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readyplayerhobi · 5 years ago

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Flower | 21

; Hoseok x Reader

; Genre: Fluff, slight angst

; Word Count: 3.2k

; Warnings: Slight anxiety

; Synopsis: You finally decide to take a dip into the world of online dating and find the Flower dating app. One of the top matches for you proves to be a guy who looks to be your complete opposite; tattooed, pierced, a metalhead and oh…incredibly handsome. What happens when you throw caution to the wind and reach out to him?

; A/N: Hopefully you all enjoy this :) please leave comments or feedback so I can see what you’re all thinking! :D

; Flower Masterpost

Hoseok was sitting on the other side of the coffee table in front of you, a small furrow in his brow as he examined the small tile in his fingers. His lips pursed, soft and rosy pink in the dim lighting you’d set up in the living room for tonight.

Neither of you had anything to do for the evening, with Hoseok’s friends going to a concert that he hadn’t been interested in. Apparently that was actually a band he didn’t like listening to, so he’d happily avoided attending. It meant that he had this Friday evening free, which in turn meant that he was with you for once.

The two of you had settled into a little routine over the last nine months. Hoseok would stay over four or five days a week, spending the remaining days either at his apartment or his parents. Occasionally even at his friends if they went to a concert or just had a night out.

Friday’s were his designated evening to spend with his friends. They would usually meet up at the bar they frequented or go to one of their houses, get drunk and rowdy. Or sometimes they’d go on a trip to a nearby city, spending the night there instead.

It had apparently been their tradition for a long time now, with Friday’s being the start of the weekend and no work. All of them got involved, though Namjoon and Amelia often ended up missing them due to their baby. Though you knew that Namjoon sometimes came along, sent by Amelia to enjoy a night with his friends.

You didn’t mind that he spent that time with them. In fact, you were glad of it. The last thing either of you wanted was to become so reliant on each other that neither of you spent any time with your friends. So you encouraged him to enjoy those Friday’s, knowing that you got the rest of the weekend with him.

Wednesday’s were your night with Chungha and Soyeon. The board games had returned frequently and sometimes, they even managed to coax you out to a restaurant where you would all happily talk about your lives, the state of the world and more. It felt nice, to know that you’d developed a routine that was drastically different to the one from a year ago but still solid enough that you felt stable with it.

It felt healthy, like neither of you were becoming too reliant on each other while still being able to have a good amount of time with your family and friends.

But tonight, you’d invited Hoseok to stay even though you normally never really saw him on Friday’s. Only if you’d specifically asked for him to stay free, such as when you took him to the beach house. He’s happily taken you up on your offer and had told you that he’d get Chinese takeout for you both, which had been greedily consumed an hour earlier.

And now...you were both sat playing a board game. A city and map building board game at that.

A snort left you as you wondered whether Hoseok would have ever expected to be playing Carcassonne on a Friday night with his girlfriend a year ago. You certainly wouldn’t have expected it. Not with someone who looks like him and has his tastes in music and entertainment.

Glancing up at you, Hoseok’s brow rises slightly before he places the tile down carefully. It lines up with the half of a city on another tile, and he carefully places the little wooden ‘meeple’ down in the middle of his now completed city. Looking at the points board, he moves his point keeping meeple up by two before giving you a big smile and taking the one he’d put on the tile off now it was completed.

“Two points...yeeeah.” He says happily and you laugh, shaking your head as you pick a tile from one of the three piles. Your tile has green grass and a little church on it, causing you to place it carefully in a free space in the middle of the map, a little ‘abbot’ meeple being placed on top. You smirk at him as you move your point keeping meeple up by eight before claiming your abbot back.

“Eight points...yeeeeah.” You mimic him, causing his eyes to narrow. It amuses you how competitive he gets in board games. He’d never really played any like the kind you played before he’d started dating you, and it was only in recent months that he’d started to show an interest.

That had made you excited, as you loved playing them and having someone to play with constantly meant you had already been eagerly searching websites for the games that you’d always wanted. As much as Chungha and Soyeon loved to play too, they weren’t too interested in the games that required more time and patience.

“You know...I can’t believe I’m getting overly into a board game where I’m making a city of all things.” Hoseok muses, almost bringing your own thoughts to life and you can’t help the laugh that leaves you.

“I was literally just thinking that. It’s definitely not what I expected. But it’s fun right?” You say with excitement, beaming so wide to him. He pauses for a moment, just taking in your smile before sighing gently and nodding.

“Yeah...although it’d be more fun if you wouldn’t purposefully dick me over.” He gestures towards the city that he’d been carefully building over the game, the city getting larger and larger. It would be worth a lot of points to him.

Or it would be, if you hadn’t thought ahead and carefully placed a city tile a little further away from him with a big meeple on it. Those were worth double points...and they always took precedence over smaller meeples. When you’d causally connected your city up to his, it had meant that he’d lost the city to you.

There had been much outrage at first before he’d pouted for a solid five minutes. You’d been giggling at him the whole time, telling him that he’d better step his game up as in the game of Carcassonne, you either win or lose.

Not that he’d truly appreciated that, but he had been a little cunning since. Purposefully blocking your cities or roads so that they couldn’t be finished. It was all fun though, and you knew that he wasn’t really annoyed.

It was one of the things that made your heart burst about him; how he went along with your tangents on useless topics or actively engaged with your rants or simply listened as you speculated the stupidest stuff to him. You didn’t know many other people who would listen to you properly when you went off on a theory of how to reduce global warming.

That had a more memorable conversation including firing all the rubbish on the planet towards the sun, a mass snow maker in Antarctica to reduce the sea levels and so forth. And Hoseok had gone along with it all, no matter how silly the topic. Even actively contributing towards it.

He never seemed to make you feel stupid for the stuff you talked about. Your bizarre thought processes sometimes left him a little confused, you were well aware of that, but he tried to keep up with you and encourage whatever little thing had sparked your interest.

In fact, you couldn’t really remember every actually causing Hoseok to get annoyed through the things that you loved. Sure, he got annoyed when you didn’t replace the toilet roll when it had run out, instead leaving it on top of the holder or when you didn’t clean the sink of toothpaste stains. He especially didn’t like your habit of barely hoovering and your lack of care about putting clothes away almost infuriated him.

Hoseok was a surprisingly clean man.

But he never got annoyed about things that you loved. Never made you feel silly about them or ashamed. And you loved that about him.

Smiling softly at him as he examines the new tile he’d picked up, his tongue sticking out of his mouth as he concentrates once more while his eyes can over the map, you feel the fluttering in your stomach once more. He looks tired, after a long week of work and you can see the shadows under his eyes.

His dark hair is tousled from where he’d run his fingers through it continuously throughout the day and his lips are ever so slightly dry. Humming to yourself, you stand up and quickly disappear to your bedroom before coming back, a small tube of lip balm in your hand. Handing it over to him, you smile as you gesture to his lips.

“Your lips look very dry right now.” He gives a smile of thanks, uncapping it and twisting it up before liberally applying it on. It’s rather ridiculous how good he looks with his now glossy lips but you don’t comment on it, instead leaning forward until you can rest your elbows on the coffee table, chin in your hand as you watch him.

Hoseok is too focused on trying to decide what to do that he doesn’t really notice your perusal. Either that, or he’s too used to it. You do this quite frequently, mostly because you’re perpetually surprised that you of all people managed to date someone like him.

“I l-” The words choke in your throat as you go to say them, your brain catching up with what your mouth was saying far too quickly. Your almost admittance of your feelings made you feel hot, but what made you feel even hotter was the frustration at how hard you found it to get these three words out.

You’d been trying to say them to him for a while now, but everytime you came close, your throat would tighten. Almost like it didn’t want the words to escape, like it wanted to hoard them to itself. You always struggled to talk about your feelings, but this felt even harder. This was something so intimate and personal to you, the words giving Hoseok the ability to hurt you in ways no one else ever has.

Your hands clenched into fists as your jaw sets, the pressure hard and you glare down at the table. It’s like an intense feeling of embarrassment and anxiety takes over every time you try to say it, your body flashing lightning hot and your muscles tensing as if you’re expecting the fright of your life. All because you want to say three words to him.

"You don't have to say it to me." Hoseok said softly, his voice far kinder and patient than it should be. Sometimes you wondered how he put up with you and your mood swings, but you knew why; he loved you.

You’re also not really surprised that he knew what you were trying to say, even if it had come out of the blue like this. He’d always shown that uncanny knack of simply understanding you. But it’s frustrating right now. He deserves to hear it out loud, to hear you say the words that had made you so happy when he’d told you.

"But I should. It's not fair to you." Moving around to your side of the table, Hoseok sits next to you with a smile. Gentle fingers cup your face, applying pressure until you're looking directly into those dark eyes you'd fallen head over heels for in the last few months. He deserved so much better than you and it made your stomach hurt to think that. You knew he'd berate you for that kind of mindset.

"Hey, I don't care about what's fair or not fair. I care about you. And your feelings and whether you're comfortable," Hoseok pauses, taking a deep breath before licking lips. "I've known since the very beginning that you're not great at communication. That's fine though, because I've learnt that what you don't say in words...you do in actions."

You frown at him in confusion, hand coming up to rest on him as you wonder what he means and he laughs in response, fingers stroking gently. If it was possible for someone to tell you that they loved you through pure motions alone, then it definitely felt like Hoseok was doing it right now.

"You've never told me that you love me in words. But you've been telling me for a while now that you do with what you do for me. When you buy me that stupid thing in a store 'cos it reminded you of me or you get my favourite cereal even if you hate it. When you watch films and programmes for me, or listen to my music because it makes me happy. When you make the effort to call me, even when you don't like it. When you come with me out with my friends, even if it makes you uncomfortable."

Your body feels warm at that, squirming in discomfort at his words. "Those are normal things, right? Isn’t that what girlfriends do for their boyfriend?"

Hoseok shakes his head in response. "No, well yeah. But you take it further. It's like you're always wanting to make sure I'm happy and content so you do everything to make that happen, no matter the cost to you. I worried that you're making yourself unhappy doing it, but then I watched you with your parents or Soyeon or Chungha and just realised...that's you. Some people say 'I love you' a lot, some people are physically affectionate...and some people do things to show their love."

There's a silence that falls after that, warm and filled with plenty of emotion you can't identify. You turn his words over in your head, chewing on them and realise slowly that he's right.

"I like to make people happy. If they're happy then I'm happy because I did something good." The words sound a little childish and you look away, hoping that he doesn't think they are too.

But he just wraps his arms around you, pulling you to him and hugging you tightly. Neither of you say anything for a moment, just letting the moment percolate just a little bit longer and you enjoy everything about him.

The strong feel of him against you, the warmth he radiates and security you feel in his arms. His addictive scent that sends a wave of pleasure through you as you bury your nose into his neck, inhaling deeply. You finally get what some people mean when they say that their partner feels like home, because while you may have only been together a few months, you have never felt more at home with someone before.

Hoseok shifts slightly and you feel a gentle pressure on your temple, the hard coldness of his piercing letting you know that it's his lips. He stays there for a moment, petal soft lips against your skin as he takes in a deep breath.

"I love that about you...you know that? You're very easy to please. You never want big fancy things or anything like that. Just...affection." His words are a tiny bit husky but you can feel the amusement laced through them, the flow slightly stilted as if he's not sure how to word things.

Pressing your forehead against his collarbone, you look down to where your hand rests on his thigh and take a deep breath. Mind racing, nerves dancing, stomach swirling and body tensing, you finally do it. You push through the fear and the anxiety that overwhelms your body and say what you’ve been trying to for so long now.

"I love you Hoseok."

You're so quiet that you're not sure he's even heard you, but you're too focused on your hand on his thighs. As you say the words, you poke at the firm muscle lightly, almost as if by doing so then he'll be distracted and he won't hear.

But he does hear. Of course he hears.

You can feel the tremble through his body, the way his breath hitches ever so slightly and you feel hot all over with embarrassment. Which in turn makes you feel ashamed, because you shouldn't be embarrassed to tell the man you love, your boyfriend of nine months, that you love him.

And yet you are, because you struggle to talk about big and important emotions like this.

He understands though. Hoseok understands how big of a step this is for you, how important this is and how much nerve you'd had to build to finally let yourself say it. You still feel like throwing up, but part of you is elated to get it out.

"Yeah?" He whispers softly, nose running along your hairline and you nod in response. Staring firmly at the Iron Maiden band shirt, you poke gently once more at his thigh.

"I love you." This one is even quieter but he doesn't care. You can tell he doesn't care, because he simply hugs you tighter before pulling away to press a long, emotion filled kiss to your lips.

The two of you somehow managed to finish your game of Carcassonne, with you winning. Hoseok didn’t seem to care though, and once you’d both finished tidying it away, he’d been eager to pull you to the bedroom. It was there that you discovered perhaps the best sex you’ve ever had, all because both of you were feeilng particularly loved up and mushy.

And now, you’re incredibly sleepy as you lay against him, simply enjoying the feel of him and how at peace you feel with everything right now. How happy you are.

His chest is warm and firm beneath your cheek, rising and falling slowly as he breathes deeply while the comforting thump of his heart beats beneath you. Your hand rests on his chest as well, his sleep shirt covering up the inked skin but you imagine it clearly.

Hoseok probably never expected to meet someone like you when he'd signed up to Flower, and part of you still maintained that he was meant for someone better. Yet here he was, in your bed...in your arms...in your life...in your heart. And he'd openly welcomed you into his own.

You knew that you'd lucked out with him. Seriously lucked out, and you thanked whatever gods were out there for letting you be the one to catch his interest.

Silently, you let your fingers trail along him in a touch so light it was barely there. Reaching where his heart should be you gently press down in a gentle poke. A responding gesture on your back from him makes you jump slightly, looking up at his face only to see it still serene in its peacefulness. But you know he's not asleep, and you repeat the gesture once more on him.

He does it again and you grin, forcing yourself to stay quiet and motionless before you settle yourself down to sleep properly. Hoseok said that you showed your love in actions because it was easier than using words, and he was right.

It was easier and you felt far more comfortable doing it than saying it out loud. You'd already made up in your mind what the tiny, innocent gesture meant in your head. It said a lot about how well Hoseok knew you already that he'd figured it out so quickly too.

Poke, I love you.

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hellomynameisbisexual · 4 years ago

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I’ve identified as straight, I’ve identified as gay, and I’ve identified—and still identify—as bi. My sexual identity is something of a shapeshifting mass that I can never quite firmly grasp. In the minds of many, I’m confused. But I don’t see it that way. I’ve always been confident in my sexual orientation; it’s just changed over time. For the majority of my life, I was solely romantically and sexually linked to women. But in my late 20s, I started to experiment with men (something I’ve wanted to do for a long, long time) and really liked it. Now, I’m far more attracted to men than women, but who’s to say my sexual preference won’t sway again?

“It’s not uncommon for people’s sexual identities to change,” sex educator Erica Smith, M.Ed, tells NewNowNext. “I know this as a sexuality educator and because I’ve experienced it firsthand. I’ve identified as bisexual, lesbian, queer, and straight (when I was very young). It wasn’t until I was in my mid-30s that I relaxed into the knowledge that my sexual attractions are probably going to keep changing and shifting my whole life.”

According to Alisa Swindell, Ph.D. candidate and bisexual activist, it is not always our sexuality that changes. Usually, it’s our understanding of our sexuality that evolves when we explore what feels right to us. “Our understanding of gender and how it is expressed has been evolving at a rate that has not previously been known (or studied) and that is changing how we understand our own desires and responses to others,” she says.

Many outside factors can influence our sexuality. For instance, Swindell thinks many bisexuals are playing against a numbers game. “There are more people with other gender attractions than same-gender, so more often bisexual people end up in relationships with people of another gender and find it easier to pursue those relationships,” she says.

In her opinion, this sentiment is especially true for women, as there is still a lot of stigma toward bi women within lesbian communities. Men, however, experience a different set of challenges.

“Once [men] start dating [other] men, they often find themselves in social situations that are almost exclusively male and so meeting women becomes harder,” she adds, effectively summarizing my lived experience as a sexually active bisexual man. “Also, those men, like all of us, were socialized to respond to heterosexual norms. So many men who enjoy the queerness of the male spaces are still often attracted to heteronormative women who do not always respond to male bisexuality due to continuing stigma.”

The continuing stigma often pressures bisexuals to adopt a monosexual identity. Take Leslie, a “not super out” bisexual, as an example. Leslie dated a woman from her late teens to early 20s, keeping her sexual orientation a secret because her parents were conservative and she didn’t want to ruffle any feathers. As she revisits her past same-sex relationship with me, she has a realization: “In reflecting on all of that, I think deep down I thought that being with a man would just be easier.”

Now married to a man, Leslie feels like she’s lost her bi identity, though she’s still attracted to different genders. “When I see people I follow online and find out they are bisexual I usually reach out and say, ‘I am, too!’ so I can collect sisters and brothers where I can,” she adds. “Otherwise, as I am cisgender-presenting I often feel like I don’t really have a say but I offer my support.”

This loss of identity is all too common. “Maintaining a recognized bisexual identity can be difficult as monosexuality is still the assumed norm,” Swindell says, noting that showing support—whether that looks like keeping up with issues that affect bisexuals, correcting people who mistakenly call bisexuals gay or straight, or encouraging our partners to not let that slide when it comes up with friends and family are all important for maintaining an identity—as Leslie has, is important to maintaining a bi identity. Smith adds this loss of identity may be attributed to a person’s own internalized biphobia, too.

“When it comes to sexuality in particular, there is rightfully a lot of autonomy given to people to self-identify. If someone self-identifies as queer or bisexual, none of their sexual or relational behavior, in of itself, alters that,” psychotherapist Daniel Olavarria, LCSW, tells NewNowNext. “Of course, there is also a recognition that by marrying someone of the opposite sex, for example, that this queer person is exercising a level of privilege that may alter their external experience in the world. As a result, this may have implications for how that person is perceived among queer and non-queer communities.”

Jodi’s experience as a bisexual person is more reflective of my own: She shares that she’s gone through stages where she only dates men, and others where she only dates women. Available studies suggest that only a minority of bisexuals maintain simultaneous relationships with both genders. In one report, self-identified bisexuals were asked if they had been sexually involved with both men and women in the past 12 months. Two-thirds said yes, and only one-third has been simultaneously involved with both genders.

As for a possible explanation? “It can be really difficult for us to find partners who are comfortable with us dating other genders at the same time,” Smith offers up as a theory.

“If I’m in a situation where I have to be exhibiting a lot of ‘masculine’ energy (running projects, being very in charge of things at work, etc.), then I tend to want to be able to be in more ‘feminine’ energy at home,” Jodi adds, clarifying that people of any gender identity can boast masculine and feminine energy. “Likewise, if my work life looks quieter and focused on more ‘feminine’ aspects such as nurturing and caregiving, I tend to want to exhibit a stronger more masculine presence while at home.”

Bisexuality is, in many ways, a label that can accommodate one’s experience on a sexuality spectrum. This allows for shifts based on a person’s needs or interests at any given point in their life. Perhaps “The Bisexual Manifesto,” published in 1990 from the Bay Area Bisexual Network, says it best:

Bisexuality is a whole, fluid identity. Do not assume that bisexuality is binary or duogamous in nature: that we have “two” sides or that we must be involved simultaneously with both genders to be fulfilled human beings. In fact, don’t assume that there are only two genders.

Sexuality is complicated, and how we experience it throughout our lives is informed by a multitude of different factors—the exploration of power dynamics, craving certain types of sexual experiences, and social expectations can all influence our gender preferences at any given time, to name just a few. Much like our own bodies, our understanding of our sexual orientation will continue to grow.

I’ve come to accept this ongoing evolution as a wonderful and inevitable thing. Imagine having a completely static sexual orientation your entire life? Boring! Being able to explore your sexuality with wonderful people of all genders is intensely satisfying and uniquely insightful, no matter how many others try to denounce what you feel in your heart or your loins.

I didn’t choose the bi life; the bi life chose me. And I am grateful.

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themelodicenigma · 4 years ago

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Some things in fandom culture feels like a double-edged sword to me.

As much as I do believe people should be able to express things of their own accord for a series and its "contextual elements", whether this be about a character, character relationships, the story, artwork, analytical things, etc. And do so openly, in the same space as some who might disagree with them....well, at the same time, I still also believe it DOES matter about what exactly is being represented through a fan's words in a certain platform.

Misrepresentation of content and the ability to address it, if even to simply have a discussion, is VERY important. Especially if concerning the evasion of misinformation. But somehow, this is tricky. And honestly, it feels like this is mostly due to the fact that people really DON'T want to actually talk about these things. They just want to be right, be surrounded by people that believe they're right, or simply want to be left alone even when being susceptible to open discussion by, well openly speaking their mind.

Yeah. It's tricky. Because, I get it.

Shipping-related topics is a corner (a rather large one) where this happens often. Often does the person who celebrates their ship doesn't want to hear an opposer interrupt this with their own thoughts. Similarly, if one is talking negatively about a character, they don't want to hear it from someone who is ready to defend this.

What is or isn't canonical, what makes something canonical, why and how are supplemental materials created, Goku being a bad father, Tifa being a "fan service" character or toxic in Advent Children, Riku being gay because he cares for Sora, Sora and Kairi having romanticism, Fang and Vanille being lesbians, Cloud not having romanticm with Aerith, Aerith not giving a shit about Zack, FFXV being a horrible story, etc. etc. etc. And all in reverse, as well.

People want to say it, say anything even in opposition, but they don't want to talk about it. Double edge.

Many fans can be so set in a way that, despite speaking their thoughts in an open forum and platform, they're not willing to ACTUALLY discuss what they say. They feel they shouldn’t have to, you're invading their space, and are blind to the "truth", so talking is a waste of time.

Now, somewhere there in that last bit, I can understand it. You shouldn't have the same discussion with someone who is unmovable in their thoughts. If everyone said what they had to say, then move on, anything after that is typically a waste of time and energy, and can cause unnecessary grief in fandom space that can last for years. FFVII and the LTD sends its regards, and then some.

Sometimes, it isn't worth talking to someone about things.

However, in the long run, depending on context (time, place, type of discussion, etc.), I can't believe this is the best method for really the overall fandom communities online. We can certainly practice good habits of engaging in conversation and accepting that someone doesn't really want to talk

That should be fine fundamentally. And of course, creative content isn't the place for this. They're not making a statement or starting a discussion, they're drawing a kickass picture or writing some fics. Too many people nowadays feel compelled to go under a fanart of an opposed ship and talk about how much this ship sucks....really?

However, in the event people are speaking their mind, I also think we should still encourage people to address their views as well, that it's OKAY to disagree or to see things differently as we understand this in the most fundamental ways of differences in human thought. The epistemology of fandom thought can't be achieved if we're not willing to understand each other, on how we think, and why we think the way we do about things. And that, if you DO care about people understanding you, you need to be able to really talk about it. It's okay if you're not even the most articulate person, and you don't have to be a crazy typer like me and write a whole story. That's something I'm still working on in regards to my own communication skills, cause if you've followed me for awhile, you know I type too much. Lol

We tend to make a rigid line between what is "good or bad" takes that are worth even speaking against. That like, even if someone is wrong, as long as the nature of what they say is something positive, it's immune from criticism.

I just can't agree with this.

Misrepresentation is misrepresentation.

And if that's what you believe is happening, then approach the ways in which to start a healthy discussion on it.

This is fandom, this is OUR space, and even though it's built upon a source material, what happens here is on us. For us. Through us. And like, if I feel like someone projects something that is objectively wrong, I'm going to want to talk about it. If the other party doesn't, that's fine, but I don't believe that's because I shouldn't have tried to at all.

Granted, this is different than stalking the tags of opposition, or seeing someone make jokes about a character on Twitter, even if on an official account of the source material. If they are joking.

Of course, there's a tact and a time and place to discuss certain things, along with the nuances of ways of discussing things for particular types of convos. And like, people should be able to have spaces where they indulge in how they feel about the content in their own way.

But, if what you're saying, even as someone who wants to be left alone except by people who agree with you, is done in a way that is more than just a personal expression and is a statement of what represents any of the "contextual elements" mentioned...

Maybe we should be more open to someone not agreeing with you and just, you know, discuss. Hubris shouldn't get in the way of that.

#fandom #shipping #discussion #kingdom hearts #final fantasy

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maiz-of-light · 5 years ago

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Altared Perspective: The Baby Pagan’s Guide to Crystal Usage

Good afternoon, lovies!

With classes moved online, I’ve had much more time to reflect on and invest in my spiritual upkeep. (Procrastinating my homework has nothing to do with it, *gulp* I swear.) The aesthetics I’ve stumbled upon whilst browsing social media brought to my attention the unseemly clutter on my own home altar, and in the spirit of springtime, I organized the holy hades out of it. Going through the used and unused items that had been sitting on that table for months and months, I thought to myself, How could I have avoided making this mess in the first place?

For anyone else who may have an interest in the subject, I hope to provide some answers by creating a simple start-up guide to pagan rituals.

Before moving on, I’d like to clarify: I am not Wiccan. I have no qualms with Wicca, and I find the practice quite interesting, but my heart simply isn’t in it. That being said, practitioners of Wicca may also find this pagan post interesting.

1. Foundation and location.

Foundation: Before you begin, you’ll need a place to set up. There are many creative, unique options for getting started: tree stumps, wooden chests, family furniture passed down from generation to generation. If you’re a first-gen pagan on a budget, as I am, you can just as easily use any plain old table. And size doesn’t matter! Just as long as you can fit everything you need. My table is 2′ wide and 4′ long.

Location: When you have a surface picked out, you’ll of course need somewhere to put it. Most rituals are performed with the practitioner facing north, so if possible, set your altar against a northern wall of your home, preferably next to a window so that your items can soak up the natural light. If you’d rather it be outdoors, just be certain to protect your set-up from the elements (weather, animals, etc.).

2. Crystals and stones

Crystals are the fruits of the earth and the tears of the gods, and as such, each possesses different properties ranging from physical healing to good luck and safe travel. Even in just the short time that I’ve been using them, they have made a tremendous difference in my life. The catch is, there are so many that it can get to be overwhelming - so here’s a good way to start.

Begin with chakra crystals. They’re often sold in sets from $10-20, and their ROY G BIV color scheme makes them easy to navigate. Here's a brief description of each:

a. Red jasper

Red stones represent fire and amplify passion and drive. As a crystal of the day, red jasper means to go for exactly what you want and not to take ‘no’ for an answer.

b. Orange calcite

Orange stones represent physiological health, specifically intestinal and digestive health. As a crystal of the day, orange calcite is telling you to be careful what you ingest.

c. Gold tigers eye

Gold and yellow stones represent wealth and prosperity, and are used in many rituals to improve finances. As a crystal of the day, tigers eye promises a lucky bargain or a great deal - but proceed with caution.

d. Green aventurine

Green is the color of luck in all areas of life. As a crystal of the day, aventurine encourages you to take an extra risk - it’s far, far more likely to go well.

e. Blue sodalite

Blue stones, especially sodalite, promote wisdom and intellectual strength. As a crystal of the day, blue sodalite encourages you to gather all the facts before proceeding.

f. Amethyst

Purple stones represent peace - and amethyst is one of the queen mothers of crystals. As a crystal of the day, amethyst discourages conflict, especially at home. It’s also used to recharge and cleanse other crystals after frequent use or when passing from one person or place to another.

g. Clear quartz

The other queen mother of crystals, quartz is excellent for warding against harmful spirits and negative energy. As a crystal of the day, clear quartz tells you to stay optimistic.

EXTRA: Rose quartz

Rose quartz, like other pink crystals, amplifies the gentle, loving, nurturing nature in humans and animals. Pale pink combined with the powerful protection of quartz crystal, rose quartz is ideal when placed along window sills and other openings to the home.

3. Additional items

There are many parts to a pagan altar. To complete your set-up effectively, let’s go over a few of the other basics.

a. Candles

The color of a candle, when it matches the color of your crystal(s), amplifies the effects. Above is my rose quartz pendant soaking in the light of a bright pink candle, amplifying my sense of peace and affection towards my family and theirs towards me. Even on its own, an open flame above colored oils and waxes carries heavy significance.

b. Tablecloth or tile

Also called a pentacle, the most common of which is the famous pentagram, or five-pointed star. They’re usually 2′x2′, and placed in the center of the altar for performing of rituals and spells. Although the pentagram is popular, it’s not completely necessary - anything with spiritual significance will suffice: moon phase tapestries, Tarot cloths or tiles, astrological glyphs, and so on. My talisman is a tablecloth covering the entire surface of my altar, with a sun-and-moon circled by the heavenly bodies in the center. It makes for easy organization/placement of my items, too.

c. Chalice or bowl (or both)

While there are many Wiccan rituals involving use of a chalice, I like to use mine for crystal waters and elixirs. Some hear the word chalice and picture a luxurious, ornate cup befitting of the Messiah, but really, all you need is something that can hold liquid. I use translucent, reflective glass set atop a reflective plate so that the contents will better absorb the light.

d. Caldron

Most commonly used for burning incense and mixing potions. Incense can be used for blessings, rituals, and spells, but I most frequently use my caldron for burning sage (more on that later). PS: I bought both the above-mentioned items at the local Goodwill. There’s no need to bust your budget on your altar. :)

e. Dried herbs or plants.

Some pagans decorate their space with live plants, but I always end up killing mine, so I stick with the stuff that’s already supposed to be dead. Sage is my first choice because of its cleansing properties. (Be warned, though; it smells exactly like weed.)

f. Storage

It helps to keep a small chest, box, or lidded dish for storing your crystal and stones when you’re not using them. I also like to keep additional crystals in drawstring bags on a shelf for easy organization with small vials for elixirs.

4. Organize!

Now that you have all your items in order, it’s time to get set up!

Each of the four directions represents one of the four basic elements: North / Earth, South / Fire, West / Water, East / Air. Place a red candle facing south and a green candle opposite, and a blue candle west and a white or yellow candle opposite. Candle holders and displays are optional, just so long as you’re careful not to make a waxy mess.

The rest of the set-up is completely up to you!

As an example, here’s a complete image of mine:

In the dead-center is an amethyst for constant cleansing and rejuvenation of all other items; beneath it is clear quartz pointing inward. I switched my green candle with turquoise for an intellectual boost. Above the amethyst is a Celtic cross talisman, symbolic of my Irish-Celtic roots.

You might be thinking, Great, where am I gonna get all this crap? It’s surprising how affordable these things can be. I mentioned before that I bought my caldron, chalice, and bowl at Goodwill. I got a few of the candle holders at the thrift shop, a few at Target for $1-3, and the fancier ones at Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby is also where I buy most of my candles. (How ironic that a Christian-owned business has been supplying my pagan needs, eh?) The table is from Walmart, the tablecloth from Amazon. Altogether, the entirety of my altar cost maybe $100 over the course of a couple months.

A few last-ditch tips:

Avoid clutter.

If you’re not using it for rituals or spells, keep it off the altar.

Prioritize your items by importance.

And last but not least, if you have a cat, you will not be able to keep him/her off your table. Believe me, I’ve tried. Everything.

Anyway, I hope you found this post helpful and/or interesting, and I wish you all blessings and good fortune in your own spiritual journeys.

~ Gail

#pagan #paganism #pagan altar #altar #my altar #crystals #talisman #charms #amethyst #caldron #candles #chalice #dish #wicca #wiccan

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aurora-daily · 5 years ago

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AURORA’S BATTLE-READY DREAMY POP IS POISED TO CHANGE THE WORLD

Interview by Rachel Morris for nite life online (November 1st, 2019). Growing up in relative isolation in the woodlands of Os, Norway; singer and producer Aurora Aksnes weaves an ethereal yet battle-ready brand of dreamy pop music that is connecting with a growing fanbase across the globe.

If on the surface her subject matter conjures Nordic fairytale-style images of wolves, moonlight and flowing rivers; it’s her surprising juxtaposition of emotional vulnerability and warrior-like resolution that has resonated with a world, at least in part, concerned with mindfulness, social and environmental responsibility – and ready to change for the better.

A WORLD, AT LEAST IN PART, CONCERNED WITH MINDFULNESS, SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY – AND READY TO CHANGE FOR THE BETTER

Aurora’s latest project comes in two parts or, more tellingly, steps. Aurora doesn’t shy away from a singular message. Rather than leaving her work open to interpretation, Aurora is happy to say that her music is instructive.

2018’s Infections of a Different Kind – Step 1 and summer’s A Different Kind of Human – Step 2 are ‘two parts of one emotional process’ Aurora explains. ‘They’re related, but they’re different steps on the way – different steps that you have to take to end up where I want you to end up emotionally.

STEP 1 IS WAY MORE INDIVIDUAL AND PERSONAL, WHILE STEP 2 IS MORE POLITICAL

‘Step 1 is way more individual and personal, while Step 2 is more political and it’s more about looking around you and seeing what you can offer the world. You have to see what you can offer yourself first and become a warrior for yourself, and then you should become a warrior for the world and for everyone that needs you out there.

BECOME A WARRIOR FOR YOURSELF, AND THEN YOU SHOULD BECOME A WARRIOR FOR THE WORLD

‘Step 1 was kind of a gift from me to the fans I already had. I wanted to release it as a surprise, so that my fans would be the first ones to hear it, rather than reading reviews in the papers. And then Step 2 has fuelled my fans in a really, really fun way. I can see them all. I feel like all of my fans are such kind and wonderful people, and many of them share in common with me how it feels to be an underdog. So it becomes a very instinctive thing to fight for anything else that is an underdog in this world.

WE’RE ALL A PART OF THAT CHANGE, BECAUSE IT’S OBVIOUSLY UP TO THE INDIVIDUALS NOW

‘A Different Kind of Human – Step 2 is about standing up for everything we love and believe in. So it’s been really fun to see them grow more passionate about the situations and the world that we would all like to change. We’re all a part of that change, because it’s obviously up to the individuals now.’

While most of us find inspiration in musical or artistic reference points from what has come before, Aurora finds a muse in herself and in nature. To such point, in fact, that she doesn’t like listening to music, which becomes like a noisy distraction from the music that’s innately in her head.

‘I just don’t need music in that way right now in my life. When I grew up, we didn’t have MTV, we didn’t have radio in my house, I didn’t really have any natural way of discovering new music.

‘I have so much music in my head all the time – every second of every day, I’m always making an album. The second I released Step 2, I started on my next one, even though it was midnight. I’m always in the process of making a new baby and then I find it really distracting to listen to music. It almost becomes noisy, even though it’s beautiful.

I FIND IT REALLY DISTRACTING TO LISTEN TO MUSIC. IT ALMOST BECOMES NOISY, EVEN THOUGH IT’S BEAUTIFUL

‘I listen to Enya, because she’s very reliable, she gives my brain calmness. I listen to her when I’m on an airplane, because they’re noisy, I like to replace the airplane or airport noise with music. So I like to listen to Enya – and heavy metal’ she adds.

Shut off from outside influence, firstly by circumstance and now by choice, if a modern day artist was ever born to music, surely it’s Aurora. Since childhood, music has been a very natural way for her to translate emotion.

‘I never wanted to be famous, I didn’t want to do anything with the music, I just really enjoyed writing and making music. It was something I knew from a very young age. It made me feel very powerful and in control – and also without control.

I THINK I WOULD BECOME SICK WITHOUT MUSIC

‘It makes me feel like I know why I’m here. It feels like now pain has a purpose and happiness has a purpose, when I can write about it and make it into sound. Music gives everything I experience and everything I see purpose, so I don’t know what I would do without it. I think I would become sick without music. I don’t think I would have a good time on this planet.’

Despite its Nordic complexity, mysticism and themes, Aurora’s music has reached all corners of the globe, touring throughout UK, Europe, US, South America and Asia just in 2019. While on one hand, she can’t understand this level of success – ‘it’s so strange’ – in the same breath, Aurora solves her own riddle: nature taught her to be a philosopher.

EVERYONE SHOULD LISTEN MORE TO NATURE

‘I think everyone should listen more to nature, because once you’re out there, nothing else really matters. How you look or what you’re doing tomorrow, the things you didn’t manage to complete, or the things you feel like you’re not doing well enough, or the clothes you’re wearing.

‘I solve most things in life by just thinking until I have a solution. I was in the woods for at least nine hours every day my whole childhood, it’s just fascinating and it gives you perspective. You realise how small the stupid problems are and you realise how beauty is free. And that you’re smaller than the big trees and you’re bigger than the tiny bugs and it just lets you exist.

NATURE IS THE ONE PLACE I’VE DISCOVERED (…) THAT GIVES ME THE CHANCE TO BE NOTHING MORE THAN A BEATING HEART AND A BRAIN

‘I think this world is very demanding of us and we as people are very demanding of ourselves. It’s hard to be a human these days and nature is the one place I’ve discovered, so far at least, that gives me the chance to be nothing more than a beating heart and a brain.’

The power of nature is also something Aurora can invert to encourage self-reflection, recording the whole of A Different Kind of Human – Step 2 in a small, dark room.

‘A Different Kind of Human is a more political album. I felt like I had to reach more within myself and figure out where I stand and figure out my own opinions,’ Aurora explains. ‘That’s why I wanted to be in a small, dark room, because there’s no big field for your energy or your thoughts – they just hit the wall and then come back to you like a bouncing ball.

I HAD TO REACH MORE WITHIN MYSELF AND FIGURE OUT WHERE I STAND AND FIGURE OUT MY OWN OPINIONS

‘With every album, it’s very important for me to make them in different spaces so they don’t touch. For my next album, that I’m making now, I’m writing the skeletons of my songs and the soul of them wherever I go. But when I sit down and actually produce them and make the album into one whole baby, then I’ll have to go somewhere else. I know where I’m going, I’m not going to say yet, but it’s going to be a very different place again from every other place I’ve made an album before.’

As an artist that evidently pours so much of herself into her music, you’d imagine that making an album is an exhausting and somewhat draining process, but for the born music maker, it’s quite the opposite. Though Aurora had hinted at a possible 2020 follow up after Step 1 was released, Step 2 hit shelves less than half way through 2019. It’s also the first record that Aurora has co-produced every track, having dipped her toe in with two tracks on Step 1.

‘I find very energising. When I’m in the studio, I’m there for at least twelve hours every time – until late, late night. There is no deadline and there is no finish line when you create. The possibilities are endless, especially now I’ve learned to become a producer.

THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS, ESPECIALLY NOW I’VE LEARNED TO BECOME A PRODUCER

‘I find producing extremely fun and extremely important too. I know in this world, many women have struggled with being able to be given space to produce their own songs and music. So I find it really important to step up for myself and my music. I would love one day to teach more female artists how to begin.’

It’s hard not to feel empowered both listening to and talking to Aurora, who so beautifully presents the idea that a better you and a better world is within grasp. As she says, it’s down to the individuals – and those that inspire them. She opens her the two-step project: ‘I will be your warrior’, and this is no doubt just the beginning of Aurora’s Queendom.

#aurora #aurora aksnes #Interviews #step 2 #ioadk

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entrepreneurdesigners · 5 years ago

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Teaching Entrepreneurship through In-Public Experiential Learning

Insights from the Teach the 1K Workshop

In February 2019, @xuhulk and I convened Teach the 1K — a multi-event gathering of over 40 entrepreneurship educators and activators from a variety of backgrounds—academic, community-based, for-profit, non-profit—to teach them how to teach the $1K Challenge:

Design, launch and complete a crowdfunding campaign that benefits a community you’ve worked with over the course of the semester. The campaign should raise at least $1,000 from 50 different backers.

We ran this workshop because after collectively teaching for 7 years, we were at a crossroads with our work.

We’d seen how transformational the $1K Challenge could be as a teaching tool, and that the lessons the students learned through that experience were only becoming more and more important for the broader public.

There was tremendous potential, but it wasn’t clear how to scale it beyond ourselves. So, we decided to convene a gathering of relevant folks to see if we could teach them how to teach the $1K Challenge.

Here’s what we learned.

Teach the 1K Insights

1. There is a burgeoning interest in teaching people to confront uncertainty.

When we launched the Teach the 1K Workshop, we decided to frame it as an opportunity for teachers to learn how to teach people to confront uncertainty.

We were concerned this framing might be too abstract and thus fail to attract sufficiently qualified participants.

As it turns out, that concern was unsupported. The response was so strong and clear that we created a second event to accommodate the demand.

In retrospect, this shouldn’t have been a surprise. We’re not the only ones to recognize the need for a different, more equitable, approach that is relevant to a broad range of creators, whether they’re optimizing for economic value or social value.

2. The heart of entrepreneurship is exploration, which is rarely taught.

The heart of entrepreneurship — no matter which flavor — is about navigating and confronting uncertainty. We refer to this as exploring, and it is distinct from training the labor force to work in the venture industrial complex.

Many of the existing approaches we have for fostering entrepreneurship are selection mechanisms intended to surface investment opportunities, not opportunities to teach people to explore. While there are efforts to coach and mentor entrepreneurs, the stakes are either too high, or the experience is conflated with the separate challenge of raising capital.

Generally speaking, people aren’t being taught to explore. Our current educational system is optimized for training people to climb ladders rather than to sail the open seas.

The fundamentals of how to explore can be taught in a consistent and repeatable fashion, but doing so is a distinctly different practice from teaching skill acquisition (especially at scale). Everything from the interaction model to the economics of what sustains such an effort needs to be carefully considered.

3. What makes the $1K Challenge an effective teaching tool is that it takes place in public.

Many lessons are best learned through experience rather than lectures, and this requires that the students pursue real projects with real consequences.

Unequivocally, we have found that it is this decision — that the students pursue a challenge with real-life outcomes outside of their control — that is the most critical enabler in teaching people to explore and confront uncertainty.

The $1K Challenge is an example of what we call In-Public Experiential Learning.

4. Online public spaces create new opportunities for In-Public Experiential Learning

The rise of online public platforms like Kickstarter and Twitter has resulted in an exciting arena for In-Public Experiential Learning.

By leveraging Kickstarter, for example, we inherit the constraints of the platform, which make it easier for someone to launch something as audacious as an original idea. We also benefit from the resources Kickstarter provides to any creator, not to mention the collective wisdom of past creators. Twitter creates a space where by the students’ projects can be discovered (or not) by a receptive audience.

In essence, Kickstarter is the boat, Twitter is the open sea, and our 16-week course provides the prompt (the $1K Challenge), the training, and a safe harbor.

Once the student launches, the outcomes are out of everyone’s control — which is a valuable lesson in itself. As a class, they’re going out to sea together and coming back with personalized lessons which inevitably benefit everyone.

This is just one example of an educational experience that is built on this new terrain. Done well, there’s a huge unrealized opportunity to create similar educational experiences across all online public space.

The hard part is figuring out how to craft the right challenge with a clear success or failure mode that encourages the student to willingly jump in, and the necessary safeguards for guiding participants to the endpoint with minimal risk.

5. In-Public Experiential Learning requires resilient instructional systems.

The experience of teaching an in-public challenge introduces an additional layer of chaos and complexity in the form of unpredictable student outcomes and obstacles.

This can be overwhelming for both the student and the teacher. By taking the students out of carefully controlled conditions, you are subjecting them to the entropy of the world, which can surface many irrational fears and reflexes. Similarly, as instructors, it’s inordinately expensive to support a whole cohort of students working in this manner.

The key to managing this is to build resilient systems in lieu of defaulting to “hero mode”, where student challenges are resolved solely through increased individual effort by the teacher.

Such systems include things like:

leveraging our own personal and professional networks for student project feedback,

building software tools to automate mundane tasks, and

establishing rituals where the students share some responsibility.

Thinking of teaching as a set of systems means that we can do more than just react; we can pre-empt problems, point out inefficiencies, and continually iterate.

6. The $1K Challenge is a specific implementation, not an adaptable framework.

Our hypothesis going into the workshop was that the $1K Challenge was one of the best ways to actually teach people to explore and confront uncertainty, and that other educators could potentially modify it to fit their contexts.

In reality, it would be more effective to teach other instructors at the level of abstraction right above that.

The $1K Challenge has worked well for us because over the years, we tailored it precisely to our context — teaching first-year graduate students in the SVA MFA in Interaction Design program. We built a precise obstacle course that accounts for our students’ strengths and weaknesses — as well as our own — and considers the constraints and the institutional context in which we operated. The process we have shared here is the outcome of seven years of optimization.

While there are many components of the $1K Challenge that can be borrowed or adapted, it’s ultimately too custom-built to serve as a starting point for other educators and activators, especially those working in very different contexts.

Rather than teach the $1K Challenge, the more impactful (and scalable) approach may be to share what we know about designing and operating In-Public Experiential Learning programs, and to help people create programs customized to their context — whether they’re coming from academia, government, non-profits or for-profits.

Hot Takes

No blog post is complete without some hot-takes. Here are a mix of trends and insights, all of which are worthy of longer posts in themselves. Each of these represent opportunities for further exploration.

1. We will see new a whole bunch of educational experiences that take place in the new networked public.

The $1K Challenge is but one example of what can be done. However, most of what we see in online education is skill acquisition or a straight port of offline classrooms to an online container. There’s a huge opportunity to create fun and powerful experiential educational experiences, akin to Pokemon Go. This doesn’t mean that classrooms are irrelevant—in fact, quite the opposite. Classrooms provide space for cohorts to support and learn from each other—which is key for experiential programs—and IRL will always be more compelling than virtual. Related, we’ll also see a fair amount of innovation in networked teaching models.

2. Teaching is a horizontal practice that’s increasingly relevant outside of academia.

For a certain class of companies, Education will graduate from being a Support or Marketing activity, to being a core function that reports into the CEO. It’ll be the most effective way to grow and retain customers/users while simultaneously becoming a powerful input into the product development process.

3. Build (or join) a community before you begin to build a product.

The first “product” you attempt to build should be the thing that either coalesces the community you want to serve, or grants you trusted access to an existing community. In most cases, it should notbe an MVP of your idea. Done right, you’ll have less guesswork on the road to product market fit, lower user acquisition costs, and a built-in group of advocates—if not customers—you can build for and with. Or, you may discover they’re not who you should be building for at all. If you fail to coalesce a community, it’s a non-starter. Start over. (Note: this idea is the undercurrent of the most recent version of the course.)

4. Mission-driven entrepreneurship is a different process from what’s been popularized.

There are many flavors of entrepreneurship, and they all optimize for different outcomes—wealth creation, agency, impact, are some examples. In all cases, you can’t escape the laws of physics—at some point you will need to figure out how to financially sustain your work. Often, the biggest hurdle is the mindset shift from “what you can dream up” to “what will actually work”. If you are optimizing for a mission over wealth creation—meaning you’d rather shut everything down than pivot to a completely unrelated random business—you have an added level of difficulty in that you will need to figure all of this out as early as possible. Otherwise, things may get really complicated. Furthermore, you may need ignore the majority of the advice, programs, and support infrastructure out there, simply because they just don’t apply to you. Honestly, the best approach you can probably take is #3.

The Teach the 1K Insights were co-written with Christina Xu and can be found on our website Post-Industrial Design School along with an archive of the Teach the 1K Workshop, our course materials, student blogposts and much more. Hot Takes are written entirely by Gary.

Post-Industrial Design School is an experiential learning lab run by Christina Xu and Gary Chou.

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serialcomposer · 6 years ago

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Analysis of TERF thought

What follows is the complete entry on TERFs from the book “The A-Z of Gender and Sexuality” by Morgan Lev Edward Holleb. In it he provides a clear breakdown of the ways TERF thought works and how it mirrors reactionary far right understandings of the world.

It’s really long but I urge you all to give it a read (don’t worry; most of it will be under the cut so’s not to take up space on your dash) and help spread it.

TERF/TERFS - Acronym for “Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminism/Feminists”

TERF ideology is a specific strand of transphobia. It is a subset of feminism which actively denies the legitimacy of trans people and insists that gender is predetermined by biology. Some TERFs actively advocate for the eradication of trans women (and by extension, all trans people, though their focus is overwhelmingly on trans women). TERFs see trans women and AMAB trans people as a direct threat to cis women and cis womanhood. Although TERFs claim to be “radical feminists,” they’re closer to the right-wing than the left. They share several key ideological viewpoints with Nazis, and have adopted many of the same (modern Nazi) trolling and (historical and modern) rhetorical strategies, building on the fascist legacy of vilifying queer people.

TERFS have been a part of the discourse around trans people and feminism since the 1960s, when hormone replacement therapy became widely accessible for trans people (those who could afford it). TERFs saw trans women as stereotypes of femininity (a parody or mockery of womanhood), who reinforced sexist ideas about what it means to be a woman. Trans women were (and largely still are) forced to perform exaggerated femininity in order to access transition-related healthcare - only trans women who wear traditionally feminine clothes, are heterosexual, and behave in a stereotypically “ladylike”, respectable way were/are allowed to medically transition. This isn’t the fault of trans women; it’s the fault of psychiatric and medical establishments which themselves are extremely sexist and transphobic. But instead of analyzing the systems which harm all women, TERFs have instead attacked (and continue to attack) trans women.

In 1979 Janice Raymond published Transsexual Empire: The Making of he She Male, which said: “All transsexuals rape womens bodies by reducing the female form to an artefact, appropriating this body for themselves... Transsexuals merely cut off the most obvious means of invading women, so that they seem non-invasive.” She concluded that “transsexualism should be eradicated through denial of medical care.” In 198- Raymond was hired to write a US government white paper for the National Centre for Health Care Technology on transsexual healthcare . It was called “Technology on the Social and Ethical Aspects of Transsexual Surgery” and was used as the basis to stop gender affirming surgery being covered by Medicare; private insurance companies followed suit. Transition-specific healthcare was only covered again in the US under Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which required insurance companies to include it, beginning 1 January 2017.

TERFs deny that trans women are women, that trans men are men, and that non-binary people are non-binary. TERFS are biological essentialists: they equate genitals and internal reproductive organs with gender. They actively misgender trans people and claim to be “pro-science”, despite the fact that biologists have long since acknowledged that both biological sex and gender exists on spectrums. Amusingly, TERFs online often put “XX” in their usernames as a declaration of their chromosomes (as if the connection between womanhood and chromosomes is obvious and undeniable). There is a shared TERF and Nazi obsession with genetics and “scientific reality,” a positivist “truth” about bodies which is beyond critique. TERFs use “XX” to signify womanhood, like Nazis used “race science” to “prove” the superiority of whiteness. These views have been so thoroughly debunked that there is no need to explain them here. In all likelihood, most TERFs haven’t had their chromosomes checked, and most Nazis haven’t had their ancestry professionally traced (e.g., the “purity” of their whiteness confirmed). The point here isn’t that some TERFs aren’t XX and some Nazis aren’t “purely” white (an imaginary catergory); it’s that their bigotry rests on assumptions about biology and genetics which are scientifically lazy, as if you can “see” race and gender in a meaningful yet simplistic and binary way. TERFs and Nazis both suggest that people who are “genetically undesirable” should be sterilized, or worse.

Both TERFs and Nazis police and punish deviations from the majority identity groups - this begins by dehumanizing an entire class of people and denying them access to public space. Giving basic civil rights to a minority group (trans people) is framed as a threat to the dominant majority group. (TERFs are not a majority group, but they claim to represent and protect the views of a majority group which they belong to: cis people.) Identity is heavily policed, and the minority group is denied access to public life to “protect” the majority group. Opposition to violent rhetoric and policy is dubbed “silencing legitimate concerns”; hate speech is coded in dog whistles (TERFs use “fender critical” “transgenderism,” “transwoman” instead of “trans woman”) and concern trolling (”protect our women and girls,” a line used by both TERFs and white supremacists). Biological essentialism is used to justify denial of rights based on social categories. Mental illness is vilified, and the minority group is coded as dangerously unstable.

TERFs fan the flames of moral panic on the far right - the same moral panic that vilifies many of them for being lesbians. TERF rhetorics are violent because the encourage a transphobic culture where trans people are denied agency and “rationality”; denied access to medical care, public life and support services; and ultimately denied personhood. Some TERFs directly encourage violence against trans women, including physical attacks and corrective rape.

TERFs declare that all trans people are pedophiles, carrying on a long tradition of categorizing proximity to queerness as child abuse. The minority group is painted not only as a threat that needs to be contained; it also needs to be exterminated in order to guarantee the safety of the majority. Today, this is most often weaponized with fear-mongering about sexual violence - trans women are labelled as inherently hypersexual, perverse, and a dangerous threat to (cis) women and girls.

The vilification of mental illness is another theme shared by TERFs and the far right. TERFs not only dismiss trans people as being mentally ill (thereby delegitimizing our genders) but they code us as dangerously unstable, using the pathologizing language of “sexual perversion” and linking transness to sexual violence, without evidence. They fan the flames of moral panic on the far right - the same moral panic that vilifies many TERFs for being lesbians. These are all rhetorically violent positions because they encourage a transphobic culture where trans people are denied agency and “rationality”; denied access to medical care, public life and support services and ultimately denied personhood.*

TERFs are only noticeable online, and in the UK, where they are a small but loud and dedicated group. The same 100 or so people will your the country to attend anti-trans events, which often get shut down or moved at the last minute due to public pressure to no-platform their hate speech. While they occasionally host anti-trans seminars and protest outside of trans events or events with trans speakers, the majority of their activism takes place online (under pseudonyms because their position is increasingly considered unacceptable).

One notable counterexample was London’s 2018 Pride parade, where a handfull of TERFs hijacked the parade and were allowed to lead it with transphobic and transmisoynistic banners. (Though Pride London [the corporation] failed to adequately deescalate or later address the TERF protest, subsequent UK pride marches that year were often lead with explicitly trans-inclusive banners.) Outwith the UK, trans rights are not positioned as oppositional to feminism.

Modern TERFs are defined as much by their ideology as their relationship to trolling. Their praxis is doxxing, harassing, outing, lurking, publishing pre-transition photos of trans women, creating fake accounts, creating accounts whose sold purpose is to index trans accounts and harass them, sabotaging surveys about trans people, and generally vying for space in online forums, especially on Tumblr, Twitter, Reddit, and Mumsnet. Rather than do anything meaningful to help cis women and girls, TERFs essentially terrorize trans women and try to force them out of physical and difital spaces. There are some explicit connections between UK TERFs and white nationalists on Twitter: mutually following each other, retweeting each other, and discussing attending eachother’s events (e.g., Women’s Sace UK events and UKIP). TERFs are only able to push legislation when their goals align with the goals of Nazis. fascists, and other white supremacists (e.g., the Bathroom Bills, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) and Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) in the US).

TERFs insist that it is their “free speech” right to be given a platform to espouse their ideology, whilst actually silencing the free speech rights of the minority group. Being granted an audience (e.g. on a university campus or in the national press) is neither a right nor an aspect of free speech. However, facing exclusion for starting a petition to no-platform a hate group )as is currently the case with a trans student at the University of Bristol), is a violation of free speech rights. TERFs are very vocal about how “silenced” they are by being no-platformed, despite several high-profile TERFs enjoying regular columns in international newspapers. In the UK, TERFs hold influential cultural positions within the media, community organizing, NGOs, government, and academia; the same cannot be said for trans people.

TERFs position themselves as victims of a powerful “trans lobby” which threatens to “replace” them, when in fact they have heaps of structural power over the groups they claim to be threatened by. The victim narrative is particularly noteworthy: TERFs claim to be victims of silencing and violence, with no attention paid to how their ideologies structurally silence and incite violence against marginalized people. For example, if a trans person allegedly punches a TERF at a counter protest, the focus is then on the legitimacy of punching as a tactic (even in self-defence, assuming the punch actually happened). Centrists and fair-weather “allies” are quick to pick up on this narrative, claiming a middle ground of non-violence, not realizing that they’re legitimizing an extremely violent ideology. This takes the heat off TERFs’ tactics and their ideology, which are of course both extremely violent and about protecting abstract ideas of womanhood at the expense of actual living people who are not threatens in the first place. Their ideology and tactics are indefensible, so they’d rather we talk about the merits and drawbacks of counter-tactics, like punching oppressors. The bullying is overlooked and the focus is on the victims’ response to bullying. Victims are scrutinized for being less than perfect, but the bullies are not under any such scrutiny. Instead of playing into their victim narratives, we should stay focused on their tactics and goals: to deny trans people healthcare (trans-specific and otherwise), to bar us from public space, to harass us, and to terrorize us.

TERF arguments are predicated on the false idea of a monolithic womanhood that trans women aren’t women because they don’t “live as” women and they have a “male experience.” but what is a “female experience”? The experience TERFs refer to is white, cis, and middle class; the experience of a citizen, of people who have access to respectability, and in the UK, access to national media platforms. There is no universal experience of womanhood; suggestions otherwise mimic racist rhetoric which positions the experience of whiteness as “default” and “authentic” and “normal” while people of color are dehumanized and their experiences are “special interest”.Many TERFs hate butch cis women for “role-playing” masculinity, but also hate very feminine women for”performing” for the male gaze.

Lesbian TERFs exclude trans women from their spaces and their analyses of feminism, lesbianism, and womanhood. Lesbian TERFs sometimes exclude trans men as gender traitors; others fetishize them as butches who need saving from being “transed,” erasing and ignoring their genders as men. TERFs sometimes trawl trans message boards looking for young trans men to groom, feeding into insecurities AFAB trans people have about abandoning womanhood and being bad feminists.

TERFs are terrified that trans women are men seeking not only to “co-opt” the struggles of women, but to gain access to women’s spaces and, most terrifyingly of all, to deceive and fuck them as lesbians. This is essentially gay panic; they are absolutely horrified at the possibility of being attracted to a trans woman because it would undermine their status as the bastion of lesbian separatist feminists, being attracted to someone they incorrectly consider a “man.”

TERFs say that the “trans lobby” refuses to acknowledge the difference between trans women and cis women, which is ironic because trans people are quick to talk about how being trans greatly affects our experiences of patriarchy, sexism, and gender. Trans people are acutely aware of the biological differences between us and cis people; that’s a huge part of why many of us medically transition. Trans people aren’t trying to “erase” biological differences, we’re trying to secure our basic rights, and highlight shared struggles when we talk about activism and justice. Trans people not only belong in feminism; we are leading it.

*[idk why he repeats these things in this paragraph either; think it may just’ve been an oversight]

#rape mention tw #paedophilia tw #mention #transphobia

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stopandimagineloveforever · 6 years ago

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Much has been said about the positive, non-judgemental world where Schitt’s Creek takes place, where parents and the community at large support their childrens’ lifestyles, sexuality, and general life choices. That they’ve created such a safe space, both in the fictional world of Schitt’s Creek and as an escape for viewers taking in the TV show, is wonderful on its own. But that these positive, feel-good vibes have transferred — and been put into practice! — on the internet as well, is nothing short of remarkable.

The optimism of Schitt’s Creek was on full blast this season, a collection of 14 episodes that culminated in Patrick (Noah Reid) and David’s (Dan Levy) engagement and the town’s excellent live production of Cabaret, events that were fully celebrated by the friends, family, and townspeople around them. The banding together, the joy, and the acceptance that was felt at a high jumped through screens and forced viewers to smile. It’s contagious and entertaining in all the best ways.

So much so, that even the internet caught on. The internet! The rudest, meanest, most savage place on Earth. And yet in the Schitt’s Creek pocket of the internet, viewers of the show are just as supportive, encouraging, and lovely as the characters they watch every week (and binge over and over again in the first four seasons available on Netflix). Actors on other shows have made the decision to leave social media behind, deactivating accounts when fans’ input became too much and frankly unhealthy for them to be taking in. And yet, Schitt’s Creek has managed to do the exact opposite.

Emily Hampshire, who plays Stevie on the show, noted that the fan reaction to Schitt’s Creek has been specifically unlike “any other show I’ve been on.” She continued to explain, “I’ve been in this show 12 Monkeys where we had a rabid fanbase because it’s sci-fi. You go to Comic-Con and it’s insane. But [Schitt’s Creek is] a different kind of fandom and it’s different than anything I’ve, or I think that we’ve all, experienced.”

Part of that has been the IRL interactions as well, not just the viewing of the show and commenting on social media, all done through screens. As the Schitt’s Creek cast embarked on live tour stops across the US, fans got to breathe the same air as the actors that portray the characters they hold so dear. “We’ll go on tour and get this pure love from the audience,” Hampshire said. “And not just the audience towards us but also the audience towards each other. It is a very strange thing, you feel like you’re in a cult, but a cult you want to be in.”

And those cult members everywhere. “I go into Bed Bath & Beyond and it’s like nothing I’ve experienced,” Hampshire shared. “I think what is coming back at us with the signs and social media and just in life, is what the show puts out. I really do think because, and Dan made it this way, in Schitt’s Creek there is no judgement, there is not all the stuff that we deal with everyday. Everyone’s kind and nice.”

“So when we put all that out there, you really get it back,” she continued. “It’s inspiring to people, especially during this time in the States. To just be given a safe space — and not a cheesy one. The show’s really funny and it’s really smart, and it doesn’t have to sacrifice any of that stuff to have the most wonderful heart.”

“A lot of it is on social media and I think as a cast we receive a lot of love which obviously feels incredible,” Reid told me when we spoke last month about Patrick’s big coming out episode where he reveals to his parents that he’s not just business partners with David. “I’ve received personal messages from a lot of people saying, ‘We’ve been going through a tough time and we’ve really relied on this show to get us through.’ Or parents watching with their kids and growing their scope of how the world is possible to be viewed.”

He echoed the sentiment that the in-person reaction has also been overwhelming in the best way. “To go on tour and feel that in person, it was absolute waves of positivity coming at us. As an actor it’s very rare to be on a show that hits in this way for so many people. Particularly people who haven’t seen themselves on television in this way. It’s incredibly meaningful. I didn’t expect this when I joined the show. It’s been wild to see people coming out and dressing up as characters from the show or making fan art or giving us personalized gifts and stuff. It really is incredible so I feel very lucky to be a part of something like that.”

When Reid tweeted the link to the chat we had about that specific episode, he was sure to tag me, which is a nice gesture (and one I’ve noticed many of the other SC cast members subscribe to) to give a lil’ shoutout to the writer behind the piece. And then the nerves pop up. The mentions of a celebrity can get…dicey, to say the least. Passionate fans launch their opinions freely, fiercely, and frequently on Twitter, seemingly unaware that they could be (and likely are) read by another human being. But in this case the replies were…incredible. People weighed in on how much they loved the episode, shared heartfelt messages about personal experiences, described how the show is meaningful to them, and reflected on how much they enjoyed or identified or learned or felt watching that particular episode. It was like some kind of alternate universe Twitter feed.

And this wasn’t the only example of the online love. When the show dropped a full-length version of Alexis’s (Annie Murphy) theme song to her fictional former reality show, the reaction to the pop tune (modeled on the type of single a Paris Hilton or Britney Spears would release about a decade ago) enthusiastically treated it as the jam/bop/hit that it actually is. In fact, and often with the help of gifs, there wasn’t an episode this season that wasn’t met with an online cheering section. This is also due in part to the show’s own (recently Webby award-nominated!) official Twitter account that helps to promote, in a thorough and fun way, much of what the episodes have to offer.

But perhaps the biggest surprise of all was last week, after the show’s penultimate episode of Season 5 aired. A MAJOR event occurred: David and Patrick got engaged! And in the most David and Patrick way possible, in that it was filled with both feelings and funny moments and was impossible not to feel the happy tears bubble up. And yet there was no evidence of this event on the internet. You know, the very place people go to brag about their new rings? Once the show aired on Tuesday night in Canada, fans kept their responses to cryptic crying face emojis and “OMG”s without spoiling what had just taken place. Well, that can just be chalked up to Canadians, I thought. And then the episode aired here on Wednesday night. And now, a week later, I’ve seen exactly one article where the engagement was mentioned in the headline. That’s it. Again, recaps most leaned into the feelings — including my own. I didn’t want to be the one to spoil this moment, especially after knowing how special it felt to witness it when I had no idea it was coming. The respect level there for letting other Twitter dwelling fans have the opportunity to watch with fresh eyes is significant, because, come on, engagements are the hardest secrets to keep! But ultimately, this is a clear sign that the show has created not only a community on-screen that cares about those around them, but that the show’s social media fans have followed suit.

The only real harshness I have witnessed from fans of this show is that of them simply shaming those who have yet to watch the show (which is basically justified). Though simply refraining from spoiling the show, and keeping their typing fingers in control, is not the only way fans have created a positive environment online. They’ve also been proactive in continuing the efforts of equality and supporting LGBTQ members of their own communities by donating to charities that accomplish this exact work. That’s putting your money where your heart is, and that’s a lesson even the broke Rose family could agree with.

#Schitts Creek #LGBT #Dan Levy #David X Patrick #Eugene Levy #Decider.com #April 2019

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tmitransitioning · 6 years ago

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Im the anon who asked the process of getting T prescibed, i live in the US, specifically west coast

Thank you for that—I’m going to write out a list here, but there are a few options you might have, so bear with me if it gets a bit convoluted!

I also strongly encourage followers to chime in in the notes on this post if I messed anything up; my experience with healthcare is all Canadian, and while I’m fact checking as I write it’s also possible I might miss things.

Also after I wrote this I realized it was incredibly wordy so I’m going to put it under a cut. There will be a TL;DR at the end.

First, if you have a GP or primary doctor, check their clinic website to see if they do HRT care. If they do, that’s great, and all you may have to do is talk to your doctor about how to access that; they will walk you through the particulars.

If you don’t, or if your doctor’s clinic doesn’t do HRT, you have a couple different options:

You can ask your doctor if they know where to refer you to; they may know trans care clinics or endocrinologists that take trans patients.

You can see if there’s a Planned Parenthood in your area that offers HRT on an informed-consent model; many places on the west coast do this. They usually require you to be over 18 in order to consent without a guardian present.

You can check local universities or health centres yourself to see if you can find a clinic that does trans healthcare. Googling “[local major university] trans clinic” often is a good way to discover this, and they may have resource guides with provider names.

For the latter two options, start with their website to gather information and then call their front desk and lay out specifically what you’re looking for—the message I left was, paraphrased:

“Hi, my name is [legal name] and I read on your website that you do hormone replacement therapy for trans people. It also said to set up an appointment for more information, so, can I set one of those up over the phone or should I come in person? I live in [city], and my PHN [Canadian personal health number, may be different for you] is [redacted], my name again is [full legal name], last name is spelled [data expunged], and my phone number is [double redacted]. Alternately, my email is [triple redacted]. Thank you, and have a good day!”

It’s okay to say your preferred first name too, but I personally used my legal name so that they could look me up in the provincial medical system.

The individual clinic might vary, but in my experience most places ask you to cold call them, which is very intimidating. Having a script helps. You want to make it clear what you’re looking for, ask how to set up an appointment, and give clear contact info. If they don’t get back to you in like... two weeks or so, then call again and try to get a live person rather than an answering machine.

Some places (Planned Parenthood especially) might offer online appointment booking, which is also cool!

When you’ve made the appointment, show up with these questions in mind:

Does the provider require a therapist letter?

Informed-consent models usually don’t, many doctors still do.

This is a letter from a psych professional (usually a psychologist or psychiatrist, not a counsellor) that says you have gender dysphoria for which the indicated ‘treatment’ is HRT, and that any of your mental health conditions are well-controlled and don’t make you legally unable to consent to treatment.

This is partially a gatekeeping holdover, and partially because, in the States, “gender dysphoria” is a medically formal diagnosis that allows you to have controlled substances prescribed.

Does the provider take your insurance?

Bring your insurance info to the appointment if you have it.

Do you have to do anything in particular to get T covered (like a special authority letter, I’m not sure what the US equivalent is), and what are the expected costs of various forms?

What kind of lab work do you have to have done?

The vast majority of the time, you will have blood drawn, where they will check things like: cholesterol, red blood cell count, your “baseline” testosterone levels, ALT (liver function marker), blood sugar, and infection/inflammation markers.

You will probably be asked to fast for 8-12 hours before the blood draw if your blood sugar is being tested.

Some clinics can do same-day labwork; this might be a good thing to ask on the phone if you get a call back to set up an appointment.

What forms of T are easiest and cheapest to access where you are?

Your doctor prescribes this a lot if they do trans care, so they’re likely to know this.

The answer will probably be injections, but if you have a strong preference for something like gel instead (needle phobia, maybe?) then you can ask about how much that usually costs.

Costco and Walmart pharmacies are often the cheapest.

Where you go from that first appointment depends a lot on what kind of clinic you access.

Many informed consent clinics can do all the labwork etc on the same day that you walk in. This isn’t universal, but allows many people to access HRT quickly, assuming they don’t have health conditions that would need additional monitoring, analysis, or treatment.

If you need a therapist letter, and you don’t already have a therapist, the doctor you see will probably be able to refer you to one who’s trans-competent.

If you do have a therapist, they might be able to write the letter, and if they can’t then they probably can refer you to someone who can.

Some doctors or clinics have specific procedures they follow.

For example, the clinic I went to was all-in-one and worked on an interesting combination of informed consent and diagnosis.

I had three appointments—the first one talked about my dysphoria history and psych diagnoses, the second was a physical and analyzing the results of my bloodwork, and the third was signing consent forms and walking out with a prescription.

This is becoming an increasingly common model, with GPs performing the “gender dysphoria” diagnosis themselves rather than requiring a therapist’s letter. It isn’t universal, but you may encounter it.

If you have a health condition like liver damage or polycythemia that would be affected by HRT, your doctor will give you specific information on how to treat that, and may require it to be controlled or ameliorated before you start.

A nurse at the care clinic may be able to show you how to administer a shot if you go with injection methods. If not, there are lots of youtube tutorials, or you can write to us.

The common outline of events looks like this:

Set up appointment

First/intake appointment

Bloodwork

Followup appointments; “gender dysphoria” diagnosis

Consent forms

Prescription

Or, if you need a psych:

Set up appointment

First/intake appointment

Therapist’s letter for “gender dysphoria” diagnosis

Bloodwork

Followup appointments

Consent forms

Prescription

Or, if you go to an informed consent clinic that does everything the same day:

Set up appointment

Meet with doctor who will:

Draw your blood and run bloodwork in the clinic’s lab

Ask you questions about your psychiatric and medical history

“Gender dysphoria” diagnosis

Prescription

The psychiatric questions you’ll probably be asked are, among others:

What labels and pronouns do you use?

When did you start identifying as trans?

What was your experience of gender like as a child? How did it change and develop as you grew?

Did you play with children of the “opposite” gender?

How did you dress? Did you pick your own clothes?

Did you insist on being not your birth assignment to adults?

Were you a “tomboy”/”sissy”/some other gendered or pejorative term atypical for your assigned gender? Were you singled out or harassed based on your gender nonconformance or behaviours?

When you went through first puberty, how did you feel about your body changing?

Were you most upset about primary or secondary characteristics? Which ones?

How did you feel about your voice/chest/genitals/body shape?

What have you done to hide or change them (affected voice, binding, tucking, etc.)? How long have you been doing that?

What changes do you want from HRT? How will those changes make you feel better in your body and/or affirm your experienced gender?

How has your dysphoria impacted you socially? How would HRT change that impact?

What psych diagnoses do you have?

How long have you had them?

What are you doing to treat or control them (medication, therapy, mindfulness, etc.)?

You may also be asked to rate things like anxiety or depression on paper inventories/scales.

Whether or not a psychiatric examination will focus on you as an adult or as a child is entirely a tossup on the provider’s part. Many doctors now acknowledge that not every trans person experiences identifiable dysphoria in childhood (ex. I didn’t know what nonbinary was until I was like 15, and it wasn’t an issue).

Don’t downplay your experiences. There’s an urge for a lot of people to do that, to act like oh it wasn’t That Bad, out of a reflex where we’ve been told to conceal pain or distress. It’s important that you give space and acknowledgement to how important your experiences are; you are there specifically to get help for something that majorly impacts you, so tell them about it. They’re not going to think you’re weak for it, they’re going to see it as a reason to prescribe you hormones.

Tl;DR:

Call the most accessible trans care provider for you and ask how to access their HRT services. When you’ve made the appointment, come prepared with a few questions, and find out if you need any extra documentation like a therapist’s letter. You will be given both a medical and psychiatric examination or interview, and they’ll take your blood for testing. Your provider will have you sign consent forms showing that you’re aware of the effects and risks of HRT, and will probably be able to give you insurance information on how to get hormones covered.

- Mod Wolf

#hrt #starting #walkthrough #mod wolf

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di-sss-learning-engineering · 6 years ago

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HomeBrainpower & SkillsHow to study, learn & master things faster than people with the highest IQ How to study, learn & master things faster than people with the highest IQ Blaz Kos Brainpower & Skills, Free Guides I’ve always been an extremely curious person. Industry, competence and knowledge are some of my top values and things I appreciate in life. I love reading, I love talking to smart people and I’d like to know everything. If I could somehow upload Google into my head, I’d be the happiest person alive.

But I’ve always been an extremely bad learner. I never really knew how to study efficiently; with a big exception in primary school, when my grandma was consistently tutoring me and making sure that I was really learning and mastering the study material. But when I became a rebellious teenager and entered high school, I unfortunately ditched all the good learning habits.

In high school and college, I was a typical bad student. I always studied at the last minute, if I even studied at all. I never took my own notes or did any self-testing, and cramming was the way I learned. I also always preferred to read a few paragraphs of theory over and over again rather than to do any kind of exercises, think about what I was learning, try to recall key facts or apply the theory into practice.

I always loved reading books, but I was a very passive and unfocused learner. Ironically, the older I was, the more passive learner I became, even if the rebellious teenage years ended long ago. At some point, I even went from passively reading books to only skimming hundreds of articles in my RSS reader (Feedly) every day – remembering and learning nothing. What an awful learning strategy.

Not to mention that my lifestyle was terrible for any kind of real learning and studying – from not getting enough sleep to being involved in too many projects and submitting to all different types of distractions (TV, mobile phone, social networks, meetings etc.) that were more interesting than taking focused time to learn and study.

For years, I was doing the opposite of what good learning habits are (as we’ll see in this blog post). Well, I don’t want to be completely unfair to myself. I still learned a lot in the past decade and always appreciated knowledge and deep debates.

I learned many things from various smart people, I invested enough time to learn complex and demanding topics, like term-sheets used in VC investing, intellectual property rights management, lean startup practices, and so on. But that’s very far from what I could’ve mastered by today if I were a more proactive learner and if I knew the good learning practices.

IF YOU DON’T KNOW HOW TO STUDY AND LEARN, YOU WON’T GET ANYWHERE IN LIFE There’s no doubt anymore that today, lifelong learning is mandatory if you want to achieve anything worthwhile in your professional life. In the creative society, creativity, knowledge and information are what matters most when it comes to working and creating value.

Not to mention all the benefits that knowledge has in your personal life – being a more interesting person, better communicator, managing your brain better, and so on. It’s sad that we all go to school for somewhere between 8 and 15 years and the one thing we do learn is to hate studying, tests and reading books. And in the end, we don’t even remember most of the things we were learning for all those years. But that doesn’t matter.

Informal education is becoming as important as formal education. Real learning in today’s times begins after you finish formal education. If you want to be successful today, you have to know how to study and how to use your brain properly, especially after you finish school; because real learning and studying never end.

That doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from knowing good learning practices if you are still a student. Knowing all these “how to study” gems can really help you become an A student while spending less time studying. It’s always about hard work and smart work. Student or not, keep reading.

Since I became aware of the importance of lifelong learning and that there is a big difference between being a smart student following good learning practices and an average poor learner who only skims articles online, it was time to make a big change in my life. Therefore, I decided somewhere at the end of the previous year, to do a big turnaround regarding my learning and studying habits.

I decided to get myself back to where I was in primary school – being a smart proactive learner, who consistently learned new chunks of knowledge every day with the goal of slowly and persistently mastering the selected topic; first by understanding the basics and then by going into detail and considering different possible applications of new knowledge.

I made a strong commitment to myself to become the best at mastering “how to study” and “how the brain works”, and then shine as an efficient student for a lifetime. As the tipping point of the learning turnaround (going from a poor learner to a smart lifelong learner), I decided to write a blog post on proactive and efficient learning, outlining everything I learned until now about the best approaches to learning and studying.

The reason for that is very simple. I want to help you with the best tips, tricks and recommendations on how to study and learn efficiently; so you can grow fond of learning again and shine as bright as possible in life.

I could say that this blog post is a collection of all the best learning practices and basic rules that I follow today when it comes to learning. I have no doubt that this blog post will help you become a better learner too – an outstanding learner. One thing I realized is that when you get fond of learning and you know how to study efficiently, a whole new world opens to you and with it access to a completely new level of power.

Power comes from possessing new competences (including knowledge) and thus having an opportunity to become a better version of yourself and create real value for other people who then greatly appreciate your work. And in the end, studying and learning is a very fun thing to do, especially when you apply knowledge into practice and you can see the fruits of your hard studying labor in improvements of all different life areas.

Let’s study efficiently and shine bright together.

HOW TO STUDY AND LEARN – TABLE OF CONTENTS These are all the topics that this long blog post covers:

Having a strong why and building yourself a geek environment Timeboxing distributed practice with zero distractions Spaced repetition and distributed practice Taking regular breaks Mixing different learning styles Using two ways of thinking to become a superlearner Being a proactive learner and learning formulas The SQ3R and OK4R TLR – The learning formula How not to get bored The semantic tree and structuring a learning plan Creating mind maps The chunking strategy Processing chunks and connecting them with existing knowledge Elaborative interrogation Self-explanation Mnemonics and analogies Imagery for text learning Practice until challenge turns to boredom Three types of memory Recall – the mother of learning Self-testing Flashcards Summaries and notetaking Interleaved practice Forming a knowledge mastermind group Validated learning – the grandmother of learning Learning transfer – the best way to innovate Following a healthy lifestyle for better learning Action steps, commitments and the best resources Too long to read? DOWNLOAD THE FREE EBOOK VERSION 1. UNPLUG YOURSELF, HAVE A STRONG WHY AND BUILD YOURSELF A GEEK ENVIRONMENT For almost a year now, I’ve been living without a mobile phone, without a car and with very limited social connections (and social networks use). These were the three big changes that helped me unplug myself from the crazy world of constant distractions and make room in my life for real learning. After dozens of meetings, checking your mobile phone 100 times and messaging all day, you are left with zero energy for learning. That’s the cold hard fact.

Now you don’t have to make such radical moves, but you do have to somehow make more room in your life so that you have an hour or two every day to learn while your brain is still fresh. By following good time management practices, you can easily achieve that.

But if you don’t unplug yourself at least a little bit from the crazy world of constant distractions, you have zero chance of learning anything that’s more demanding than skimming superficial internet articles. Which doesn’t count as learning.

There is only one way to gather the motivation and discipline necessary to unplug yourself. You must have a strong why. Without a strong and powerful answer to why do you want to learn, you will never make the required changes in your schedule. The best why is having a thirst for a specific subject, something you wanted to master since you were young. Something you always dreamed to master.

Nevertheless, there are all kinds of other motives that can drive you to study, from making more money to being smarter or studying together with your kids to help them. If you can’t find any other reason, study to teach others and make the world a better place. That can also give you a motive to learn the right way. Before you do anything else, find yourself a strong and powerful why and write it down.

The next step is to build yourself a motivational environment. Nobody can succeed alone. Nobody can succeed in a shitty environment. So build yourself a really geeky environment that will encourage you to study regularly.

Here are a few ideas how to build yourself geeky environment:

Put books of the selected topic you want to study everywhere – on your night shelf, in the toilet, on your working desk, on the kitchen counter. Install new apps on your phone related to the subject and delete others. Hang some motivational posters. Put new shortcuts on your desktop. Add reminders to your calendar that it’s time to study. Go to meetups and meet new geek friends you can learn from.

2. TIMEBOXING DISTRIBUTED PRACTICE WITH ZERO DISTRACTIONS No matter how many tips and tricks you master regarding learning, there is one hard unavoidable truth – it takes effort and time to learn any difficult topics. The road to real learning is consistency.

Learning small chunks of knowledge day by day and regularly revising, recalling and practicing them in new ways. That’s how you add new chunks to your current knowledge. You create new neural brain synapses by repetition and repeated use.

That means only one thing. You have to schedule regular time for studying and learning, and when you are learning you have to be focused without any distractions. You have to make sure there are zero distractions. The method that can help you with that is called timeboxing.

Timeboxing means that you preschedule time in your calendar for a specific activity. When the time comes, you just start doing what you planed. In our case studying. You don’t think about it, you don’t procrastinate or go check for food in the fridge, you sit down and start doing the planned task.

Every day, timebox time in your schedule for studying and deliberate practice. Timebox time for going out of your mental comfort zone and for learning and practicing things that are beyond your current abilities. To keep consistency with studying, you have to fall into a specific learning schedule, into a new rhythm.

Timeboxing will help you start a new habit, but then it will soon become a routine, something you can’t live without. There are many ways how and when you can schedule learning time:

Right after you wake up One hour before you start working (and you can study in peace in the office) When you come home from work Before sleep, on weekends etc.

The perfect learning schedule

2.1. SPACED REPETITION AND DISTRIBUTED PRACTICE Cramming is one of the worst ways to learn. Cramming means that you learn for a long period of time usually at the last moment (one day before an exam) and then you never study the same material again (if you pass the test).

If you study something for a longer period of time, and then take a longer break or even never revise the study material again, you forget much more than if you space the learning time throughout a few days.

The formula for successful learning is to study, take a short break, study again, take a short break, and so on. It’s called spaced repetition or distributed practice and it’s the opposite of cramming.

It’s better to study 1 hour for 5 days in a row than 5 hours in one day.

It’s true that when you study for a larger block of time you can go through a lot of material at once, and it may seem like you get yourself to a high level of knowledge and understanding, but your comprehension quickly deteriorates after that. Spaced repetition is the way to store new knowledge chunks in your long-term memory.

So the question is: how much should you space out the practice? If you space your repetitions too soon you waste time and if you do it too late you have to relearn everything. There are two answers to that question. The first one is to space out repetitions a little bit more than you want to.

The second one is to space learning at least 20 % of the time you want to remember something. If you want to remember something for a week, you need to repeat it in 12 – 24 hour learning blocks apart, if you want to remember something for a year, you have to space repetitions on a monthly basis.

Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

2.2. TAKING REGULAR BREAKS There is no efficient studying without taking regular breaks. Your attention span gets to about 30 % after 45 minutes of studying. That’s the bad news. The good news is that it gets 90 % refreshed after a short break, even one of 5 – 10 minutes. That means it makes sense to study for an hour or so, and then take a break and come back to studying afterwards.

Using the Pomodoro technique to properly mix study time and breaks might be one good approach to employ. Pomodoro is a 25-minute interval when you work focused without distractions. You write down what you want to learn, start the timer and focus exclusively on learning. Then you take a 3 – 5 minute break and go back to a new interval study. After four pomodoros, you take a longer 15 – 30minute break.

Doing some easy exercises (a few yoga poses, stretches, a short walk, a few squats) before you start studying or during breaks can help a lot in refreshing your brain and restarting your attention span. It’s also important to reward yourself with a small treat after every successfully completed studying block. Additionally, there are many different exercises you can do to train your attention span.

Last but not least, it also makes sense to mind the general biological clock and your individual biological rhythm for when to timebox the study time. The general biological clock states that you are most actively prepared to study at 10 A.M., but you have to also consider your personal internal clock – the circadian rhythm.

3. MIXING DIFFERENT LEARNING STYLES There are several different learning styles with strategies and theories behind them. Most learning styles are highly criticized by psychologists and have little scientific proof, but it’s still good to know them and be aware of them, with the goal of applying them into your personal learning strategy.

It’s completely okay to have a preferred learning style based on what works best for you (some people may have one dominating learning style and others don’t), nevertheless you want to mix learning styles at least a little bit.

You don’t want to keep your learning monotonous. But what you absolutely don’t want to do is to use learning styles as an excuse for not learning at all; for example, if you are a kinesthetic learner and you can’t find the material that would support that kind of learning for a specific topic, you decide to not go for any other source.

The learning styles we know are:

Active / Reflective Concrete Experience / Abstract Conceptualization Sensing / Intuitive Sequential / Global Visual / Auditory / Read-Write / Kinesthetic

3.1. ACTIVE AND REFLECTIVE LEARNERS If you are an active learner, you tend to understand new information best by doing something with it actively, like getting engaged in a discussion, explaining it to others or applying knowledge into practice. Active learners usually prefer to study and learn in groups rather than in isolation. As an interesting fact, that means we also know social and solitary learning styles.

There are two types of active learners, the ones who like to have “hands-on” experience in practical doing (physical therapists) or “hands-on” experience with applying theory (engineers). Learners who want to have “hands-on” experience in practical doing and prefer using their body, hands and senses are also called physical or kinesthetic learners. Kinesthetic learners are good with gestures, body movements, object manipulation and positioning.

Reflective learners tend to think about the material first and process it internally, before doing anything else with their new knowledge. They think it through in their mind and especially learn by analysis. Everyone is sometimes an active and sometimes a reflective learner, depending on the situation, but striving for the balance between both learning strategies is the best combination.

Much like there are two types of active learners, there are also two types of reflective learners – the ones who are strong in practical use of knowledge, like in discussions (social workers), and the ones who like to reflect on abstract conceptualizations to create theories (philosophers).

Active Reflective Practice Physical Therapist (kinesthetic) Engineer Theory Social worker Philosopher 3.2. SENSING AND INTUITIVE LEARNERS Sensing learners are oriented more on facts, memorization and using familiar concepts. They pay attention to detail, have no issues with memorizing facts and following known steps to solve a known set of problems. They are more practical learners.

Intuitive learners are more focused on discovering new possibilities, relationships among ideas, new creative applications and understanding, but they often don’t pay attention to detail and can make small mistakes quickly. They are more creative learners. Again, you have to learn to use both learning ways and balance them properly.

3.3. SEQUENTIAL AND GLOBAL LEARNERS Sequential learners need a straight learning path, where they acquire knowledge step by step and where each knowledge chunk is a logical successor to the previous one. When sequential learners are solving a problem, they usually follow logical steps to find the solution.

Global learners, on the other hand, learn best by learning randomly without having the big picture. They just somehow “get it”, but often can’t explain the details. That enables them to solve more complex problems quickly and connect pieces of knowledge in novel ways.

3.4. VISUAL AND VERBAL LEARNERS Visual learners learn best based on visual materials like pictures, diagrams, flow charts, presentations, films and demonstrations. They rely most on their visual perception and visual memory; they learn through seeing.

Verbal learners learn best from written and spoken words. Verbal learners learn the most by listening to lectures, discussions, reading etc. Verbal learners search for explanations with words.

Learners who prefer the spoken word, sound and music are called auditory types and learners who prefer the written word are called reading & writing types.

As mentioned, learning styles have not been scientifically proven and are heavily criticized. But one thing that has been proven as beneficial is to mix different learning styles and with experimenting build a strategy that works for you as an individual. A good learning practice is mixing different learning styles. A few obvious and logical examples are:

Understand the theory, connect it to your current knowledge, but also think about practical applications. With your own practical experience, try to build new theories and abstractions, even if it’s only a mental exercise. Act and reflect on the new knowledge. Have a very strict learning plan, understand the semantic tree, do chunking, but then also do interleaved practicing. Mix the sequential and global learning principle. Go to the best sources, and use different types of learning material (text, audio, video, discussion etc.). Try to engage as many senses as possible in your learning. Use the focused (sensing – recall, revision etc.) and diffused (intuitive – take a break, connect things in a new way etc.) mode of thinking to unlock your full learning, thinking and creative potential. But note that you can’t use both types of thinking at once. Well, that’s exactly our next subject. 4. USING TWO WAYS OF THINKING AND LEARNING TO BECOME A SUPERLEARNER We know two ways of thinking, divergent (lateral) and converged. That means we also know two ways of learning – the focused and diffused way.

The focused mode of learning is when you are concentrating hard on memorizing something, and the diffuse mode is happening behind the scenes.

The diffuse mode helps you think broadly, keep the big picture in mind and go from one new idea to another, without getting stuck in the old knowledge and way of thinking. When you take a break, your brain still works on connecting things, solving problems and building a context. That’s when you also get creative ideas.

The most important fact about the two ways of thinking is that you can’t use both of them at the same time. For effective learning, you have to constantly switch between focused mode and diffused mode. You have to learn to use both types of thinking to be an effective learner. You have to learn very focused for a period of time, and then take a break (remember the Pomodoro technique).

The first step in efficient learning is to timebox time for focused learning, deliberate practice, repetition and recall. Then you need to take a break and change your focus to something new. In the background, your brain still works and processes what you’ve learned in the focused session. It uses the diffused mode to process knowledge that leads to better conceptual understanding.

You can also use both ways of thinking when you’re solving problems. Focused thinking can be used for sequential reasoning, where you try to find a solution with deliberate small steps. The second way based on diffused thinking is a holistic intuitive approach, where you try to creatively connect unseen patterns.

Remember the sensing and intuitive learning style? Yes, those are also two ways of solving problems. For complex and demanding processes, the holistic approach often works better, because you are trying to connect things that haven’t yet been connected, you’re producing new unfamiliar ideas.

In practice, that means you have to deliberately practice and learn without any distractions for a certain period of time, and then stop and do something completely new (take a walk, cook yourself a meal etc.). I get into the diffusion way of thinking by doing physical exercise.

That’s why I do intervals of deliberate practice and physical exercise. You can find many examples of how people get new creative ideas or do quantum leaps in understanding subjects while the diffuse mode is active during rest time. It can be after a walk, a short nap or cooking a meal.

5. BEING A PROACTIVE READER AND LEARNING FORMULAS Reading is one of the most popular methods of learning. That’s why we must absolutely discuss how to read when you’re learning new things. You want to be a proactive learner and you want to be a proactive reader.

Being a proactive reader doesn’t only mean that you consciously decide on when, what and how to study and learn (instead of clicking on random articles on social networks), but also that you are actively present and focused when you are learning and you “torture” your brain to understand and memorize things.

You have to comprehend what you’re learning and you have to practice recall after you read something. (Pro)active reading is about interacting with the text. You think while you read, you ask yourself questions, do elaborative interrogation and use techniques like self-explanation (later in this blog post, it’s described what these techniques are and why they’re important).

Adjusting reading speeds to the complexity of the study material, studying in perfect peace without distractions and being in a good mood and fully alert all help with reading comprehension. There are two formulas that can be extremely helpful when discussing what being a proactive reader means – the SQ3R, TLR and OK4R formulas.

Mix learning styles and types of learning sources as much as possible

5.1. THE SQ3R AND OK4R READING FORMULAS Let’s first look at the SQ3R or SQRRR formula of active reading. Here are the steps how to read properly:

Survey – Skim the text, analyze the structure of the text (table of contents), look at graphs and grasp the general ideas of what the author considers important. Questions – Note all the different questions that are addressed in the study material, especially in titles, subtitles, and emphasized text. Read – Read the study material and keep the corresponding questions in mind, so you’ll be really focused on the material. Recite – Recall, recite and answer the questions with your own words. Quiz yourself and test yourself to see which parts of the material you’ve mastered and which not yet. Review – Review the material for the questions you struggled with. Recite everything once more. Timebox spaced repetitions for reviews. And the OK4R acronym stands for the following reading process (quite similar to the one above):

Overview – Get an overview of the semantic structure, go through the introduction, table of contents, headings, subheadings, summaries and diagrams. Get a general idea of what the study material is about. Key Ideas – Go through the key ideas of the study material. They are most often in the beginning of each paragraph or emphasized in any other way – like bolded text, bullet points, pictures and graphs. Outline the key ideas of the text. Read – Read the study material while keeping the key ideas in mind. Recall – Close the study material and try to recall as much as possible, especially the main points of the text. Write down all the key points that you remember. Reflect – Reflect on the new learned knowledge by thinking of practical examples, how the new knowledge is connected to what you already know, new creative applications etc. Review – Review the study material sometime in the nearby future to refresh your memory. Do spaced repetitions and study harder the parts you have forgotten. 5.2. TLR – THE LEARNING FORMULA The learning formula (TLR) is a very general process of how you learn and acquire knowledge. It has three steps that start with learning something new, then actively processing the knowledge and finally applying it as soon as possible. The learning updates in your brain are done based on the following formula:

Learning = Download + Process + Apply (Knowledge chunks)

Downloading knowledge means getting new information about something – how things can be done in a better way, how something works or functions, how to operate a machine etc. You get a new piece of information that you didn’t have before or is different from your current knowledge.

Processing knowledge means reflecting on new information, connecting it to what you already know, analyzing and deciding what you’ll start doing and stop doing based on the new information, talking to other people and engaging in discussions, sleeping it over, and so on. If you have the big picture in mind, the semantic tree, you can more easily process knowledge and connect new chunks to the old ones.

Applying knowledge means putting it to use. It means starting to interact differently with your environment. Becoming a better version of yourself, in action. Practically, it means that you put a new skill you’ve acquired to use, you stop procrastinating, undertake a new adventure, make better decisions, deepen your relationships, and so on.

Here are a few examples of how you can “download” knowledge:

Listening to lectures Reading Listening to audio books or podcasts Watching educational videos Watching demonstrations Observing Here are a few examples of how you can “process” knowledge:

Doing self-reflection Talking about a new piece of information with other people and your mentors Doing research Planning and doing scenario-based thinking or a cost-benefit analysis Group discussions Teaching others Doing a mind-map, summarizing, structuring etc. And a few examples of how you can “apply” knowledge into practice:

Having real-life experience Changing your behavior and how you do things Being in the search mode – trying, experimenting, gathering feedback from your environment Teaching others after getting real‑life experience – for example, by starting to write a blog The best way to learn new things is to combine different methods listed above and to go through the whole learning process. First you download knowledge in one way or another, then you process it, which means you think about it, internalize it, think of possible applications, add your own ideas and prepare a plan and, of course, then you apply it by doing something new or doing things differently in your life.

You really learn only when you’re doing something new or in a new way. In the rest of the blog post, we will talk especially about how to recall, process and apply new knowledge.

5.3. MIXING ALL THE DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO NOT GET BORED If you are bored while you’re learning, it means that you’re doing something wrong. The best thing that can help with boredom is to study the topic from different sources and mixing knowledge acquirement in different ways.

You can use textbooks, online courses, practical exercises, talking to smart people etc. Nevertheless, I learned a few important facts when gathering learning resources and using different materials to learn from:

Absolutely mix different learning styles as we’ve talked about. It makes learning fun. Go straight to the best resources. Otherwise you’ll drown in information. Mix different types of the best resources of knowledge. I read, do online courses and do exercises. Strictly limit the number of resources so you don’t feel overwhelmed. Select the few core ones you really go through deeply, and only quickly skim the other ones to see if there’s something interesting to add. Watch out that you don’t revise the same simple stuff along many different resources. That’s what often prevented me from progressing. Deliberate practice is the key, you have to go a little bit outside the comfort zone and not practice the same things you already know. 6. THE SEMANTIC TREE AND STRUCTURING A LEARNING PLAN Here is a quote from Elon Musk on how he learns: “It is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree — make sure you understand the fundamental principles, i.e. the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang onto.”

A semantic tree can help you see the big picture and provides the main branches onto which you can stick the knowledge chunks.

The semantic tree enables you to:

See the bigger picture, the structure of a specific body of knowledge Easily see the most important elements of the topic Sense the relation among the elements Prioritize learning elements Prepare a solid learning plan, which also includes interleaving (more about that soon) If you want to understand advanced ideas and techniques, you first have to master the basics. You first need the context, the whole picture, then you have to make sure that you master basic chunks of knowledge on which you can build mastery level skills. Nevertheless, keep in mind that you have to practice a little bit out of the comfort zone and you have to mix different types of exercises.

Based on the big picture and the semantic tree, you can also build yourself a learning roadmap that you follow. One of the best ways to build semantic trees are mind maps. As you probably know, mind maps are diagrams that visually structure, present, organize and connect key concepts and ideas. Mind maps are also a great tool for brainstorming. So let’s look at a few core principles of mind-mapping.

6.1. CREATING MIND MAPS Mind maps were developed by Tony Buzan and are an easy technique to use for building semantic trees and remembering key facts more easily. Mind maps help you not only to learn the dots (or chunks as we’ll learn), but to connect the dots in the right way.

On a well prepared mind map you can quickly grasp the key concepts and see the connection between them, you see the big picture and individual chunks of information and you can easily break topics down into smaller chunks to connect them in new ways or prepare a step-by-step learning plan for yourself.

The most popular mind-mapping software applications (among 40+ options that you have) are:

Mindjet MindManager (that’s the one I use) XMind Coggle Bubbl.us Freemind iMindMap SuperScribe MindNode (iOS) There are many already created mind maps that can help you see the semantic tree of different topics. The most popular sites with collections of mind maps are:

MindMeister Biggerplate Mappio Maps for That Google MindMapping Community TopicScape Mind maps Directory 7. THE CHUNKING STRATEGY Learning about chunks was one big epiphany for me. Chunks are small units of knowledge that go logically together and that you can easily practice, revise and remember. You break something complex into units or chunks, and then memorize it. A chunk becomes chunked into your memory as new brain structure.

By chunking you break larger pieces of knowledge that you want to learn into small chunks and then follow a process of learning to make them a permanent part of your brain structure (repetition, recall etc.). Scientifically, a chunk represents a network of neurons that fires together when you think a specific thought.

For learning a new chunk, you use the focused way of thinking (not the diffused one). There must be no distractions and interruptions. You need to focus your undivided attention to the new chunk. While you do that, you first try to understand the key ideas that the knowledge chunk consists of.

Then comes the context: you try to understand the context. With context you try to integrate related and unrelated problems, challenges and uses of knowledge. If understanding the key ideas is about the how, the context is about when to use the new acquired knowledge in practice.

When you understand the key ideas together with the context really well, it means that you can do it yourself – apply it, solve a test or a problem or do an exercise. Repetition and practice help form new neural networks that lead to understanding the key ideas and being able to recall something, and the context helps fit the chunk into the bigger picture. Everything we’ve talked about.

The idea of chunking is to:

Slice and dice a big topic into manageable pieces Keep the whole picture in mind (context) with a semantic tree, while you learn chunk by chunk Connect a new acquired chunk to all previously learned chunks Practice a chunk of knowledge with different types of exercises Join small chunks together into bigger chunks Build fundamentals and then upgrade knowledge base step by step Think immediately how each chunk can be applied to practice Mix and connect knowledge chunks in new ways New knowledge of chunks need to be properly managed. There are several ways how to do that.

Technique Utility Elaborative interrogation Moderate Self-explanation Moderate Summarization Low Highlighting Low The keyword mnemonic Low Imagery use for text learning Low Rereading Low Practice testing and recall High Distributed practice High Interleaved practice Moderate Source: Psychological Science in the Public Interest

8. PROCESSING CHUNKS AND CONNECTING THEM WITH EXISTING KNOWLEDGE Now let’s talk more about processing a new chunk of knowledge. You always link information based on what you already know. You have to connect new chunks with existing chunks. You have to somehow explain to yourself how a new chunk is related to your existing knowledge.

You can do that most easily by making associations, thinking of synonyms, building mental images, using imagination in different ways, finding examples, and building direct connections between chunks. While doing these things, you can also recall knowledge more easily. Let’s say a word or two about each of these techniques.

8.1. DO ELABORATIVE INTERROGATION – EXPLAIN WHY With elaborative interrogation, you try to state the facts with your own words, saying why a new piece of information is true, why x equals y. The method pushes you to directly apply your current knowledge to better process new information. You drive your brain into connecting the dots.

This technique might have limitations if you are new to the subject, but it does help a lot with comprehension, processing a knowledge chunk and even memorization when you pass the basics. And when you progress in knowledge, you can quickly find this technique extremely useful.

8.2. USE SELF-EXPLANATION – HOW IS THE NEW RELATED TO THE KNOWN With this technique you simply ask yourself how a new knowledge chunk relates to whatever you already know. In the next step, you try to use your own words to describe why a specific problem is solved as it is and what are the steps for coming to the solution. With self‑explanation you explain (to yourself) how you process new information during learning.

A good similar exercise is trying to explain the new thing that you’ve learned to somebody who doesn’t know the subject, as if you tried to teach them. Of course you have to use your own words, examples and style etc.

When you’re explaining the new knowledge chunk to yourself or others, you can help yourself with questions like:

How do I understand it and why do I understand it like that? What is the main idea? What is this knowledge about? Why would somebody be interested in that topic? What did the person who came up with the knowledge try to achieve? Where is this theory applied? How would I explain a new knowledge chunk to a 7-year‑old kid?

8.3. MNEMONICS AND ANALOGIES Your brain works based on associations. Your brain loves to see and make new patterns and connections. So associations may help you with learning. It’s called mnemonics and using analogies.

Mnemonics and analogies are ways to see two things similarly in your unique mind. You link a new piece of information through associations with something already familiar to you that usually stands out (keywords, analogies, stories, imagery).

More visual representation usually helps to retain more easily and then recall better. It also helps with comprehension and understanding why something is as it is (oh, I see, it’s used the same way as it is at …). Stories and models can be used in the same way. Nevertheless, many studies have shown that mnemonic techniques help mostly with short-term recall. Thus you have to test it for yourself to see if they’re giving you any long-term results.

Different types of mnemonics:

Music mnemonics Name and word mnemonics – Acronyms and acrostics Image mnemonics – Diagrams and different images Rhymes Colored note organization An example of a popular mnemonic technique is the peg system, where you link numbers to nouns. If there is a rhyme involved in the link, the technique works even better. There are three different types of peg-word systems: the rhyming one, the major one and the PAO (person-action-object) system.

8.4. VISUALIZING LEARNING MATERIAL (IMAGERY FOR TEXT LEARNING) One learning technique you can employ is to imagine images as you read through the text or when you listen to a lecture. Imagery representation can help you remember things more easily, but you can also better understand how things work by having a visual practical example in mind.

This technique is less effective with longer texts, and it can also be hard to visualize while you read the text. Although you should try these technique, especially if you’re a visual learner.

A very popular visualization technique is the method of loci or the mind palace technique, which is a system of visualizing key information as specific points and places in a known physical location.

9. PRACTICE UNTIL CHALLENGE TURNS TO BOREDOM In test-driven development, there is a rule of thumb to “test code until fear turns to boredom”. You can use the same exact principle when you’re learning a new block of knowledge – practice until fear turns to boredom. Practice a new skill or block of knowledge until fear turns to the first sign of boredom.

When there isn’t a single drop of fear anymore that you might make a mistake, and when every exercise and revision turn into boredom, then you can be sure that you’re mastering the knowledge. Then it’s time to move to the next knowledge chunk. No fear and boredom, these are the signals that you’re a master at something.

But don’t waste time practicing what you already know. The first mini sign that you’re bored means it’s time to move on. Remember, boredom is a sign that you’re doing something wrong, it may be that you are practicing something that isn’t a challenge anymore. If we want to underline why practice is so important, we have to say a few words about how our memory works.

9.1. THREE TYPES OF MEMORY We know three types of memories – sensory memory, long-term memory, and short-term memory or working memory. Sensory memory is based on your five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch). It lasts only for a few seconds and you can store around 12 bits of information at once. Sensory memory and short-term memory are connected by attention.

You concentrate only on a few elements in your environment, and exclude all the other elements. What you pay attention to gets transferred from sensory memory into working memory. You can store around 4 bits of information in the short-term memory (some sources claim 7 bits).

Things from your working memory fade in about 30 – 60 seconds or even less. You have to make a learning effort to transfer things from your working memory into the long-term memory (revision, repetition, practicing recall).

You free your working memory by being relaxed, having no distractions and avoiding multi-tasking. And luckily your long-term memory is like a big warehouse where you can store almost everything you want if you put the effort in.

Only with repetition and recall do you get things from short-term memory into long-term memory. If you want to store a chunk into the long-term memory, you have to deeply process it through focused and meaningful learning and thinking (connecting new chunks with existing ones as we’ve talked about).

When a knowledge chunk is in the long-term memory, you can recall it when you need it (if you refresh your knowledge often enough). Practice and repetition create a new neural pattern. The basic idea of learning is to get a knowledge chunk into the long-term memory.

Sensory memory: What you pay attention to (learning without distractions is paying attention to what you’re trying to learn, for example) Working memory: Everything you’re thinking at the moment Long-term memory: Limitless capacity and almost permanent (revision is needed from time to time) Here’s some very good news. When you bring something from the long-term memory into the working memory (by bringing something to mind), it occupies less working memory slots than it did initially when you were trying to memorize it. It gets kind of compact and that enables you to play with more ideas at once and connect knowledge in new ways. The more you know, the more creative and smart you can be.

Smooth physical repetition creates muscle memory, and smooth mental repetition creates knowledge chunks so you don’t have to relearn or re-explain pieces of information to yourself. You just know it and can intuitively do it; you know it from memory.

One more thing regarding your working memory. You want to free your working memory (mental bandwidth) of trivial things, to have space for real learning. You can use to-do lists, reminders and checklists for that. Mark Zuckerberg wears the same design of clothes every day, so as to not use any working memory for those kinds of decisions. He uses all the memory he has to grow his business.

9.2. RECALL – THE MOTHER OF LEARNING The poor learning strategy is to read the material again and again, hoping that you will remember something. The superior learning strategy is to make recall your best friend. The best way to build new neural connections is by reading something and then trying to recall it.

The recall strategy means that you look away from what you’re reading or watching, and recall or repeat the main ideas in your head or aloud. After you read or listen to study material, you close the source, look away and try to squeeze as much as possible from your brain.

What is the last thing you remember? What is the most interesting thing that you remember? What is the best example of use for the new knowledge chunk? Is there anything that you remember? How are things connected? When you repeat an idea and it comes from within you, you remember it much better. It’s been scientifically proven that recall works much more effectively than rereading. It’s harder to do that than to just reread the text, but that’s also probably why it works.

It’s also beneficial to try to recall chunks of knowledge in different places. Using standard places can create subtle and unconscious connections with what you’re learning and is helping you with recall. Then when you change a place it’s harder to recall the material.

9.3. SELF-TESTING – RETRIEVAL OF KEY CONCEPTS AND A CLEAR SIGN WHAT TO PRACTICE MORE I know we all hate tests. School taught us all to hate tests. All the stress and fear connected with them. Well, I decided to unlearn test hating and start to love tests. Especially self-testing, because there is no pressure and you can always cheat a little bit. Just kidding. But self-testing is extremely important in learning.

It’s scientifically proven that you are boosting your long-term memory with self-testing. Solving a test really is one of the most efficient methods of practicing and seeing how much you’ve learned. There are many ways how you can test yourself.

You can prepare a creative test for yourself, you can find and solve a pre-prepared test, you can also ask somebody else to put your knowledge to the test. One of the best ways to test yourself is by using flashcards.

9.4. USE FLASHCARDS Flashcards are one of the best techniques for self-testing and revision. They are visual clues on cards with short summaries. They help you focus on the key point of the study material. You can very easily prepare flashcards for yourself that you constantly go through.

I think you know how to use flashcards. On one side of a card you write a question, on the other the answer, you prepare several such cards, mix them, pick one and answer the question out of your head. Then you compare your answer to the answer on the back of the flashcard.

You can make physical cards or you can use Anki or Memrise, which are two great applications that can help you prepare digital Flashcards. Memrise also offers pre-collections of flashcards on different topics made by other people.

9.5. SUMMARIES, TAKING NOTES AND REWRITING THINGS IN YOUR OWN WORDS Let’s start with the bad news. Highlighting, rereading and summarization are considered less effective learning techniques. Highlighting usually gives a fake feeling of progress and learning. As we’ve discussed, it’s been scientifically proven that recall puts rereading to shame when it comes to learning.

And if you want to learn effectively by paraphrasing and writing summaries, you have to know how to do it correctly, otherwise the technique is not so efficient.

Therefore, here are the general directions for how to take notes and write summaries of learning material, since this is still one of the most popular ways to learn:

Don’t transcribe notes, write them in your own words. Writing by hand creates new brain synapses faster than typing. Before you go through your notes, take a blank piece of paper and try to recall as much as possible. Try to do a few exercises or write down all the facts you remember, before you revise your notes. I think you got the message: Recall first, recall first and recall first. Review your notes as soon as you make them, do it the same day and then on a regular basis. Connect your notes with previously acquired knowledge. You can make your notes as outlines, charts, sentence summaries or mind maps. One of the very popular note taking methodologies is the Cornell Note Taking System. As I mentioned, the best way to take notes is by hand, but you can also use many software tools like Evernote, OneNote, or Google Keep.

10. INTERLEAVED PRACTICE – DOING DIFFERENT TYPES OF LEARNING IN THE SAME SESSION Repetition and revision are the keys to memorizing things. But if you practice the same thing over and over again in the exact same way, you are overlearning or starting to only mimic what you did the last time, and you don’t really learn. Repeating something that you already know and have mastered well is not really learning new things.

Learning something in the same way again and again is also not an efficient learning strategy.

That’s where interleaving comes into play. Interleaving your learning means that you practice and use knowledge chunks with different concepts, approaches and techniques in the same learning session. If interleaving is done correctly, you also often switch between different parts of the subject.

Rather than building chunks into structured blocks, subjects and themes, it’s better to add variety to the learning and spend small learning blocks of time on a variety of subjects and learning problems. That might seem very counterintuitive, but it works much better when it comes to learning.

Blocked practice – you practice one thing over and over again Interleaved practice – you mix your practice A good example is practicing sports. In badminton, there are three types of strokes you can do. Blocked practice would mean practicing one stroke over the training period. Interleaved practice would mean mixing the practice of all three strokes in one session. Taking the same number of trials into repetition, interleaved practice gives better long-term learning results.

Interleaving builds flexibility and creativity, it teaches you when to use specific knowledge chunks and encourages you to apply acquired chunks in new ways. That’s why you have to use acquired knowledge to solve different types of problems or test yourself in different ways. But don’t go too far with interleaving and make your studying a messy and unfocused exercise.

Test yourself in different ways – quizzes, open questions, flashcards, random exercises etc. Upgrade your knowledge – solve a harder exercise, solve a problem a little bit differently etc. Mix different learning styles – global and sequential, for example Brainstorm your own ideas – think about how you could come up with a different solution Learning transfer – Think about where and how you could apply knowledge outside the domain It’s not that different in the gym. To build muscle you have to consistently train every day. By doing one more repetition than you can barely do, you go out of the comfort zone. But to progress faster you also have to mix exercises a little bit after a few weeks. Consistency, tree, chunks, recall, interleaving.

11. FORMING A KNOWLEDGE MASTERMIND GROUP You can never succeed alone in life, you need a strong support team and people who believe in you. You do need your peace, quiet and alone time in order to be focused and study and recall new chunks, but there is a point where having a support group becomes very beneficial. I call this forming a knowledge mastermind group.

For whatever subject you want to master, it’s extremely helpful to be part of a community that wants to learn the same thing as you or that already mastered what you want to master. It can be an online or offline community or study group. The main benefits of forming a teaching mastermind group are:

Discussing, finding arguments and counterarguments, brainstorming, explaining and teaching. These are all great ways to process knowledge and some of the best ways to learn besides recall and revision. Others can more easily see blind spots in your knowledge and give you feedback on what to practice more. They can also direct you to the best resources. You can always learn so much from people who are better than you. One talk with an expert can save you weeks of learning and hard work on your own. If you spend time with ambitious people you will be more motivated. An alternative to forming a mastermind group is getting a mentor or a tutor who already mastered what you want to master.

Validated learning cycle

12. VALIDATED LEARNING – THE GRANDMOTHER OF LEARNING Validated learning is a concept that comes from the lean startup theory and is often used in business. Nevertheless, it can be an extremely useful concept when it comes to learning. Validated learning in personal life is a process of acquiring a new chunk of knowledge, immediately putting it into practice and then measuring the results to validate the effects – if there is any value for you or not.

The idea is to put knowledge into practice immediately to see what kind of real benefits it can provide for you. It’s not only about seeing if you can or know how to do something, but to measure if there are any benefits to knowing it. You don’t want to waste your working and long-term memory.

Repetition is the mother of learning. Experience is its grandmother.

The process or the personal validated learning loop consists of three steps:

Acquiring knowledge chunks Immediate implementation Validated learning based on metrics As we’ve said, chunks are small units of knowledge that logically go together and that you can easily practice, revise and remember. You break larger pieces of knowledge you want to learn into small chunks. When you acquire a new chuck of knowledge, you want to put it to the test as quickly as possible. You do that with immediate implementation by conducting experiments.

It’s not as complicated as it may sound, but you put new knowledge to the test by conducting controllable experiments. You try a new behavior, a way to look at things or you put knowledge into practice and then observe and measure the results. You gather internal and external feedback – from your boss, coworkers, friends, your body or mind. You see how the new upgraded you functions in the environment.

In the last step, you have to measure whether applying knowledge makes sense and if it works for you as a unique individual. The point is: if you want to do validated learning, you have to measure where applying new knowledge is leading you. Based on that, you decide whether to pivot or not.

You measure your feedback based on different metrics. If metrics lead you into the right direction, knowledge has value for you, if not, it’s nothing but a waste. That means you have to focus your attention and learning onto something new.

13. LEARNING TRANSFER – THE BEST WAY TO INNOVATE You want to make the most out of your learning. On the one hand, that means applying the most efficient learning techniques we talked about, and on the other you also want to capture as much value as possible out of your new knowledge. That means putting knowledge into practice, brainstorming new ideas, and connecting knowledge chunks in new yet unseen ways.

Learning transfer is one of the best ways how you can squeeze additional value out of your new knowledge. Learning transfer is taking what you learn in one context and applying it to another. It can be taking a kernel of what you read in a book and applying it in practice in a new way or it can also be taking what you learn in one industry and applying it to another.

While you learn you should constantly ask yourself: Where else could I use this knowledge, what are other possible applications?

We know near transfer, in which knowledge is used in a similar situation, and far transfer, where knowledge is used in a completely new way or industry. Achieving far transfer is harder, but it has much bigger potential if successful. You should always brainstorm potential near and far transfers of your new knowledge chunks.

A lack of confidence is one of the most frequent reasons why people don’t think about new ideas and knowledge transfer. Don’t be one of those people. Use the search mode as a conscious decision to experiment with crazy new ideas, even if they fail and you’re completely wrong. Experiment, build prototypes, play, and have fun with new knowledge and ideas.

14. FOLLOWING A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE FOR BETTER LEARNING The point of learning is to bring your brain to its full potential. Besides learning there are a few other ways and ideas how to do that. Here are the main ones:

Constantly try new things, regularly challenge yourself, travel, talk to new people, never get bored. Do a creative task every day – make art, brainstorm ideas, write and play with new concepts, prototype. You can also do brain teasers, games and different puzzles. Hell, from time to time, play a challenging video game. With good time management, make sure you work in the creative flow as much as possible every day. But as a basis for all these things, the strong foundation on which you can play, learn and create is following a healthy lifestyle. Healthy brain can only reside in a healthy body. So the last thing you can do to become a superlearner is to take good care of your health.

Let’s look at a few crucial things you can do to keep your brain healthy and working well.

14.1. GET ENOUGH SLEEP The most important advice when it comes to learning and a healthy lifestyle is getting enough sleep. Not only are brain toxins washed away during sleep, your brain also rehearses more complex knowledge chunks to make neural connections stronger.

Going through material right before sleep or before you take a nap increases the chances of dreaming about it and consequently increases the ability to understand what you’ve learned throughout the day. Sleep helps you consolidate learning and get new knowledge into the long-term memory.

In the first two hours of sleep, you consolidate new information in the short-term memory, then from the second to around the sixth hour of sleep your brain moves memories from the short-term memory into the long-term memory, and in the last two hours the brain actively rehearses materials. That’s why you need to get eight hours of sleep.

After the sixth hour of sleep, the learning magic in your brain happens.

14.2. PROPERLY MAINTAIN YOUR BRAIN Exercise and a healthy diet is one of the best things you can do for your brain. Exercise helps brain neurons to survive. Here are a few basic rules to follow when it comes to properly maintaining your brain:

Regularly exercise Drink plenty of water, which will properly refresh your brain. A healthy diet means a healthier brain – eat a lot of veggies (especially green ones), have moderate fruit consumption, and eat complex carbs, a high amount of healthy fats, low amounts of sugar and low amounts of unhealthy fats and alcohol. Add brain foods to your diet – EFAs, blueberries, broccoli, seeds, nuts, avocado etc. Protect your brain at all cost – wear a helmet etc. 14.3. YOU CAN’T STUDY UNDER SEVERE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS When you’re in a severe negative emotional state or under severe pressure and stress, your brain isn’t functioning as it should. It somehow loses the ability to make new neural connections and grasp new concepts and ideas.

Keep your margins high enough, take regular breaks and stretch during the breaks. Reduce the amount of stress and anxiety you face in life.

15. THE ACTION STEPS AND THE BEST RESOURCES TO GO TO IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE I hope you found many ideas in this blog post on how to study and improve your learning abilities.

To summarize, you must be clear on why you want to learn something, you gain the knowledge best through spaced repetition and recall, you have to minimize stress, avoid distractions and interruptions, preserve health, get enough sleep, and unplug yourself from the fast-food society.

The number one resource to go to if you want to learn more is the free online course Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects. I completed this course and it was also a great resource for this blog post.

Now come the action steps. Remember, you’ve learned nothing if you don’t apply knowledge into practice. Here are my commitments for improving my learning habits:

This site will not only be my blog, but also a centralized learning tool, where I publish different summaries, notes and interesting things I learn. I also put together resources in terms of blog posts I can always return to. This will be more for me, won’t be proofread, but I’m sure many people can benefit from it. I built myself a big semantic tree-map of what I want to learn in the next three years. I prepared a learning queue for myself, a learning plan with the best mixed type of resources. I limited the number of resources & learning-in-progress not to feel overwhelmed with learning. I scheduled two 1-hour sprints for learning every working day (one after I finish my morning kick-off routine and writing and one in the late afternoon after the exercise). The chunking strategy is now the core of my learning. I have chunks of knowledge defined on my semantic tree and I will learn chunk by chunk with elaborative interrogation, self-explanation, mnemonics, visualization, recall, self-testing and interleaved practice. I tried flashcards, but I don’t like them. Notes, summaries, blog posts and practical applications are my thing. I will try to use the diffuse mode more during walks, exercise and sleep. I will give instructions to my brain what to work on while I focus on other stuff. I will create more mind maps – for brainstorming, building semantic trees and memorizing new things I want to learn. But I will focus more on summaries and notes, because that’s what I like the most. Homework These are my steps. Now take a blank piece of paper, go through the text again, write down the key points of different learning strategies and concepts, and decide what you will apply into your life. Make a commitment and a new agreement with yourself for how you will study from now on and how you will become a superlearner.

Investments in yourself always pay the greatest dividends. Knowing how to study and then becoming a lifelong learner is absolutely the best type of investment. Knowledge and applying it is power. Now you know how to become more powerful in life. You just have to do the first step. Take a piece of paper, start writing down your commitments and then follow through.

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Blaz Kos Blaz Kos writes about data-driven personal development at AgileLeanLife.com. Blaz Kos helps people shape superior life strategies by: (1) employing the best business practices in personal life management, (2) teaching established psychological techniques to better manage mind and emotions, and (3) setting goals based on understanding market paradigms, the quantified self, and following cold hardcore metrics that prevent any fake feeling of progress. He is obsessively passionate about hi-tech, mass media, personal development and making the world a better place.

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taule · 7 years ago

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“It’s all in the movie”: Jungian themes & Reylo in The Last Jedi

Disclaimer: I was going to revise this meta and bring it up to date as my ideas matured through further reading, but it’s no longer the case. This text exists as is, and I’m not going to come back to it.

Abstract

In this post I will be mostly focusing on Jung’s principle of individuation (becoming the whole, true self) and how it aligns with the relationship between Rey and Ben in The Last Jedi. In the process I will also be discussing some of the symbolism, how I interpret it and how it ties in with the overall theme of individuation as a possible narrative arc for this film.

Also please note that I have tried my best to provide sources to all the quoted material which can be accessed online, free of charge (and is in English). I very much encourage you to dig deeper and come to your own (informed) conclusion.

Introduction

I think this particular thread of thought found its beginning after I had seen TLJ for the first or second time, and before I had seen any mention of Jung. For some reason the Praetorian Guards were drawing away my attention from Ben and Rey. Everything about them is highly ritualistic. From the way they manifest a specific kind of symmetry, to the red color that is a legacy of the Imperial Guard from which they originate. But their armor is something else entirely. My mind immediately drew a parallel with samurai armor, and I was thrilled to find out that it was actually something they used as a reference:

“The Praetorians, my brief to [costume designer] Michael Kaplan was that those guys have to be more like samurai. They have to be built to move, and you have to believe that they could step forward and engage if they have to. They have to seem dangerous.”

- Rian Johnson

But there is also something else. I kept seeing dragons. Yes, there is a lot of highly stylized stuff in Star Wars, but if you simply look at the lines, and the way the armor is constructed, it’s hard not to see the visual references. Particularly evident in the arm guards, cuirass and helmet. And this sort of stuff doesn’t just get thrown together. The design process for such things can take a long time, and always involves a number of people. It is considered from the aspect of storytelling and the significance of a scene or moment in the greater narrative. What something has to evoke or convey and the impression it has to make. Which is why I’m not at all hesitant to also look for the intended meaning of the scene in costume and setting as well.

In addition, Rian has said that this was definitely one of the most significant scenes in the film and one that he is very proud of for pulling off the way they did:

And look, there were a lot of people whose work went into it to design the space and the guards, the stunt work, but that was a moment that I had just always held dear to me, and it’s one of those very rare things where the realization of it on screen I just feel like, “Ah, we got it!” It makes me happy.

- Rian Johnson

The Subconscious

So now, coming back to the dragon. There are several ways to interpret dragon symbolism (which in some sources is not differentiated from the serpent in general), but a few particular and reoccurring interpretations align quite well with Rey and Ben’s arc(s).

Dragons often symbolize the subconscious and a certain fear that is felt towards it. Fighting one then stands for facing your own most base impulses, the unknown part of your psyche that you have to conquer in order to really be in control of your whole self, and not just led by half of your instincts.

Psychologically, however, the archetype as an image of instinct is a spiritual goal toward which the whole nature of man strives; it is the sea to which all rivers wend their way, the prize which the hero wrests from the fight with the dragon.

- Carl Jung, Collected Works, Vol.8: Structure & Dynamics of the Psyche

In the follwing (letter to pastor Jakob Amstutz) referring to the dragon as the subconscious:

It is as though consciousness were aware that the dragon is the lower half of man, which indeed and in truth is the case.

- Carl Jung, Letters Vol.I, pg.489

In Jungian theory a dragon just so happens to be a symbol for the process of individuation, which stands for the integration of soul and ego. And this is a fight Rey and Ben take on together, the two of them fighting against the dragon again alluding to them as two halves of a greater whole. Suggesting that they are also connected to each other in the process of becoming their true selves, beyond simply the extent to which the Force is concerned. The Force is a part of their connection, but I would consider it more of a mediator of their innermost selves. The reason for the depth of their bond lies in them, in who they are, and who they could become with the support of the other.

It does not mean that it is something the narrative is built around exclusively. Or that its presence could be explicit at all times. The Throne Room scene also can’t be reduced to just one set of symbols, so there is more that’s packed in there (including blatant sexual symbolism). But the fight against the dragon is what represents an inner struggle to achieve control over the subconscious. Like the tug of war between light and darkness. To me personally, that is the broader narrative, and something I feel that Rian’s comments have supported as well. Most explicitly perhaps when talking about the significance of what Rey experiences in the cave, something that is very much one of the most telling examples of what I’m talking about here. He said that it’s about becoming, in a very general sense, and also about exploring the infinite possibilities of the self, and finding the true self:

And so it was just an image that came into my head. Of this infinite line of, you know, possibilities of self. And these endless kind of possibilities of identity. And the notion of the playing with which one is the “real” her. Which one is going to be her. And where does it end.

- Rian Johnson

Individuation: Becoming the whole Self

Individuation, as Jung describes it, is a process of psychological development, during which the individual will assimilate the parts of the self into one complete and homogeneous whole and become their truest self. One of the things that individuation aims to do, is to rid the self from the fake layer of the assumed persona (Kylo Ren & the mask, to which I will return later) and on the other hand from the suggestive powers of the untamed subconscious.

Now let’s talk about Modern Man in Search of a Soul, a book Rian said he read as part of his prep for TLJ. So it is indeed “a good place to start”, for multiple reasons. First is of course the fact alone that Rian himself has been explicit about drawing inspiration from Jung. But what’s even better is that in it Jung discusses the necessity of individuation:

The way of successive assimilations reaches far beyond the curative results that specifically concern the doctor. It leads in the end to that distant goal (which may perhaps have been the first urge to life), the bringing into reality of the whole human being—that is, individuation.

- Carl Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul, pg.31

There is something else that I really want to point out, not specifically on the subject of individuation, and that is chapter VIII - “Psychology & Literature”. I just immensely enjoy the fact that this is something he said he is drawing inspiration from. So if I may:

In dealing with the psychological mode of artistic creation, we never need ask ourselves what the material consists of or what it means. But this question forces itself upon us as soon as we come to the visionary mode of creation. We are astonished, taken aback, confused, put on our guard or even disgusted - and we demand commentaries and explanations. We are reminded in nothing of everyday, human life, but rather of dreams, night-time fears and the dark recesses of the mind that we sometimes sense with misgiving. The reading public for the most part repudiates this kind of writing - unless, indeed, it is coarsely sensational - and even the literary critic feels embarrassed by it.

- Carl Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul, pg.182

Coming back to individuation again, I want to present two particular quotes which both emphasize the importance of communication and the conversational aspect of this process. Which is in my eyes especially relevant to how individuation as a whole aligns with the development of Rey and Ben’s relationship. The Force bond allows them to communicate themselves to each other, and the more they begin to understand the other, they also learn something about themselves.

I quite agree with you: without relatedness individuation is hardly possible. Relatedness begins with conversation mostly.

- Carl Jung, Letters, Vol.II, pg.609-610

Individuation is only possible with people, through people. You must realize that you are a link in a chain, that you are not an electron suspended somewhere in space or aimlessly drifting through the cosmos.

- Carl Jung, Nietzsche’s “Zarathustra”: Notes of the Seminar given in 1934-1939, pg.103

But, there is more here than just the relevance of a conversational aspect. There are 3 stages to individuation, which I think can also be seen in TLJ. Jung himself outlined them as the following:

The search into the unconscious involves confronting the shadow, man’s hidden nature; the anima/animus, a hidden opposite gender in each individual; and beyond, the archetype of meaning. These are archetypes susceptible to personification; the archetypes of transformation, which express the process of individuation itself, are manifested in situations.

- Carl Jung, Collected Works Vol.9i: The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, 451 p. (p. 3-41)

I will write about the steps below, but I feel the need to point out that we are simultaneously dealing with two kinds of self here. One is contained within them individually, the other is the greater consciousness or self they become together. That is why I think that the stages are less evident in the two when viewed separately, but become more obvious when they are observed as a whole made of two individuals. They are both part of the same process of individuation, together. They are fighting the dragon as equals, and so their struggles to face their own self are also connected. Not to mention because of the way they are connected by the Force. The balance they would create together is the result of this process in which they are both involved.

1. Assimilation of the Shadow.

This is the first step of individuation. The shadow is a representation of the “dark side” of the personality or human psyche. And all the more negative aspects of the lower half of the self (subconscious), like a compartment saturated with moral and ethical shortcomings, character flaws, shame, abuse and dependency. Assimilation of the shadow means facing the darkness you contain to become aware of all of the parts of your (sub)consciousness in order to integrate them into your whole self.

In the film Rey plunges underwater (water - a prominent symbol for the subconscious) to emerge in the “forbidden” cave beneath Ahch-To where she finds a mirror-like wall in which she sees two shadows approaching. One that is her own, and one that appears to be that of Ben’s. The shadows become one, at which point she sees her true reflection appear.

When it comes to the assimilation of Rey’s own shadow, to me it seems to be depicted rather straightforwardly. At first I was hoping to find a parallel moment in which Ben has a similar experience independently, but then I realized that for him it happens through Rey. And perhaps that is the only way. Because remember, communication is the key to individuation. And him having strayed much farther away from the light, he might not be able to achieve it alone. He needs Rey to help him. She is the other half of the whole, the greater self.

So there is a reason Rey saw two shadows meld into one and then herself. The scene in the cave is followed by that in the hut where Rey tells Ben everything that happened. The hopeless loneliness it made her feel. She is sharing her experience of individuation with him. And the very element of them talking about it over the Force bond is a reminder that their understanding of each other’s experiences goes beyond what they say in words, it is also felt.

In my interpretation of it, it’s through Rey’s experience that Ben becomes able to confront his own shadow (if I go by the mirror scene in the cave.) And so that is a part of why their shadows are shown to meld into one. Because they are parts of the same whole. His experiences affect her and vice versa. I think Ben is overwhelmed by his own shadow which manifests in the persona. This would most distinctly show the emotional stuntedness which suppression has caused. He has become emotionally fractured, so much so that he can hardly figure out the pieces by himself, so he needs the conversationality of the individuation. He needs Rey’s help to find himself again. And it’s an awakening that we see throughout TLJ.

The Eye

There is one more element about the cave scene, that I wanted to mention. Although I’ve seen Freudian readings of it, which interpret the cave through sexual symbolism, my own first association was actually different. To me, the entrance to the cave looked like an eye.

The mind which is in each of us is able to comprehend all other things, but has not the capability of understanding itself. For as the eye sees all other things, but cannot see itself, so also the mind perceives the nature of other things but cannot understand itself.

- Philo of Alexandria, Works Vol.I, pg.76

The hole in the center resembling the pupil, dark and full of the unknown. The growths emerging from it reminiscent of the pattern of an iris surrounding it. And I just thought it to be interesting how it seems to align with the aspect of the light above and darkness below, representing the conscious and subconscious mind:

So whatever comes from behind comes from the shadow, from the darkness of the unconscious, and because you have no eyes there, and because you wear no neck amulet to ward off evil influences, that thing gets at you, possesses and obsesses you.

- Carl Jung, Nietzsche’s “Zarathustra”: Notes of the Seminar given in 1934-1939, pg.1265

So in that way, Rey is entering someplace that her conscious can’t access, where the eye doesn’t see. Diving into the waters of subconscious to reach the mirror in which she finds their shadows. The eye thus representing a doorway into the lower half of the self. So what Rian said about the cave scene interestingly enough also connects back to Jung:

The idea was if the up top is the light, down underneath is the darkness And she descends down into there and has to see, just like Luke did in the cave, her greatest fear. And her greatest fear is [that], in the search for identity, she has nobody but herself to rely on. - Rian Johnson

2. Becoming One: confrontation of the anima & animus

The second step of individuation is concerned with the dynamic of anima and animus what in Jungian theory control and shape the relationship between a man and a woman, the male and female. Anima being the representation of the female element of a male’s psyche, and therefore animus the opposite in a woman’s. This is a similar relationship to that of yin and yang.

It is unavoidable, for the purpose of Individuation, that one will know how to differentiate the true self from the self that one allows themself and others to see. For the same reason it is necessary to become aware of the invisible ties one has to their subconscious, specifically to Anima. In order to be able to differentiate oneself from it.

- Carl Jung, my shitty translation of a translation of Die Beziehung zwischen dem Ich und dem Unbewussten before I realized it’s literally the same book as Two Essays In Analytical Psychology *sigh* (Page 97 in my copy, but you will have to find it yourself in the linked text)

Persona & The Mask

In the case of Ben, there is another aspect which plays into the dynamic of self and anima, and that is the persona that is Kylo Ren, that I mentioned earlier. A constructed self created to camouflage the true self, to mask feelings and reactions in order to obtain some type of control over his self-projection. The element of the mask also being literal in this case. Kylo Ren is an attempt to dehumanize himself externally, in order to hide the pain and fear of Ben Solo. Jung also describes the relationship between anima and persona as compensatory. This is why both have to be taken into account.

And this persona is another part in Ben which needs Rey in order for him to let go of it. We also see that happen in TLJ quite explicitly I think. Snoke even calls Ben a “child in a mask”, which is what prompts him to discard it in anger. That moment is an initial reaction and not yet his full realization of the persona, but he is forced to face it. It is his connection with Rey which enables the emergence of himself from behind the mask, and to see something worth wanting that the mask would not allow him to have. Step by step he comes closer to consolidating the persona and the anima.

Awakening of Eros

One aspect of confronting the anima and animus is that it can also be the awakening of Eros. I did not plan on expanding much on that because it goes deep into sexual symbolism territory. But it was something I wanted to point out though.

So, too, man will be forced to develop his feminine side, to open his eyes to the psyche and to Eros, It is a task he can’ not avoid.

- Carl Jung, Collected Works, Vol.10 (Civilization in Transition), Page 125

If you want to understand the sexual imagery in TLJ better or see alternative interpretations to your own, there are well-known blogs that have written about the subject at length.

3. Wise Old Man / Woman Archetype

The third step of individuation involves meeting the archetype of the Wise Old Man or Wise Old Woman. Jung describes such archetypes as “mana-personalities” which are still tied to either anima or animus. In the collective unconsciousness they are interpreted like the inner representations of the same-sex parent and symbolize figures of authority.

The mana-personality is a dominant of the collective unconscious, the well-known archetype of the mighty man in the form of hero, chief, magician, medicine-man, saint, the ruler of men and spirits, the friend of God.

- Carl Jung, Collected Works, Vol.7 Pt.II: Two Essays on Analytical Psychology (Individuation)

In general this last step is the hardest for me to completely wrap my head around. Perhaps because how the archetype can appear in very different forms, and that perhaps also goes for its intention. The intended outcome is also more difficult to outline, outside of the fact that the experience of it has to complete the process or rather journey of individuation. I’m not going to attempt to translate the whole segment, because it makes my head hurt, but in a chapter dedicated to mana-personality in Two Essays on Analytical Psychology Jung basically describes meeting the mana-personality as something similar to the process of acceptance or admitting something to the self. Also, the manifestation of a mana-personality occurs only if the previous step has been successful, in the process of which the anima has lost its raw demonic power (ibid).

I think it’s possible that this is what we see at the end, the archetypes being represented by Luke & Leia. But that being said, I don’t see the process of individuation as being complete, so the third step may also be something that we didn’t actually see in this film.

Conclusion

To me, it really is all in the movie. I hope to have outlined how and why Jung’s concept of individuation aligns with the relationship between Rey and Ben, their growth individually and together. In that way forming a kind of a narrative arc which implies that together Ben and Rey will bring balance to the Force and to each other. It’s about the whole Self.

______ The Human Shadow and other stories (I didn’t have time to read/listen to most of it yet, but RJ references it so it doesn’t hurt to link it anyway. )

#Reylo #Reylo meta #The Last Jedi #Rian Johnson #Ben Solo #Rey #Carl Jung #maemeta

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