, diversity and inclusion professionals. You can also watch a screening of the award-winning documentary “Finding Fellowship” followed by a Q&A discussion with Rev. Gerard Green, enjoy a drum performance by Soul in Motion, and sign up for service projects through a variety of nonprofit organizations participating in the Salute to Nonprofits. For the kids: a performance by Groovy Nate.

Super MAGFest Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center 201 Waterfront Street Oxon Hill, MD January 18 – 24 MAGFest (Music And Gaming Festival) celebrates video game music, gaming, and the gaming community with the goals of education, appreciation, and preservation of the culture and history of video games. The event runs 24 hours a day and offers consoles, arcades, tabletop, LAN, live video game cover bands, chiptunes, vendors, guest speakers, and more.

Washington Auto Show Walter E Washington Convention Center 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW Washington, D.C. January 19 – 28 Discover the future of transportation as electrifying innovations take center stage. This show promises an immersive journey into the world of electric mobility through the brand-new DC eDrives Experience at the 2024 Washington, D.C. Auto Show. The Washington, D.C. Auto Show is the largest public show in the nation’s capital.  

Monster Jam Capital One Arena 601 F St., NW Washington, D.C. January 27 – 28 Check out the action-packed motorsports with world-class driver athletes competing in intense competitions at Monster Jam. The trucks’ engines generate 1,500 horsepower due to a supercharger that forces air and fuel into the engine. The Monster Jam Pit Party (requiring a separate admission ticket) allows you to see these massive trucks up close and participate in Q & As with the drivers.

[jazzgallerycenterforarts]

The Manty Ellis Jazz Series - Emily Kuhn Quintet

The Manty Ellis Jazz Series

at the Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts presents

Emily Kuhn Quintet

Saturday, November 18th, 2023

at 8:00 pm – 9:30 pm

Door - $15

Masks and other COVID-19 precautions are encouraged for all visitors.

Please review our COVID Policy if you are planning a visit to the Jazz Gallery.

Emily Kuhn is a jazz trumpet player based in Chicago, IL, described by the Chicago Jazz Magazine as having “a charismatic style and a sophistication that belies her youth.” Originally from Charlottesville, VA, Emily has made a name for herself as an active bandleader, sidewoman, composer, and educator since moving to Chicago in 2016. She released two albums via BACE Records, Sky Stories (2020) and Ghosts of Us (2023), to numerous accolades. She has brought her original music to festivals including Hey Nonny's Women's Jazz Festival, the Festival of New Trumpet Music, the MCA's Tuesdays on the Terrace, and the Chicago Park District's Night Out in the Parks series, and her work has been recognized by the Luminarts Cultural Foundation, Chicago DCASE, and the Chicago Reader. Emily has a BM and BA in Jazz Trumpet Performance and Environmental Studies from Oberlin. She studied with renowned trumpet players Eddie Henderson, Sean Jones, John D’earth, and John Henes.

The Emily Kuhn Quintet will be celebrating the release of their recent album, "Ghosts of Us," via BACE Records. Described as "the kind of lyrical, spacious jazz that draws you deep within its cocoon-like atmosphere" (Matt Collar, All Music), the album draws inspiration from the Covid-19 pandemic, meditating on themes of stillness, connection, grief, and hope. The group relies on their strong foundation of musical trust to deftly navigate influences from jazz, rock, chamber music, and Americana.

Emily Kuhn - trumpet

Meghan Stagl - piano

Erik Skov - guitar

Kitt Lyles - bass

Gustavo Cortiñas - drums

As recognition to Manty Ellis for his contributions to Milwaukee’s jazz history as a musician, educator and “chief encourager” of the city’s jazz community, the Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts is naming an ongoing series of high-quality jazz performances after Manty. It is fitting tribute from this venue specifically because of the hundreds of occasions Manty Ellis performed on our stage, our focus on jazz as an art form with our listening room format, and the encouragement Manty often shared with our staff which helped keep us going through some challenging times.

To present this music in a venue worthy of its namesake, we are embarking on an effort to improve our stage and venue environment. This follows a successful pre-pandemic effort to install a world-class sound system fitting for a venue that presents diverse musical genres as artforms in themselves surrounded by visual art exhibitions.

Related Events

Quinn Stemberg Quartet

Sunday, July 30th, 2023 at 8:00 pm – 9:30 pm

Juli Wood Quartet

August 4th, 2023 at 7:00 pm

Emily Kuhn Quintet ( this event )

Thursday November 18th, 2023 at 8:00 pm

-

More dates coming soon…

[drjaspaulsbhangoo]

Dr. Jaspaul S. Bhangoo Unmasking the Silent Threat- Hypertension - Killer or Contender

Hypertension, a condition that often lurks in the shadows of our lives, is a paradoxical force to reckon with. For two decades, Dr. Jaspaul S. Bhangoo, an Internal Medicine specialist, has been on the front lines of this medical enigma, passionately addressing the dual nature of high blood pressure - is it truly a silent killer, or can it be effectively managed? Join us as we delve into the dangers of hypertension and explore strategies to keep it under control.

Dr. Jaspaul S. Bhangoo, with his remarkable 20-year career, stands as a beacon of knowledge and compassion in the medical world. His path began when he earned his degree in Internal Medicine from Spartan Health Sciences University School of Medicine. With an unwavering commitment to healing, he embarked on his residency in Augusta, Georgia, honing his skills and embracing the challenges that lay ahead.

Moreover, Dr. Jaspaul's commitment to the field extended beyond clinical practice. He served as an Assistant Professor at Oklahoma VA/OU Medical Center, shaping the future of medicine by mentoring medical residents and providing invaluable guidance.

In 2006, Dr. Jaspaul returned to the DFW region, where he set up a thriving private practice. His affiliations with Medical City Denton and Horizon Medical Center further solidify his presence in the medical community. What sets Dr. Jaspaul apart is his empathetic approach, characterized by patience and personalized care. He dedicates time to educating his patients about prevention and well-being, striving to offer nothing less than the finest service to all.

Beyond the white coat, Dr. Jaspaul finds solace in spending quality time with his wife, engaging in regular exercise, and indulging in the hobby of tennis. These moments of recreation serve as a testament to the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle – a cornerstone in the battle against hypertension.

Hypertension, often referred to as the "silent killer," earns its moniker for good reason. This condition quietly wreaks havoc within our bodies, increasing the risk of severe health complications. It silently raises blood pressure levels, with individuals often oblivious to the danger until it strikes.

The dangers of high blood pressure extend beyond the heart, infiltrating various systems and organs. It's a relentless foe that can lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney damage, and even vision impairment. The damage is subtle, accumulating over time, making early detection and management crucial.

While hypertension may be a formidable adversary, it is by no means unbeatable. With the guidance of experts like Dr. Jaspaul Bhangoo, it can be effectively managed. Here are some strategies and tips to keep hypertension under control.

Lifestyle Modifications. Dr. Jaspaul emphasizes the pivotal role lifestyle plays in hypertension management. Adopting a heart-healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains can significantly lower blood pressure. Reducing salt intake, limiting alcohol consumption, and quitting smoking are also essential lifestyle changes.

Regular Exercise. Physical activity is a powerful ally against hypertension. Engaging in regular exercise not only helps in weight management but also strengthens the heart and improves blood circulation. Dr. Jaspaul encourages his patients to find an exercise routine they enjoy, whether it's brisk walking, swimming, or playing a sport like tennis.

Medication Management. In some cases, lifestyle changes alone may not suffice. Dr. Jaspaul prescribes medications when necessary, tailored to each patient's unique needs. Strict adherence to medication schedules is vital to maintaining blood pressure within a healthy range.

Stress Reduction. Chronic stress can contribute to hypertension. Learning stress-reduction techniques such as meditation, yoga, or mindfulness can help individuals regain control over their blood pressure.

Regular Check-Ups. Routine check-ups with a healthcare provider, such as Dr. Jaspaul, are crucial for monitoring blood pressure and adjusting treatment plans as needed. Early detection of any changes can prevent complications.

Patient Education. Dr. Jaspaul's commitment to educating his patients about prevention and well-being is a cornerstone of hypertension management. Knowledge empowers individuals to make informed choices about their health.

Support System. Building a support system, including family and friends, can be invaluable in the journey to manage hypertension. Sharing concerns and successes with loved ones can help reduce stress and maintain motivation.

As we navigate the labyrinth of hypertension, guided by the expertise of Dr. Jaspaul Bhangoo, it becomes clear that this condition need not remain in the shadows as a silent killer. With proactive steps, it transforms into a manageable condition, allowing individuals to lead healthy, fulfilling lives.

Dr. Jaspaul's dedication to personalized care and comprehensive services underscores the belief that hypertension management is a collaborative effort. It is a journey where healthcare professionals and patients work hand in hand, seeking to unmask the silent threat and keep it at bay.

In healthcare, where the battle against hypertension rages on, Dr. Jaspaul Bhangoo stands as a beacon of hope and knowledge. With two decades of experience and a passion for healing, he exemplifies the commitment to transforming hypertension from a silent killer into a manageable contender.

The dangers of high blood pressure are real and formidable but armed with lifestyle modifications, medication, and the support of healthcare experts like Dr. Jaspaul, individuals can take control of their health.

Remember, hypertension is not a road of despair but a melody of hope, waiting to be orchestrated towards a healthier future.

[tonguetiedraven]

love at frost sight (or was it frost bite?)

Pairing: Bon/Rin

Summary: Bon, the heir of his temple and the first Suguro in three generations to have the sacred ice powers of his line, is trying to get through True Cross without letting anyone know his secret. If they knew of his demon blood, he's certain they'd ostracize him.

He didn't anticipate Rin, or the secrets he was hiding.

Fire/Ice au still set in the Blue Exorcist world.

Part: one, two, three (you're here), four

— — — — —

Bon locked the door and shoved a towel under it to make certain nothing could get under. Satisfied with that precaution, he went to the window to close the blinds and shut the blackout curtains his mother had bought. The room plunged into darkness, which was the way Bon preferred it in moments like this. He pulled the heated blanket off his bed and settled down at the center of his bed. Closing his eyes, he tugged the blanket around his shoulders and finally let go.

The ice immediately covered the floor around him, crackling across the cheap carpet and causing the temperature across the entire room to drop. Frost spread over the blankets, up the furniture, and even to the towel he’d shoved in front of the door.

If the light was on, the air would be misty now. He could feel the moisture in the air solidifying, and if he let it go any further, it’d start to freeze into particles of ice.

The blanket couldn’t fight against this sort of chill, but he clicked it up to its warmest setting anyway. The heat was just enough to keep the frost bite away, and nothing else.

Taking a breath through his nose, Bon poked at his teeth and tried to pretend it didn’t break his heart when they were sharper than any human canines should be. If he checked his hair, he was sure he’d find the tiny bumps that always appeared when he wasn’t holding it all tightly to his chest.

He was terrified they were horns. He’d never properly looked at them. He’d never properly looked at himself like this. There was a terror in his gut about what he was going to see. It wouldn’t be good. It would almost certainly be a monster.

Fitting, since he was one.

Bon slowed his breathing down as he unwound the prayer beads from his wrist. He tangled his fingers around them, and rested his hands lightly on his lap under the blanket.

“Varuna naumaku sanmandabodanan barunayasowaka va.” He mumbled under his breath with another quiet exhale.

The prayer for clarity and self reflection. Clarity to remember what he was and why he had to be careful. Clarity to remember that he was a monster as well as the heir of the Myōō Dharani. That he had to remain in control or his friends would get hurt.

The ice crackled out of him as he meditated on the words and slowly worked through the warring emotions in his chest.

He had passed his tests, and he was almost finished with his first semester.

Varuna naumaku.

There had only been one migraine, and he had avoided giving himself frostbite since he’d been here. He’d only frozen two sets of clothes and one bath.

Sanmandabodanan.

He was pulling top marks in his aria classes, and he was almost strong enough to get in the dragoon classes. He just needed a few more pounds and he’d have it. Even without a conventional weapon, he’d held his own and helped to beat the naberius.

Barunayasowaka va.

Rin Okumura… Rin Okumura was a problem and a large reason his emotions and thoughts felt like a tangled lump in his head and chest. It was impossible to keep control of himself when he couldn’t control his emotions. To control them he had to face this problem, and Rin was very much a problem.

The temperature in the room dropped by several degrees. The ice started to climb up the walls as the layer of frost on the blankets thickened.

Rin was uninjured, and Bon had felt the ice leaving his palms as he clutched Rin’s arms. His heart had been racing, his breath caught in his throat, his emotions entirely out of control, and he had let his ice loose. Rin had sat next to him at the monja and leaned into his side when he laughed. He’d made Bon a batch of eggplant and cheese monja, which was his favorite, and it had tasted incredible, even though he’d had to fight past the ache of ice in his chest to eat it.

(He hadn’t noticed the chill or ache when Rin was leaning against him.)

Bon started to shiver and curled tighter under the blanket. He broke the lotus position and tucked his socked feet under himself. Hiding his icy fingers under his arms did nothing to break through the chill.

The blanket wouldn’t go any warmer. He’d need to step in a fire to feel warm at this rate.

Shifting to his knees, he shuffled towards his dresser and flicked on the heater his dad had sent with him. It whirred to life, and he was a little ashamed to notice it was covered in a fine layer of frost.

Rin Okumura and the way he made Bon’s control go haywire was going to be such a problem.

— — — — —

The sun was bright overhead, but it didn’t do anything to abate the sleepy sort of chill that had settled over Bon. He slouched lower, hiding as much of his head and ears in his hoodie as he could and wishing he had a few blankets as well. Mephisto was standing in front of them and droning on about the ghost that was loose somewhere in the amusement park, and Rin was sitting close enough that their arms were barely touching.

Bon would be ecstatic about that development, but his heart still felt a little bruised from Rin’s reaction to Shiemi in the school uniform, and he was too busy hating himself for that stupid emotion to focus on Rin’s nearness.

Crushes were a waste of time, even if you weren’t cursed with stupid ice powers.

“So,” Yukio shifted forward slightly, drawing attention to himself and stopping Mephisto’s endless explanation, “you’ll be splitting into teams to find the spirit, and then exorcising it.”

“Teams?” Konekomaru inquired politely. Bon couldn’t help but notice he shifted closer and shivered as he did.

Exhaling carefully, he forced all of his emotions down until there was nothing but a vague sort of numbness. The chill receded with it, but he couldn’t notice the almost warmth now. Not when he was shutting himself down.

“Yes, pairs. That’ll allow us to cover the most ground. Shima and Kamiki, Miwa and Takara, Moriyama and Yamada, and Okumura and Suguro.”

Bon jerked upright and felt a crust of ice form down his spine. He shifted enough to crack it and hoped it wouldn’t do any damage.

“What?” He squeaked (kill him now) at the same time Rin raised his hand for a high-five.

Bon stared at it in disbelief. He couldn’t high five with the cold air practically pouring from his palms.

“Aw, come on,” Rin said with a grin that didn’t wane at all, “don’t leave me hanging!”

Konekomaru shifted away, and Bon couldn’t even blame his friend as he focused all his energy on cooling the left side of his body so the right would warm up. Raising a hand that was still too cool, he smacked Rin’s with a roll of his eyes and dropped it back to his knee as quickly as he could.

(Rin was so damn warm. Even that brief contact was enough to get rid of the chill for a moment.)

“Alright, everyone split up.”

Bon got up stiffly, joints popping and limbs aching as he shoved his hands in the pouch of his hoodie. Rin grabbed his sleeve and pointed towards the roller coaster. “We should start over —”

“No,” Yamada muttered. “We’re taking that one.”

Bon glared at the other hoodie covered teen. “Say’s who?” Shiemi was staring up at the rollercoaster with wide, frightened eyes, and he may be unhappy at how much Rin liked her, but he wasn’t about to send her towards something she was obviously scared of without saying anything.

Yamada didn’t bother answering. They just continued towards the roller coaster and motioned for Shiemi to follow. She did with a nervous glance at Rin. He pat her arm as she passed him, biting her lip and looking prettier for her worry.

Bon shoved his shoulders up to hide his neck and a bit of his face and stomped towards the merry-go-round. He sure as hell wasn’t going in the love tunnel or the hall of mirrors.

Rin joined him again with a huff. “Why is it Yamada only talks to be annoying?”

“I don’t know. I’d tell ya to ask Takara, but he’d probably have you talk to his damn puppet.”

Rin shot him a toothy grin that made his entire face light up beautifully. Bon blushed and averted his eyes. Rin was beautiful, but he certainly shouldn’t be thinking things like that.

“Hey, you wanna stop for a snack first?”

“Snack— we’re supposed to be looking for a ghost.” This wasn’t some fun hangout. They had a job to do, and if Rin tried to drag him somewhere else while they were here, well… It was going to feel too much like a date, and he didn’t need that kind of heartache in his life. Not while they were hunting down some ghost.

Rin seemed entirely unfazed. “We’re supposed to search everywhere. That includes all the snack stands.” He sped up a little and turned so he was walking backwards in front of Bon with his hands clasped together in a pleading motion. “Come on, please?”

Bon’s cheeks got warmer even as his chest started to freeze. “Wha—don’t beg, ya moron. Fine. We can stop by one of the stands on the way.” He tore his gaze away under the pretense of looking for a stand and tried to take a deep breath. It ached in the familiar way breathing cold air always did.

“I want kakigori, but they got a Yaki Imo stand right next to it?”

“Huh?” How the hell could Rin want shaved ice when it was this damn cold? (And why offer him a hot sweet potato?)

Rin shifted so they were side again. Too close for Bon’s comfort (even if he wanted to be closer because he could feel the heat emanating from Rin, and — was that just the crush? Or was something wrong with Rin because no one else felt that warm.)

“Yaki Imo? Do you like it? I figured it be something you like since it’s really warm and you always seem kinda cold?” Rin’s smile started to drop into an uncertain frown. “Though I coulda misread that? Yuki gets cold a lot and he likes Yaki Imo.”

Bon’s cheeks decided to make up for the fact that the rest of his body was now freezing as they flushed even darker. He had to be as red as a tomato.

“Oh. Uh, yeah. Sounds good.”

Rin’s lips sprang right back up into the breath taking smile and Bon’s heart lurched painfully in his chest. For a moment he was certain the ground under his feet turned to ice. He very nearly slipped. He was too afraid to look down and see if it actually had.

“Yeah?!” Rin bounced closer and everything in Bon’s gut froze in terror. His bones were aching with his own chill, and the sun above was doing nothing to warm him up as his heart raced and he stared at Rin. The frost spreading down his back and shoulders was freezing his hoodie to his skin, and he could only breathe through his nose and hope there wouldn’t be any clouds of cold air.

Why was Rin always so damn happy? So alive and energetic, positive and warm? Why’d he have to be so damn hard to ignore and not like? Couldn’t he be an asshole like Yamada or Takara? Someone lazy and stupid, instead of a bit stupid and so damn earnest?

So endearing and alluring, like a welcoming and warm kotatsu? Something to relax and draw near to?

Stupid emotions, stupid ice, and stupid demons fucking up his life.

“Yeah, ya moron. Go get your snack.” He tried to slouch further into his hoodie but it was too stuck to his skin to allow for that shift. Great.

Rin, if anything, seemed even more excited by his insult. There was no winning. His sleeve was caught by Rin again and he was dragged towards the empty yaki imo stand as Rin rambled about his favorite kind of shaved ice and how it never tasted as good when you didn’t get it on the street. Bon followed after him, trying his best not to slip on his ice-slick shoes and nodding whenever Rin looked his way. He didn’t want to get caught staring, and it hurt a bit to stare, so he distracted himself with scanning the nearby surroundings for anything that might be out of the ordinary.

“Yes! It’s still warm! I knew there wasn’t anyway that clown had closed it all day.” Rin released Bon’s sleeve as he put his hand on the stand and proceed to propel himself over it with the one hand. He landed on the other side with a thump and crouched down to peer in the drawers. “Score!”

“They got ‘em?” He hadn’t actually expected there to be any food. Rin reached inside and moved some things around.

“Yeah, just give me a second.”

Bon waited and after another moment, Rin was pulling his hands out with a still smoking sweet potato.

It looked wondrously warm as Rin held it out for him. Bon forced his hand to move and prayed to every deity he could think of that the crack of ice he heard was just in his mind and not audible to anyone else. He wrapped his fingers around the warm aluminum foil and tugged it close without meeting Rin’s gaze. It was embarrassing for reasons he couldn’t really describe for Rin to know how cold he was, and Rin going out of his way to think of a snack to help with that…

The sweet potato was a pleasant warmth against his frozen fingers, but it didn’t compare to the warmth spreading through his chest because of the thought in the snack. He had too long a day ahead of him to be feeling this way.

“Thanks,” he muttered, looking to the side and trying to squash his blush down. It was so incredibly frustrating that the rest of him could get frostbite because he was so cold, but his stupid cheeks would still manage to stay warm.

Rin vaulted his way back over the stand and once again grabbed Bon’s sleeve to drag him towards the kakigori stand.

“You want any?” Rin asked as he stepped around the stand like a normal person instead of bouncing over the top of it like a monkey.

“Nah.” Bon used to love kakigori before puberty hit, and he spent more days freezing than not. Green tea had always been his favorite flavor. Now he’d rather the warm tea. “This is good.”

Rin nodded like he’d expected that and he started to scrape the ice into a small pile and fix himself a bowl.

“You ever work at one of these things?” Bon asked as he unwrapped his potato and tried not to make it too obvious that he’d really just like to climb into the oven and see if it could warm him up. That or wrap Rin around himself like a blanket.

(That blush just kept getting warmer. At this rate he could just warm his hands with his cheeks.)

“Nah, but I worked at a sweet shop that served these.” He poured some syrup and sweetened condensed milk on top of it. Bon discarded his wrapper in the trash and turning his gaze on Rin, only to find Rin was already looking at him. His breath caught in his throat at that realization, a shiver rolled down his spine as his body shifted between warming with embarrassment and the natural chill in his bones, and he promptly dropped his gaze to the ground like the brick beneath their feet was at all interesting.

There was frost spreading from his shoe. Great.

[hanoella]

Affettuoso- With Feeling (Part 1)

Pairing: Bucky x Pianist!Reader

Set after the events of TFATWS: In an effort to start over and make a home in Louisiana, Bucky meets a friend of Sam's who ends up being his landlord. With only a driveway to separate them, he finds that he's not the only one looking for a fresh start.

Series tags/warnings: Slow Burn, Eventual Bucky x Reader, Mentions of Domestic Abuse, Canon Level Violence

Read Part 2

---

After everything that happened with the Flag Smashers and the GRC, Bucky thought that laying low with Sam in Louisiana was a good idea. He had been looking for a fresh start anyway. Between losing Steve and making his last amends, New York as of late had only been full of sad memories and regrets. Louisiana was so different- slower paced and fresh, no negative feelings. No feelings at all, actually. Sam was more than understanding, letting him stay with them until he found a semi-permanent place here.

Currently, Bucky was staring out the window, watching the breeze make little waves in the grass as he ate his sandwich. Sarah and the kids had gone out to the boat, making the house feel virtually abandoned. There was too much space and not enough people. For just himself, it was only a reminder that he would continue to stay as he always had- alone.

Sam walked into the kitchen where Bucky was, effectively breaking his train of thought. He raised an eyebrow at Sam’s mischievous smile- or maybe it was a regular one. He always looked like he was up to something, at least to Bucky.

“Great news,” Sam started. “I just got off the phone with a friend of mine. She’s moving down here for some work and is looking for someone to live on the property with her.”

“She?” Bucky questioned.

“Listen, I know what you’re thinking but before you say anything else, let me explain. So she already bought the house, it’s less than 10 minutes from here so you can still see us whenever you want. The property’s a couple acres so it’s got tons of space. It comes with an apartment over the shed, so you don’t have to share walls. She keeps to herself so she won’t bother you,” Sam said, counting the pros on his fingers as he talked.

“And the best part is: you don’t need to pay rent. I explained the situation, with you being a hero to the world and all, and she said as long as you can help her out with the heavy-duty stuff like taking care of the property and the occasional repair, you don’t have to worry about it.”

Bucky eyed the couch that had been his home for the past several weeks. Don’t get him wrong- being here with the boys was fun. Unfortunately though, he was still in a place in his life where he needed time to think, heal and meditate. The nightmares, although less frequent, were still occurring. Sam was always supportive, but Bucky didn’t want to keep putting him out. Sam noticed the hesitation and spoke.

“You don’t have to decide right now, but she’s moving here in a few days and could at least use some help. She said we could go look at the property now- no pressure though. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want.”

Bucky paused a moment before nodding.

“Okay, let’s go.”

---

Sam turned into a dirt driveway lined with low hanging trees on one side and a field on the other. Bucky wouldn’t have even noticed it if not for the mailbox on the street.

“See, well this is perfect for you, it’s back in the cut.” Sam said.

Bucky could understand from context clues that that meant secluded. Probably.

It took a few seconds down the driveway before the trees on the left cleared and the water was visible. On the other side, there was a light green house with white trim. With the typical Southern architecture and porch, it was the picture perfect place to live. No neighbors- just trees and water.

Sam whistled as they pulled up at the end of the driveway by the house. Now that they were closer, Bucky could see the large garage on the opposite side of the driveway. It almost looked like another house but much smaller, and with a small dock in the water. The bottom floor of the garage had two large doors that opened upwards, and one regular doorway. The top floor had several windows with curtains in them, shrouding the inside. Getting out of the car, Bucky walked around the car to where Sam was opening the door to the garage.

Going in to inspect the garage, Bucky blinked to adjust to the dim light. He looked around to find several yard tools, some cans of paint on shelves, and a riding mower. On the back wall was a door. Hearing a rustle, he turned to find Sam feeling up on the highest shelf.

“Found it!” He said triumphantly, holding the key to the apartment up.

Walking over to the door on the back wall, Sam unlocked it and pulled it open. Bucky poked his head through the doorway and looked up to the staircase at his left. He turned to meet Sam’s eye, who shrugged before gesturing to Bucky to take the lead. It led up to the top floor of the garage, which was fitted with an apartment that turned out to be nicer than he thought.

It was simple but in good condition. Dark hardwood floor, white trim, pale steel blue walls. Where they had walked up was the living room. Directly across from it was a kitchen area with a veranda to walk out on. The open space then shrunk to a hallway to the left. The bathroom being the first door and a bedroom at the end of the hall. Overall, plenty of space for one person.

“I don’t know about you Buck, but this place seems perfect.” Sam said as he opened the glass sliding door to the veranda. It overlooked the undisturbed landscape, hidden from the nearby town.

“It does.” Bucky responded simply.

He took a moment to walk out onto the veranda with Sam and view the birds wading through the water.

“Well good,” Sam said with a chuckle. “This way, you can stop hitting on my sister.”

Bucky laughed and punched him in the arm. Sam feigned physical and emotional injury.

“Haha, Very funny.”

Sarah was a nice gal, but focused on her life at the moment. Sure, there had been a few sparks, but ultimately she had made it clear that her priority at the moment was her boys and her business. Bucky had been a good sport about it. It just felt good to be back in the game without it feeling forced.

Sam watched as Bucky stared out at the water before switching to a serious note.

“So… You feel like you’re ready?”

Bucky slowly nodded.

“Yeah. This is it.”

Sam smiled wide as he handed the key over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Welcome home.”

---

Bucky had very few belongings from New York that came with him. A small wooden table with chairs. A few books. A bed, a couch, a TV. There wasn’t really a whole lot that couldn’t be replaced if needed. He had been able to take the trip to and from in a few days, already moving his belongings into the apartment. The only big thing he had done was bring Steve’s old Harley out of storage. He probably should get a car at some point since it wasn’t the city anymore but he’d figure it out.

After saying goodbye to Sarah and the kids, Bucky opened the door to Sam's truck.

“Promise you’ll visit?” shouted one of the boys before clinging to him.

Bucky smiled and patted the kid on the back.

“Of course, I will.” He said, looking at the other boy before gesturing for him to join the hug.

“Uncle Buck’s not going anywhere boys,” Sam promised across the center console from the driver’s side.

Both boys eventually peeled off of Bucky’s side. He got in the truck and rolled down the window.

“Be good for your mom okay?” He said to the boys as he waved and nodded at Sarah, who smiled back as the truck started.

“Okay, bye!” They shouted until Bucky could no longer see them in side view mirror.

He really would miss those kids.

They drove in comfortable silence until they pulled up to the house where a light blue sedan was parked next to a storage pod that had been delivered. After parking by it, they exited the truck as you were stepping out of your car.

“Sam!” You exclaimed cheerfully, as you went in for a hug. He lifted you slightly off the ground and you laughed, smiling wide. Bucky stood to the side and observed the interaction, giving you a once-over. You were dressed appropriately for the work you were about to do- light-wash high-water jeans, a white t-shirt with a chest pocket, canvas shoes, and hair up in a slightly messy bun with a few gold bobby pins thrown in to hold back any loose wisps of hair.

After Sam set you down, he turned to Bucky and introduced you.

“… and we met during a charity event that Tony hosted. She offered her services free of charge to help us raise money for the VA.”

You held a hand out to Bucky.

“It’s very nice to meet you! Thanks so much for helping me move in, I really appreciate it.”

Bucky smiled lightly and nodded as he shook your hand.

“Nice to meet you too.”

You smiled and took back your hand before looking at the house.

“Shall we?” You inquired, gesturing towards the storage pod.

“Of course,” Sam replied, opening the door to the pod. As Bucky looked inside, he noted that it was mostly just boxes. The noticeable items were the same as his: the bare minimum- besides a fancy electric piano.

“How’re you gonna fill up this house with a few pieces of furniture?” Sam joked.

“Hey, it’s better than having too much stuff! Besides, don’t guys always say that women have too much stuff?” You quip back as you reach for one of the larger boxes in the pod.

“Ah-ah-ah, no you don’t,” Sam said as he intercepted you and picked up the box.

“Oh, c’mon Sam. I’ll feel bad if I make you guys do all the heavy stuff.”

“You’re not making us do anything. Besides, I’ll be fine, and the old man could use some exercise,” he said, nodding towards Bucky.

You smiled timidly at Bucky.

“I have a bad shoulder.” You explained while gripping the top of your right arm.

“I get what that feels like,” he sympathized, nodding to his metal arm.

“Ah, yes, I’m sorry, it’s not nearly as bad-”

Bucky cut you off.

“Don’t be sorry. If it’s hurting you, don’t worry about it. We can handle it.” He said gently, pausing for a moment before continuing.

“Or at least I can.”

Sam tilted his head back and feigned hurt feelings while you picked up a lamp base and shook it lightly at him.

“Does this meet your approval, Mr. Wilson?” You asked teasingly.

“Why yes, yes it does. Now come on.”

He walked into the house, you right on his heels. Bucky eyed the two of you together for a moment before picking up a few boxes himself.

---

A few hours later, he was sitting on the worn leather couch next to Sam while you went to get them some drinks in the kitchen. You appeared under the white trimmed archway into the living area holding three glasses.

“One sweet tea for the guest, one lemonade for my new neighbor, and a half and half for the gracious host.” You said, holding up your glass after handing the others out.

You three clinked glasses and you sunk into a sage green armchair with dark wood.

“So… how does this work?” Bucky asked, taking a sip of his drink.

“Mmm, yes.” You said, swallowing the sip you had taken.

“Uhm, basically whenever you’re not off saving the world with Captain America,” You started, smiling with pride at Sam. “If you could just make sure the grass doesn’t get too long and help me with some of the more physically demanding repairs and jobs around the house, that’d be great. Of course, that only applies if you’re here, and even then, as long as it’s not urgent, you can take your time getting around to it. Other than that, you’re free to do as you please.”

“That’s very generous of you.” He remarked.

“Well, don’t say that yet,” you said while laughing. “The property is huge so it might be more of a challenge than you think. But like I said, there’s no need to rush to anything. Besides, I should be thanking you. You’ve done a lot for the world.”

Sam interjected before Bucky could respond, which was okay because he still wasn’t used to accepting thanks instead of apologizing.

“Where’s my thank you for saving the world?”

You rolled your eyes and sarcastically rattled off a thank you. Bucky cleared his throat after a moment.

“Anything you want me to start working on?”

“Oh, please get settled in first. I have some furniture getting delivered that I might need help assembling in a few days but otherwise, there’s nothing else. If you have any expenses like paint or tools, you can just use this card and let me know.” You said, handing over a credit card.

“We should also exchange phone numbers too. What’s yours?”

Bucky stalled a moment before rattling off the numbers. It was a foreign feeling- giving out his phone number. He was most definitely having PTSD from his therapist chucking his phone at him. He watched as you typed away on your phone. Feeling his phone ping, Bucky looked at it and saw a message from an unregistered number.

“Hi, It’s me :)”

“That’s my number. Obviously.”

Bucky nodded his head in thanks while registering your number. It had been a while since he had added anyone’s number. You and Sam started talking about something else while Bucky exited back to the main list of contacts. There, your name was italicized and highlighted at the top. What a strange feeling.

…

Later that night, Bucky was relaxing, enjoying the peace. It was warm for autumn, and the water was reflecting the moonlight. He couldn’t sleep. Not that that was surprising. He walked out of the apartment down to the small dock to sip on a beer and celebrate his newfound independence. Sitting on the edge where his feet barely touched the water, he leaned back onto his hands and took a deep breath in.

That’s when he heard it.

Just barely, with his enhanced hearing, he could hear your crying. It was like you were wailing in pain. Not a sharp new pain, but an intense never ending one. The kind that you hear from an animal that’s been maimed- the kind you put out of their misery. Whatever you were holding in, it had been building up for an impossibly long time and finally, exhausted, you found a chance to let it out. Being able to hear it felt like a dirty invasion of privacy.

Bucky swallowed and took another deep breath before trying to focus on the sound of the wildlife around him. But it was no use. Here you were. Here he was.

No longer the only runaway seeking refuge.

[themedicalstate]

Doctors, Facing Burnout, Turn to Self-Care

A growing number of programs aim to help doctors, nurses and medical students who are struggling with mental health issues during the pandemic.

Dr. Michelle Thompson knows a lot about self-care. A family medicine physician in Vienna, Ohio, she specializes in lifestyle and integrative care, using both conventional and alternative therapies to help her patients heal. She also teaches medical personnel how to prevent and treat burnout.

But despite what she recommends to others, taking care of her own emotional well-being hasn’t been easy during the pandemic.

When the pandemic hit in March, Dr. Thompson, 46, who is also chair of medicine for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Horizon regional health service, was seeing about 25 patients a day in her office, whom she had to convert to seeing via telemedicine “overnight,” she said.

In April, she joined an eight-week online mind-body skills program run by Dr. James S. Gordon, founder and executive director of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine, which since its founding in 1991 has trained nearly a thousand health care professionals in various self-care measures that they can use in their practices. Dr. Gordon, a psychiatrist, started the skills group earlier this year to help doctors and other health care workers cope with the extra demands and psychological suffering the pandemic has brought. The program included weekly Zoom calls with others on the front lines, along with meditative exercises like drawing pictures, visualizations and guided imagery.

“It allowed me two hours a week to check in with myself and share my experience with other health care professionals who could relate to the overwhelm and intensity of the pandemic,” Dr. Thompson said. “I never realized the power of group support.”

Physician burnout has long been a serious concern in the medical community, with roughly 400 doctors dying by suicide each year in the United States. The issue of pandemic burnout among physicians came to the forefront in the early months of the pandemic following the death of Dr. Lorna M. Breen, who supervised the emergency department at New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital in Manhattan. Dr. Breen, who had been sick with Covid but working remotely, was later admitted to a psychiatric ward for 10 days. Fearing the professional repercussions of her mental health treatment, she took her own life in April.

“She was overwhelmed with the volume of death and dying, and she could not keep up,” said her brother-in-law, Corey Feist, a lawyer in Charlottesville, Va. “The industry needs a big cultural change.”

Mr. Feist and his wife, Jennifer Feist, Dr. Breen’s sister, have since co-founded the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the emotional well-being of health care workers. The Feists also worked with politicians and a cross section of health care industry experts to develop the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, which aims to reduce and prevent burnout, mental and behavioral health conditions and suicide among health care professionals.

An October poll of 862 emergency physicians nationwide from the American College of Emergency Physicians and Morning Consult found that 87 percent felt more stressed since the onset of Covid-19, with 72 percent experiencing a greater degree of professional burnout. Concerns about family, friends and their own health were among their chief concerns, along with financial and job security and a lack of personal protective equipment. Yet consistent with a longstanding stigma surrounding physician mental health, 45 percent weren’t comfortable seeking mental health treatment, citing concerns about workplace stigma and fear of professional reprisal.

The American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association and other professional groups, have formal statements against punishing doctors who seek mental health treatment. The Americans With Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination based on disability, including psychiatric disability, applies to professional licensing bodies. Still, the stigma persists.

A growing number of organizations and programs have taken up the charge to help doctors, nurses, residents, interns and medical students who are struggling with mental health issues.

Columbia University, for example, created CopeColumbia for employees of Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Another program called #FirstRespondersFirst, from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Thrive Global, and the CAA Foundation, recently unveiled its new mental health initiative, designed to provide support to health care workers in the United States and abroad. The Frontline Workers Counseling Project includes some 500 volunteer therapists in the San Francisco Bay Area, while the Physician Support Line, started in late March, is a free, national support line of some 700 volunteer psychiatrists who provide peer support.

“Part of the healing for me is helping other people,” said Dr. Lois Kroplick, a psychiatrist in private practice in Pomona, N.Y., who co-ran a weekly support group for psychiatrists and psychologists at Garnet Health Medical Center, in Middletown, N.Y., and volunteered with the Physician Support Line. During this same period, Dr. Kroplick lost her first grandchild and mother-in-law. “The best way to cope with my own grief was to help others,” she said.

Doctors recognize the growing need for mental health help for others, and for themselves. And as the infection rate continues to climb, many health care workers feel torn between their duty to help patients while also caring for themselves.

Elizabeth M. Goldberg is an associate professor of emergency medicine at Brown University, in Providence, and an emergency room physician. “In March and April there was this sense that you choose either your patients or yourself and it was your expectation to be there,” said Dr. Goldberg, 38, who has three young children. “Many of us wanted to be there, but I did experience fear and anxiety about going to work.”

Kathleen S. Isaac, 32, clinical assistant professor at NYU Langone Health who is also in private practice in New York, created a weekly support group in June for her residents. But not many doctors showed up. Part of that she attributes to time constraints and demanding schedules, but also that many were simply trying to be stoic and power through.

“Asking for help is less stigmatized in the psychological community, but sometimes I think there’s a sense of ‘I’m fine, I know what I’m doing,’” she said. “There’s such a culture of perfectionism, and it’s so competitive that people want to present their best self. It’s harder to admit they’re struggling.”

As for Dr. Thompson, she credits the Body Mind Skills group with helping her change her own self-care routine, checking in with herself hourly. “I ask myself, ‘What do I need? How am I caring for myself in this moment? Do I need a cup of tea? Should I implement some mind-body medicine?’” she said.

By Abby Ellin (Full story at The New York Times). Image: Dr. Michelle Thompson, a family medicine physician in Ohio, had to convert to seeing her patients via telemedicine overnight (Credit: Dustin Franz).

[magnae-deum-matris]

Bhairava (Mahakala Bhairava) (Sanskrit: भैरव, lit. frightful) is a Hindu Tantrik deity worshiped by Hindus. In Shaivism, he is a fierce manifestation of Shiva associated with annihilation.[1][2][3][4] In Trika system Bhairava represents Supreme Reality, synonymous to Para Brahman.[5][6] In Hinduism Bhairava is also called Dandapani (as he holds a rod or Danda to punish sinners) and Swaswa meaning "whose horse is a dog".[7] In Vajrayana Buddhism, he is considered a fierce emanation of Mañjuśrī and also called Heruka, Vajrabhairava and Yamantaka. Mantra Om Shri Kaal Bhairavaya Namaha Weapon Trishula, Khaṭvāṅga Number 33 This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text. The historical origins of Bhairava are obscure; according to Ronald M. Davidson, he was probably a "local ferocious divinity" associated by tribal peoples with cremation grounds (smasana), ghouls and ghosts (vetala, pisaca).[10] He is worshiped throughout India, Sri Lanka and Nepal as well as in Tibetan Buddhism.

In Hinduism

Bhairava with his consort, Bhairavi

Aakash Bhairab in Kathmandu. Bhairava originates from the word bhīru, which means "fearful". Bhairava means "terribly fearful form". It is also known as one who destroys fear or one who is beyond fear. The right interpretation is that he protects his devotees from dreadful enemies, greed, lust and anger. Bhairava protects his devotees from these enemies. These enemies are dangerous as they never allow humans to seek God within. There is also another interpretation: Bha means creation, ra means sustenance and va means destruction. Therefore, Bhairava is the one who creates, sustains and dissolves the three stages of life. Therefore, he becomes the ultimate or the supreme.

The origin of Bhairava can be traced to a conversation between Brahma and Vishnu which is recounted in the Shiva Mahapuranam. In it, Vishnu inquired of Brahma, "Who is the supreme creator of the Universe?" Arrogantly, Brahma told Vishnu to worship him as Supreme Creator. One day, Brahma thought "I have five heads. Shiva also has five heads. I can do everything that Shiva does and therefore I am Shiva." Brahma became a little egotistical as a result of this. Additionally, he began to forge the work of Shiva and also started interfering in what Shiva was supposed to be doing. Consequently, Mahadeva (Shiva) threw a small nail from his finger which assumed the form of Kala Bhairava and casually went to cut off one of Brahma's heads. The skull (Kapala) of Brahma is held in the hands of Kala Bhairava, Brahma’s ego was destroyed and he became enlightened. From then on, he became useful to himself and to the world, and deeply grateful to Shiva. In the form of the Kala Bhairava, Shiva is said to be guarding each of these Shaktipeeth (Shakti temples). Each Shaktipeeth is accompanied by a temple dedicated to Bhairava.

There is another school of thought which says that Shiva himself created Bhairava. There was one demon by name Dahurāsuraṇ who got a boon that he could be killed only by a woman. Kali was invoked by Parvati to kill him. The wrath of Kali killed the demon. After killing the demon, her wrath metamorphosed as a child. Kali fed the child with her milk. Shiva made both Kali and the child to merge with him. From this merged form of Shiva, Bhairava appeared in his eight forms (Aṣṭāṅga Bhairavas). Since Bhairava was thus created by Shiva, he is said to be one of the sons of Shiva.

Puranas too give different versions of Bhairava. In this version there was a war between gods and demons. To eradicate the demons, Shiva created Kala Bhairava from whom Aṣṭāṅga Bhairavas were created. These Ashta Bhairavas got married to Ashta Matrikas. These Ashta Bhairavas and Ashta Matrikas have dreadful forms. From these Ashta Bhairavas and Ashta Matrikas, 64 Bhairavas and 64 Yoginis were created.

Normally in Shiva temples, idols of Bhairava are situated in the north facing, southern facing direction. He is also called Kṣhetrapāla. He appears in a standing position with four hands. His weapons are drum, pāśa (noose), trident and skull. In some forms of Bhairava, there are more than four hands. He appears without dress and with a dog. His weapons, the dog, protruding teeth, terrifying looks, a garland with red flowers all give him a frightening appearance.

In all Shiva temples, regular puja rituals begin with Surya and end with Bhairava. Bhairava likes ghee bath (abhiṣeka), red flowers, ghee lamp, unbroken coconut, honey, boiled food, fibrous fruits etc. If a Bhairava idol is facing west, it is good; facing south is moderate; facing east is not good. The right time to pray to Bhairavi is midnight. During midnight it is said that Bhairava and his consort Bhairavi will give darśana (appearance) to their devotees. The most appropriate time is a Friday midnight. There are eight types of flowers and leaves used in archana (अर्चन) to Bhairava.

Bhairava is the ultimate form of manifestation or pure "I" consciousness. This form is called Svarṇākarṣṇa Bhairava. He has red or blue complexion and is clothed in golden dress. He has the moon over his head. He has four hands, one of which he holds a golden vessel. He gives wealth and prosperity. Performing pūja on Tuesdays gives quick results. In some of the ancient texts he is said to have thirty two hands, the shape of a bird, golden complexion, terrible teeth, and a human form above the hip. Worshiping him destroys enemies.

Some forms of Bhairava are guardians of the eight cardinal points. There are 64 Bhairavas. These 64 Bhairavas are grouped under 8 categories and each category is headed by one major Bhairava. The major eight Bhairavas are called Aṣṭāṅga Bhairavas. The Ashta Bhairavas control the 8 directions of this universe. Each Bhairava has seven sub Bhairavas under him, totaling 64 Bhairavas. All of the Bhairavas are ruled and controlled by Maha Swarna Kala Bhairava otherwise known as Kala Bhairava, who is the supreme ruler of time of this universe as per some Śaiva tantric scriptures (āgamas). Bhairavi is the consort of Kala Bhairava.[24] The eight Bhairavas are said to represent five elements viz. ākāś, air, fire, water and earth and the other three being sun, moon and ātman. Each of the eight Bhairavas are different in appearance, have different weapons, different vāhanas (vehicles) and they bless their devotees with eight types of wealth representing Ashta Lakshmis. Continuous worship of Bhairava leads the worshiper to a true Guru. There are separate mantras to all the eight Bhairavas.

Bhairava is also called upon as protector, as he guards the eight directions of the universe. In Shiva temples, when the temple is closed, the keys are placed before Bhairava. Bhairava is also described as the protector of women. He is described as the protector of the timid and in general women who are timid in nature.

It is generally believed that worshiping Bhairava gives prosperity, success and good progeny, prevents premature death and solution to debts and liabilities. Different forms of Bhairava evolve only from Śiva, who is called the Mahā Bhairava.

Trika System

Trika and Kashmiri Shaivism names the Absolute Reality(Para Brahman) as Bhairava. The Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra is a key Tantra text of the Trika System. Cast as a discourse between the god Bhairava and his consort Bhairavi it briefly presents 112 Tantric meditation methods or centering techniques (Dharana). The text is a chapter from the Rudrayamala Tantra,a Bhairava Agama. Bhairavi, the goddess, asks Bhairava to reveal the essence of the way to realization of the highest reality. In his answer Bhairava describes 112 ways to enter into the universal and transcendental state of consciousness. References to it appear throughout the literature of Trika, Kashmir Shaivism, indicating that it was considered to be an important text in the schools of Kashmir Shaiva philosophy and Trika.

In Buddhism

Thangka Depicting Vajrabhairava, ca. 1740s. Buddhism also adopted Bhairava (Tibetan: 'Jigs byed; Chinese: Buwei) as a deity and a dharmapala or dharma protector. The various buddhist forms of Bhairava (variously called Herukas, Vajrabhairava, Mahākāla and Yamantaka) are considered fierce deities and yidams (tantric meditational deity) in Tibetan Buddhism. They also have their own set of buddhist tantras, the Vajrabhairava tantras.[34] According to Tibetan tradition, these tantras were revealed to Lalitavajra in Oddiyana in the 10th century. These texts play a particularly important role in the Sarma (new translation) traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, especially among the Gelug school where Vajrabhairava is one of the three central highest yoga tantra practices of the lineage. Because of this, it is also popular in Mongolia as a protector deity and was also popular among the Manchus. The deity is also central to Newar Buddhism. The tantric practices associated with Bhairava focus on the transformation of anger and hatred into understanding.

Worship

See also: Bhairava Ashtami

Kala Bhairava attended by devotees at Kathmandu Durbar Square Temples or shrines to Bhairava are present within or near most Jyotirlinga temples. There are also the sacred twelve shrines dedicated to Shiva which can be found all across India including the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi and the Kal Bhairav temple, Ujjain. The Patal Bhairav and Vikrant Bhairav shrines are located in Ujjain as well.

One of the ancient temples of Kaal Bhairava is situated in Dhuri city (District Sangrur), Punjab. The idol of Kaal Bhairava in the temple was found hundreds of years ago. The temple has been managed by "Baba Shri Pritam Muni Ji" for many years. It is believed that Kaal Bhairava Ji resides here.

Gorat Kashmiris are known to worship Bhairava during Shivratri. The renowned Hindu reformer, Adi Sankara composed a hymn on Kala Bhairava called "Sri Kalabhairava Ashtakam" in the city of Kashi.

Observances

Bhairava Ashtami commemorating the day Kala Bhairava appeared on earth, is celebrated on Krishna paksha Ashtami of the Margashirsha month of the Hindu calendar. It is a day filled with special prayers and rituals.

Iconography

Rakta Bhairava Bhairava is depicted as being ornamented with a range of twisted serpents, which serve as earrings, bracelets, anklets, and sacred thread (yajnopavita). He wears a tiger skin and a ritual apron composed of human bones.[44] Bhairava has a dog (Shvan) as his divine vahana (vehicle). Bhairavi is a fierce and terrifying aspect of the Devi who is virtually indistinguishable from Kali, with the exception of her particular identification as the consort of Bhairava.

Bhairava himself has eight manifestations i.e. Ashta Bhairava:

Asithaanga Bhairava Ruru Bhairava Chanda Bhairava Krodha Bhairava Unmattha Bhairava Kapaala Bhairava Bheeshana Bhairava Samhaara Bhairava Kala Bhairava is conceptualized as the Guru of the planetary deity, Shani (Saturn). Bhairava is known as Bhairavar or Vairavar in Tamil, where he is often presented as a Grama devata or village guardian who safeguards the devotee in eight directions (ettu tikku). Known in Sinhalese as Bahirawa, he is said to protect treasures. Lord Bhairava is the main deity worshiped by the Aghora sect.

List of Bhairava temples

Reflection of blue sky on mask of Shwet Bhairav at Basantapur, Kathmandu, Nepal Bhairava is an important deity of the Newars. All the traditional settlements of Newars have at least one temple of Bhairava. Most of the temples of Bhairava in Nepal are maintained by Newar priests. There are several Bhairava temples in the Kathmandu valley. In south Karnataka, Lord Sri Kalabhairaveshwara is present as Kshetra Palaka in Sri Adichunchanagiri Hills.

Haatha: Shwet Bhairav Kala Bhairava temples can also be found around Shaktipeeths. It is said that Shiva allocated the job of guarding each of the 52 Shaktipeeths to one Bhairava. There are said to be 52 forms of Bhairava, which are considered a manifestation of Shiva himself. Traditionally, Kala Bhairava is the Grama devata in the rural villages of Maharashtra, where he is referred to as "Bhairava/Bhairavnath" and "Bairavar". In Karnataka, Lord Bhairava is the supreme God for the community commonly referred to as Vokkaligas (Gowdas). Especially in the Jogi Vokkaliga, he is considered the caretaker and punisher.[49] Shri Kala Bhairava Nath Swami Temple of Madhya Pradesh is also popular.

[finishinglinepress]

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Richard Becker has had poems in Columbia, America, The Baltimore Review, U City Review, Cold Mountain Review, among others. His chapbook,“Fates,” is published by The Literary Review. He lives in Richmond, VA with wife Doris Wylee-Becker, daughter Ilana Lee, and Golden Retriever Muffin. He is Associate Professor of Music at the University of Richmond.

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR On Sunday Afternoons by Richard Becker

Despite its unassuming low-key title, On Sunday Afternoons is a collection of vividly stimulating surprises–whether of natural description, emotional understanding, or bristling with tactful literary reference. What I especially admire is how in poem after poem Becker startles a reader into refreshed appreciation of what we think of as the “ordinary” world. Ordinary yes, but extraordinary too in the near-haiku glimmer and glow with which the poet animates small corners of the natural world. In one poem “Local plovers call-/ and-answered/ from the power poles;” in another “night animals’ voices rise cantabile falsetto/ in mock solemnity. She cranes her neck.” (That Becker is also a musician-composer enriches his poetic brew.) On Sunday Afternoons also contains longer meditations rich in human–often familial–feeling, or poems that lean into more surreal animations, or revisit a remembered Brooklyn: “washed up on the shoals of the Gowanus.” Lucid and musically realized, these poems emerge from what Becker calls “This center of imagining,” a place in which the “bright sky” of his own imagination is at home.

–Eamon Grennan

“a gorgeous collection… thoughtful, affecting, and compelling…filled with poems that are beautifully crafted, imaginative, moving.”

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Of “Fates,” “[there’s a] dense sensual feel of language [and its] frame is kept both various yet consistent. It’s really a great size and shape, like they say — delightful!”

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[realtorjamier]

Things to Do in January in the DMV!

Views: 11

If you’re prone to the post-holiday blues, we’ve got some ideas for January rejuvenation, starting off with a New Year’s Day run or hike and ending with a Monster Jam. Whether you’re a car fanatic, a gamer, or a yogi devotee, you won’t have to hibernate this January.

January 1

New Year’s Day 5K

Run a 5K on New Year’s Day! Start the new year with a healthy activity and set a precedent for the rest of 2023. Ashburn, Bethesda, Reston, Gaithersburg, Arlington, and several other cities in the D.C. area will offer up their streets for a cold-weather frolic into fitness. 

January 1

First Day Hikes in Maryland First Day Hikes in Virginia

If hiking is more your speed, check out the First Day Hikes (ranger-led or self-guided) available as part of a nationwide initiative led by America’s State Parks.

January 1 to February 12

Winter Lantern Festival Lerner Town Square 8025 Galleria Drive Tysons, VA

If you missed experiencing this dazzling landscape of lights in December, there’s still time to see it. Over 1,000 Chinese lanterns – all handmade by artisans – display their light and warmth for your amazement and for great photo ops!

January 3 – 22

Wicked The Kennedy Center 2700 F St NW Washington, D.C.

What happened in the Land of Oz before Dorothy arrived? The Broadway sensation tells the story of a misunderstood young woman with emerald-green skin and her bubbly blonde friend. This is the untold true story of the Witches of Oz. Check the website for specific days and times.

January 5 – 8

Super MAGFest Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center 201 Waterfront Street Oxon Hill, MD

MAGFest (Music And Gaming Festival) celebrates video game music, gaming, and the gaming community with the goals of education, appreciation, and preservation of the culture and history of video games. 

January 6

Dancing with the Stars MGM National Harbor 101 MGM National Ave. National Harbor, MD

The live Dancing with the Stars tour will recreate the most memorable dances from the program’s previous seasons and showcase brand new never-before-seen routines.

January 6 – 8

Jurassic Quest Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center 2371 Carl D. Silver Pkwy. Fredericksburg, VA

This family friendly event allows people to interact with life size animatronic dinosaurs, including the T-Rex and 50-foot long Megalodon! It’s a huge hit for both kids and adults.

January 12 – 16

Interfusion Festival Crystal Gateway Marriott 700 Richmond Hwy. Arlington, VA

Founded in 2016 under The Institute for Integrative Wellness, this festival includes educational offerings in positive psychology, meditation, and expressive arts. The Interfusion Festival aims to bring awareness of practices that may help combat mental health crises.

January 16

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Richard Montgomery High School 250 Richard Montgomery Drive Rockville, MD

Join the City of Rockville for the 51st annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration. Performances and awards recognizing Rockville community members who carry on King’s legacy.

January 20 – 29

Washington Auto Show Walter E Washington Convention Center 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW Washington, D.C.

More than 600 new car models from over 35 manufacturers will display their engineering prowess. This year will include an all-new EV Pavilion, classic cars, exotics, and more. VIP tours will be led by award-winning automotive writers, and there will be a special exhibit area for live painting of “art” cars. The Washington, D.C. Auto Show is the largest public show in the nation’s capital.  

January 22

Lunar New Year Parade Near Gallery Place – Chinatown Metro Stop Washington, D.C.

Celebrate the Year of the Rabbit with Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs (MOAPIA). The afternoon will feature colorful, traditional performances topped off with a fireworks finale. 

January 28

Mandy Patinkin in Concert 5301 Tuckerman Lane North Bethesda, MD

Emmy-winning TV star and Tony-winning Broadway legend, Mandy Patinkin’s BEING ALIVE is a collection of many of Patinkin’s favorite Broadway and classic American tunes. From Irving Berlin to Stephen Sondheim, from Cole Porter to Harry Chapin, Patinkin takes you on a dazzling musical journey.

January 28 – 29

Monster Jam Capital One Arena 601 F St., NW Washington, D.C.

If action-packed motorsports are your jam, you’ll enjoy watching world-class driver athletes competing in intense competitions at Monster Jam. The trucks’ engines generate 1,500 horsepower due to a supercharger that forces air and fuel into the engine. The Monster Jam Pit Party (requiring a separate admission ticket) allows you to see these massive trucks up close and participate in Q & As with the drivers.

[BONUS]: February 4

February First Saturday | Fire in Ice Downtown Frederick, MD

So it’s technically not a January activity but it’s close enough and it’s much too exciting to leave out! From in-store tastings to gallery openings to vendor exhibitions, there’s tons to explore in this unique event as Frederick is turned into a winter wonderland. Visitors can also explore more than 100 ice sculptures all over town!

[ddlg-matchmaking]

♡Little Submission♡

Name:Elaine

Age:18

Location:Hampton, va

Little Age Range: 3-5

Role: Little girl


Preferred Little Titles: Babygirl, princess or bumblebee




About Yourself:

Big Life: I am currently working towards getting my GED, but first comes my mental health.

Little Life: Disney movies and peanut butter sandwiches are my main go too

Big Interests: Reading, writing, painting, lizards, BDSM

Little Interests: Disney, stuffies, loves going on walks in the forest to play survivalist.




♡ Favorite Big / Little Item? My favorite item when I'm big has to be my notebook. When I'm little it depends between my pillows and my stitch stuffy.

♡ Big / Little Activities? Activities I like to do when I'm big include swimming, movies, going to the library, people watching, spirituality and meditations. Little me loves to just cuddle and be the center of my Dom's attention.

♡ Favorite Shows / Movies? Right now I'm moving through Grey's anatomy, and NCIS. I haven't finished Lucifer. I love horror but not when little. When I'm little I watch a lot of YouTube including Markiplier and jacksepticeye.

♡ Stuffies? Love them yes please!

Preferred Partner Age: 18-24

Preferred Partner Type: boyfriend

Preferred Partner Role: daddy dom


What are you looking for in a Partner: I want someone who will listen to my problems with no solutions! I want someone who has compassion in their hearts and who'll always continuously choose me. I want someone who I can lean on and in turn they can lean on me. I need someone who can be monogamous.

I like when my Daddy does…: I love it when daddy picks me up and spins me!

Things that I Dislike: I don't like people who can't listen and empathize with me.

Deal Breakers: Crazy exes, pornography

Relationship Type: TBD

Best way to contact me: ellis432irvine

[continuo-docs]

Music reviews by Laurent Fairon, May 2021

Martyn Schmidt – Kammerton a'a (January 2021) VA – Objetos Musicais: Homage to Walter Smetak (April 2021) VA – The Same River Twice (April 2021) Mark Vernon – Magneto Mori: Vienna (June 2021)

.    .    .   .    .    .   .    .    .   .    .    .   .    .    .   .

Martyn Schmidt – Kammerton a'a (self-release) https://martynschmidt.bandcamp.com/track/kammerton-aa-i "Kammerton a'a" is a hörspiel, a German radio art piece centered on the city of Aalen in the Swabian Alps in Southern Germany. It is the birth-place of Martyn Schmidt, born 1969, a German sound poet and musician, publisher of sound poetry releases on his own Atemwerft label from 2014 to 2017 [www.atemwerft.de]. Currently living in Augsburg, Schmidt is naturally associated with the prolific Attenuation Circuit label and the very active local live scene. "Kammerton a'a" is actually called a hörpoem, or sound poem, a poetic, free-flowing meditation on post-WWII Germany in a small provincial city devastated by Allied bombings. The focus is on piano sounds—actual or remembered, verbal or musical, from the present or from the past—, in a city where the mayor after 1945 was a piano builder himself. According to Martyn Schmidt, the underlying concept behind "Kammerton a'a" (meaning Standard Pitch A440 Hz) is to consider the role of the post-WWII piano tuner as having to re-tune Germany to the universal harmony, a lovely metaphor for post-war normalization, I think. Indeed, in "Kammerton a'a", the city literally exudes piano music. In addition to readings from a piano manufacturing manual and poems from local poet Christian Schubart (1739-1791), "Kammerton a'a" is based on interviews with 3 main protagonists from Aalen: a former journalist during WWII ; memories from a former piano builder working at the local piano factory until its closure in 1973 ; and a contemporary piano tuner. There are other references to local citizens, piano teachers, philosophers or journalists located in or originally from Aalen, so that "Kammerton a'a" is also a portrait—and a redeeming—of a city. The language is mostly Schwabish, the vernacular Swabian dialect derived from German, and this picturesque dialect is part of the charm of "Kammerton a'a". Alternating between interviews, poetry readings and archive radio broadcasts, the spoken word is completed with piano music snippets, inside the piano playing, church bells, location recordings and occasional musique concrète or electronic sounds. These musical and documentary sounds punctuate the hörpoem and, along with the superbly recorded voices, contribute to its unique sound signature.

VA – Objetos Musicais: Homage to Walter Smetak (Buh Records) https://buhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/objetos-musicais-homage-to-walter-smetak Conceived as an homage to Swiss-born, Brazilian composer and instrument builder Walter Smetak (1913–84), this compilation collects music produced by sound artists and contemporary artists from South American countries and Switzerland. These artists present their own vision of 'Caossonância', a Smetak concept based on the Portuguese words for chaos and sound, where invented or modified instruments are used to produce strange sounds in musical experiments welcoming unusual tunings and aleatoric sonic discoveries. Participants to this compilation tend to focus on strings and percussion instruments, sometimes with motorized objects hitting or scraping strings, skins or metal tubes, with only one wind instrument (Javier Bustos' Aerodrones). Many contributors use electronic sound processing or computer post production to complement their music. 'Objetos Musicais' features many interesting sounds from weird music instruments—some pleasantly otherworldly, some on the nice side of noise—though, on the whole, there is a lack of contrast from one sound excerpt to another as well as within each track. Indeed, contributors here are not improvisors nor composers, and they often fail to engage with the sound in interesting and exciting ways. The number of music instruments one can conceive of being limited, the musical invention must come from the way they are played, contrasted with other sounds, and part of a larger musical vision. I enjoyed this compilation's concept very much, though, and think it's great there are still instrument builders and sound sculptors around.

VA – The Same River Twice (Hotham Sound Recordings) https://hothamsoundrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/the-same-river-twice The ancient art of compilation making is more or less lost nowadays and it's rare to stumble on a well curated project with a strong, unifying concept. Conceived by Canadian, Vancouver-based label Hotham Sound, 'The Same River Twice' is that rare beast: a Various Artists album that flows effortlessly and excitingly like a regular album. Fifty artists worldwide contributed one minute of music each using the last sounds of the previous contributor as their starting point, adding up to the whole via the internet in a kind of mail-art chain, or Surrealist Exquisite Corpse. The style is experimental-ambient with a great variety of sounds, from abstract textures to real instruments like piano, harp, flute or Spanish guitar, onto electronic music through to spoken word. I suppose someone at Hotham Sound curated the whole shebang throughout in a way or another, because transitions between tracks are both seamless and pertinent, full of surprises and excitement. The LP comprises 2 side-long tracks, the A-side roughly featuring the more abstract and acoustic music, while the B-side includes more electronic sounds and occasional beats, as well as field recording and melodica. In any case, both sides hugely benefit from the Exquisite Corpse process, a brilliant idea yielding quasi magical results here. I recognized only a few names in there, like Karl Fousek, M Geddes Gengras or Lance Austin Olsen, most of the other names being new to me. A fantastic album anyway.

Mark Vernon – Magneto Mori: Vienna (Canti Magnetici) https://cantimagnetici.bandcamp.com/album/magneto-mori-vienna Commissioned by Austrian national radio ORF Ö1, "Magneto Mori: Vienna" is a hörspiel conceived by Scottish sound artist Mark Vernon as a portrait of the city through original location recordings done in 2018, plus other vernacular sound documents like dictaphone recordings, cassettes or reel-to-reel tapes, all found in Vienna flea markets. We hear street noises, dictaphone spoken word and outdoor conversations in Viennese dialect, street musicians, manipulated sounds, electronic sounds, musique concrète. Typical from Mark Vernon is the very lively montage of short sound excerpts, adroitly contrasted with each other in cut-up fashion before quickly moving on to other things. Additionally, the original hour-long radio work was broken into 11 short, manageable tracks for this LP release—so every precaution was taken to avoid listening fatigue. Vernon's sound palette in "Magneto Mori: Vienna" is keen on playing with dichotomies and striking oppositions in his choice of sounds: outdoor vs indoor, near vs far, natural vs electronic, resonant vs damped sounds. The technique could be called 'extended hörspiel', blending the hörspiel idiom with electroacoustic music and musique concrète. A less skilled composer might have come up with a boring travelogue smelling tourist perambulations and Traveler’s cheques, but not so with Mark Vernon, as he managed to give a vivid impression of Vienna’s busy streets through sound collage and electroacoustic music technique. This talent of his was also prevalent in a previous work, The Dominion of Din (2020), which consisted solely of street recordings made from his Glasgow flat windows over an 18-year period, and was incredibly lively, eventful, surprising and fun.

[bubblesandgutz]

Every Record I Own - Day 643: REZN Chaotic Divine

This is another album highlight of 2020.

Here’s what I had to say about REZN when asked to write their band bio:

The music churned out by Chicago quartet REZN somehow manages to convey both crushing mass and cosmic weightlessness. The seed for the band’s megaton riffs and psychedelic journeys was planted when guitarist Rob McWilliams and bassist Phil Cangelosi began jamming together at age twelve in the DC commuter town of Leesburg, VA. They relocated to Chicago in 2015, recruited local sound engineer Patrick Dunn to bash on the drums, and set about recording their debut album—the molten amp worship service Let It Burn—after playing just three shows together. They invited their friend Spencer Ouellette into the studio to round out their bottom-heavy sound with the hum-and-squall of modular synth, and the added textural component immediately became a key facet to their sound. REZN quickly established their footing in the heady-and-heavy Chicago rock community, playing around town with esteemed riff barons like Bongripper and Oozing Wound, as well as landing coveted slots for touring acts like Conan and Acid King. The 2018 sophomore album Calm Black Water continued the band’s penchant for molasses-thick guitar-and-bass punishments with soaring minor key vocal melodies, but Ouellette further pushed the dreamscape envelope by supplementing the synth duties with blissed out saxophone passages. REZN hit the road, and with little more than a few short Midwest and East Coast under their belts, their reputation had festival promoters in California, Mexico, Netherlands, and Denmark adding the band to their prestigious line-ups alongside acts like Melvins, Fu Manchu, Earthless, Black Mountain, and YOB.

REZN’s newest offering Chaotic Divine continues their melding of gargantuan heaviness and lysergic calm. Additionally, it continues the band’s penchant for tying the music to a visual landscape. Let It Burn revolved around a cosmic and volcanic landscape inspired by the vastness of space; Calm Black Water conjured the deepest trenches of the ocean; and Chaotic Divine presents an endless desert world inoculated by spores from extra/intra-terrestrial beings. The conceptual element is buoyed by the continued cover art contributions from Allyson Medeiros, whose post-apocalyptic landscape for Chaotic Divine recalls the epic fantasy spirit of Roger Dean’s classic ‘70s album art. The album was engineered by Dylan Piskula (DEN, Bruges) at JAMDEK in Chicago in December 2019, mixed by Matt Russell (Bruges, Moral Void), mastered by Carl Saff, and pressed as a 2xLP at Chicago’s Smashed Plastic vinyl plant. All facets of production were done in Chicago with the band’s oversight.

Chaotic Divine opens with the seismic meditation “Emerging,” a thrilling embarkation for the double-album’s journey through cataclysmic riffs and sublime sonic haze. “Waves of Sand” saves the big-riff payoff until the final third of the song, using a slow tension-building sprawl to color the aural landscape with hallucinatory saxophone lines and helium-grade ethereal guitars. REZN albums have always focused on the big picture, with the songs threaded together to form one epic composition, and that approach is visible in moments like “Garden Green”—with its Pink Floydian unorthodox melodicism and tempered reserve—fluidly segueing into the hammer-fisted pummeling of “The Door Opens.” Across the second half of the album, the band continues to employ psychedelic elements to give the heavier moments a more somber and meaningful presence, while the big pay-offs provide room for the narcotic and hallucinatory moments to breath and come into their own. This tactic is especially noticeable when instrumental synth-driven passages “Clear I” and “Clear II” morph into the King Crimson-on-cough-syrup psych-folk and guitar-and-sax riffage of “Optic Echo” and “The Still Center.” The result is an album of textural delights and organic evolutions, all rendered in the studio with the band tracking the music live as a full unit over the course of six days.

REZN’s reputation has already quickly spread like wildfire through the ranks of doom aficionados, tone chasers, and psych junkies, but with the next-level toke-and-dirge odyssey of Chaotic Divine, the Chicago ensemble is poised to raze the Earth with even loftier cosmic heights and gnarlier bottom-feeder lows.