#something something new neural pathways etc

[sumiblue]

Delving back in to learning a new language has been a challenge when I'm prone to turning "Could I have the WiFi password?" into "Could I possibly trouble you for a spot of Internet?"

I've spent a lot of time playing around with words in English to give VERY specific flavours to the meaning of a sentence, so now I've become acutely aware of the layers I have to peel away to get to the base level of what I'm trying to say. It's extremely frustrating as a lover of specificity, purple prose and general lingustic fuckery BUT endlessly exciting to 1) become aware of what you've subconsciusly absorbed in your native language and culture and 2) observe the subtleties of your learned language as you build competency 3) figure out how you're going to do niche language fuckery in this one. Feels refreshing, can't wait.

[pinkmoondoll9shihtzu]

For ppl genuinely interested in healing themselves mentally/emotionally:

One strategy i learned is that "You can't control your first thought but you Can control your second"

ie. If something goes wrong & your first thought is "I HATE MYSELF", try to catch it while its happening, then instead of letting it spiral You can respond to yourself like "Woahhh that was pretty mean! That's how I used to think when I was 14. That's very dramatic. I wouldn't bully someone into feeling that way about themselves. So doing it to myself is no exception. I was just frustrated when I said that, but i am actually Ok. I am not a bad person because something went wrong." etc etc

idk if it sounds dorky i'm just sharing cus with practice and cosistency its actually helped A LOT with self hating thoughts that had been on autopilot my entire teen and adult life. i read that having these little convos w yourself can rewire new neural pathways in ur brain. After some time of working on it i feel it's true. it does take some effort but if ur ever ready & willing to try, its never too late..

[wordslikesilver]

Really mentally ill thinking about this scenario. Main character, die hard domme type of woman who’s madly in love with her wife and enjoys her sweetly and lovingly the way anyone ought to. The plot stresses and exacerbates her worst insecurities and fears until she’s vulnerable and collapse under pressure. The villain makes their checkmate move, actual mind control or brainwashing or some form of corruption to take the main heroine into their evil cohort, the final stroke that would seal them victory. MC looks broken and shadow eyed. Empty. Frozen in their moment of true despair, now taken advantage of to be used as a blunt instrument. The most powerful person you know, now shattered and twisted into something that doesn’t feel anymore. It doesn’t hear you anymore. All strength falters, when pushed to the absolute for long enough.

Leading up to this, again and again, we see our main character vow to her wife “I will always come back to you” and we see it as simply a promise to stay safe, to come back alive, etc… and the wife learns of what’s happened to the main character. She listens calmly as the ill news is delivered. She knows what to do.

The climactic moment, the villain is going to win, puppeting the main character, using her power to clear any obstacle before them, all her allies captured, restrained, incapacitated or killed and then—

“Stop,” her wife says, no louder than you’d speak to someone across the table. She’s finally arrived at the battlefield. It’s been so long since she saw her wife. A stirring like no other, begins within the caged mind of the main character. All this time, every time her allies tried to reach her, she barely breathed harder, lying face up in the dark liquid prison of her mind. Face down beneath a mountain of magic, torture and restructured neural pathways carved in by nanobots in her blood and the collar around her neck. Nothing was ever supposed to break her free. She was supposed to be gone. Not even the memory of her wife was allowed to her.

And her wife, her darling, gentle, mild mannered and sweet hearted wife, she walks up and places naught but hand on her darling’s cheek as she whispers, “Please come back to me.”

And while the main character is silent and still, despite all the cursing and orders given by the villain to cut this insolent woman down, within her mind, within the prison she is left to rot in, her eyes have snapped open. There’s been this. Aching. In her chest. It’s been so numb and so hard to truly feel it, but the feeling never truly left. Oh how she’s missed her wife. She moves to the source of this warmth, through all the chains and mires and mountains and magic and machines and nails and pain in her mind, all the bindings and control and corruption falling away as if they quite literally weren’t there. Like, useless to the point of could they have ever stopped her? Because her heart is full once again. The memory restored. The hole mended. The aching ceased and serenity returned. The control is broken with a touch and a whisper.

I’m slamming my head on the desk, I’m too hopeless of a romantic to ever look at a character being mind controlled against their will and think they can’t be brought back by the one they love. More than that, I’m too much of a romantic to ever think it would need more than a touch and the scent of the person they love to break the spell. A whisper. A soft request. I am brought back by love. Tenderness will make my knees buckle every single time. I am an aromantic’s most insufferable individual to ever experience, like girl, you couldn’t bring her back with your tears and crying out to her, holding her in your arms, begging her to stop this? Skill issue. She smelled cinnamon on the wind and remembered all our previous lifetimes together, running just to find me.

[gigidragonbbxxx]

Okay so I'll try to make it as simple and short as possible, for me the most logical way to manifest is REPETITION by repeating any affirmations over and over again it has no option but to manifest either a thought or a visual representation of your manifestation. So I've been repeating this one scenario in my head for around 2 years like the moment I wake up to the moment I fall asleep this specific scenario has been looping in my mind non stop even when I gave up on manifestation I quite all technique and everything I still used to loop this visuals (video) where I've everything I want like rn I'm thinking as if, I don't do this to get something I genuinely love doing this (acting as if/ visualizing) because obviously that gives me happiness my question here is why my subconscious is not reprogrammed yet when every second evey hour there is only scene in my head I don't get this and now finally I'm so hopeless and actually want a answer. Whether you believe it or not repetition is the key if you repeat something over and over and over and over and over again our brain creates new neural pathway and then it will show up in our reality. Then what the fuck is wrong with me

I REALLY WANT TO DIE NOWW

Everything will be okay. To whoever sent this, no you do not want to die. You want your new reality very badly and that's understandable.

So please bear with me and know I'm saying all of this with kindness:

from what I'm reading, you've been looping this scenario in your head for 2 years and are still looking for it. you already seemingly have read and taken the advice of repetition, acting as it, etc.

I'll be honest, I'm worried for you so I'm gonna go back to basics.

Are you viewing this reality as "It's mine now" or do you view it as something you're chasing?

Steps to Take:

take a break. seriously. take a break.

take stock of what has happened in your life within the 2 yrs you've been manifesting it - have there been small changes? have you been experiencing at the minimum, some of your desired reality?

take time to refocus on YOU. sit down, make a mind map of who YOU are and then make a separate one for your dream reality and see if they're truly different

treat yourself the same way the version of you in that reality would, just to jolt yourself in the feeling of living in the end and not just imagination, sometimes ppl need a lil 3D encouragement. for example, if the version of you always gets what they want, go into a store and buy your favorite snack just because. practice feeling good about your life.

even if you know what to do, going back and reading Neville Goddard or listening to edward art on youtube is helpful.

Final Piece of Advice

Suggested Affirmations

No matter what I feel, no matter how frustrated I am, nothing messes up the fact that my manifestations are coming in for me.

I know I am worthy of my dream reality.

I always do everything right.

I release any blockages or resistance that hinder me from experiencing my desired life

You know you deserve it. Treat yourself with love.

See you in your desired timeline, xx, gigi

[finallysafeawakepowerful]

All there ever is going to be is the experience you’re having inside your head. What you’re imagining at all times. What you’re thinking at all times.

And in turn, those very things begin to form and change and create your surrounding world. All seeming matter and all things that make up existence begin to form and move in accordance to your own imagination; your own being.

You can be having A N Y experience you want to be having within your mind. You can experience being ANYTHING and ANYONE as you always have and the world will always form in accordance as it always has.

You can continue the cycle of being in the old narrative and see and think from the old narrative or you can simply change your thinking and being and watch as everything changes and forms in accordance.

We see it all the time with people going from 0 - 100, to people changing their life around, or people going from 100- 0... What did they do? They changed their conscious actions and activity. There are people who live in total abundance and love then end themselves in poverty and misery -> how did they do it? Their conscious activity. What they decreed. We’re all trying to reach the top heights while the story plays in reverse for people all the time. We think it’s so hard but it is not.

That’s all there is and all there ever will be. Truly believe and live in any state of being and it is granted. What you decree, is then made to be. In any state or any story you’re living inside your mind as it always has been.

The correlations between the successful vs unsuccessful and the happy vs miserable is no coincidence. The correlations in their beliefs, states, imaginal activity is no coincidence.

All the people in the world use the law knowingly or unknowingly. Down to the people who go for multiple income streams to amass millions to the people who choose college then career or the people who choose service industry etc. They have all chosen and believed and acted as though in accordance to their beliefs and gotten as though to whatever narrative they believed is fitting for them and what they wanted and believed was attainable etc. All they did was play a different story within their conscious minds. They all believed in their plans and saw themselves truly achieving whatever it is they want, or believe they can do, what’s realistic etc.

Stop believing shifting from one polarity (old) to the next polarity (new) is any different in the law of creation. You created in the old polarity in the same way for the new. Your brain is conditioned to seperate them and believe abundance and ease is so much different and unattainable. It is the same principle of being; the one things that changes is your point of view … your conscious activity … your state of being. NOTHING actually changes but your conscious choices and you continue to think something else is the cause or there’s a secret key or change. The only change is you.

Your world is your conscious creation. And your consciousness cannot out work you or our picture you or give you anything other than what you decree. It cannot work against you. Take responsibility and take a non critical observation at all you deemed to be true prior and how you’ve received it all. Shifting into another world is no different than the way of being you’ve always created with. Stop creating in accordance to old beliefs and conditioning and begin restructuring your entire being and begin forming new neural patterns and pathways.

What you decree is then made to be. What you believe is then made to be. What you see is then made to be. WHO you are is then made to be. Whatever is held as truth and truly SEEN in the 4d is always going to be the only thing that forms your entire world and being.

Everything you felt to be true prior, was in your imagination. It was a delusion you believed → you lived in delusion with all those old beliefs and look at how it surrounds you and how the world turned in accordance to those old delusions.

Thinking in favour for the ideal IS NO DIFFERENT.

Everything you felt to be true prior, was in your imagination. It was a delusion you believed → just as you must with a new state of being, a new "delusion", or a new belief of what is.

Be honest! You were delusional with past concepts. A great concept is no different, it’s an idea held in the mind. "Be delusional" to envision the best in the same way were delusional envisioning the past ideas and Concepts of your self and life that formed everything around you and the roadblocks you put down. You imagined those road blocks and believed it was real and was thus granted as we already know: what you decree is then made to be.

Technically we were "being delusional" when imagining the worst or poverty or unfavourable circumstances. We are seeing and embodying and believing in those stories in the same way of being "delusional" toward another story.

Technically we were being "delusional" with old self concepts or concepts of the world .... We made it up and decided and believed etc the same way we are convincing ourselves being delusional toward a better story is. The old self concept was delusional almost in the same way towards a better narrative is. The process was the same. Delusional towards shitty circumstances and self concepts and everything else in those regards. We were delusional holding those regards in the same way. We imagined ourselves and states the same way. We saw ourselves and believed ourselves the same way just as delusional in the same way. It was delusional just the same: just a different story. You were saying "I am this, I am that" and it was technically delusional (and sure with A lot of people it did not correspond w the circumstances in your life at the time. Think about yourself and people you know and what they said / thought too.) it was delusional. There was no evidence other than the thoughts/ideas held ... and it resulted in your surrounding world falling perfectly in line…... as it's the only way of creation.

Be delusional just as you always were with your old stories you played out and believed and lived in accordance to in the past.

“Be literally delusional for the ideal” HUNNY YOU WERE DELUSIONAL WITH YOUR OLD CONCEPTS!!!! EQUALLY IN THE PAST WITH YOUR OLD DELUSIONS AND BELIEFS AND IMAGINAL ACTIVITY. And that actually formed in accordance. You’ve already seen your power and capabilities so trust in yourself to do the same but to a different plane of existence. Stop living in the frequency you were conditioned to be in, the lower unhappy frequency with old beliefs and delusions placed inside your mind……“Be delusional for the ideal” YOU WERE DELUSIONAL with your past unfavourable world. You imagined false things and it was fucking created for you. You’ve already proved your power. You can be living in abundance and in order to get to unfavourable conditions you’d have to be delusional towards the unfavourable just as it’s been shown people in those circumstances have done.

So, what is? What’s real for you now?

[kevin-day-is-bi]

cactus, sage, nutmeg 🌵🌿🌱

cactus ⇢ something you’re currently learning (about)?

I'm starting school back up next week but prior to our unexpected break, I was enjoying learning about neurodegenerative disorders bc I have a disorder that affects my ability to form new neural pathways and reading up on what we do and don't know about those kinds of disorders was really interesting to me

sage ⇢ what ‘medium’ of art (poetry, music, fiction, paintings, statues etc.) is the most touching to you? why do you think that is?

hmm....I think painting is the most loving art form for me to create. I'm not the best at it, but I love the way the texture can be used and it looks so pretty

but for me to read, I think poetry. I have a diary that I keep solely in the form of poems I've written and I like going back and reading it bc I feel a lot of love for the person who wrote them

nutmeg ⇢ how’s your room/home decorated? do you have a specific theme or style going on?

wellll.......yes, and that theme is maximalist. I have paper stars on my ceiling, 7 different types of bookshelves, newspaper clippings, my own paintings and posters, a couple certificates, a chalkboard, a corkboard, a whiteboard, the shadow box I made, two of the large boxes of comics, a guitar, a keyboard, a full tea set....... the walls are neon turquoise where you can see them and I have a full stage-style closet area

[icedmetaltea]

I've been feeling discouraged about my art recently. Could you possibly give me some tips?

Ok I wanna preface this by saying I am by no means a professional or even "good" artist, BUT I shall try!

These are all tips by a digital artist so I can't help much when it comes to other forms

This got long so under the cut, 20 ART TIPS TIME LETS GOOO

1.Try to draw most days, or at least once a week. The more often the better BUT I don't mean like hardcore, a complex drawing every single day (recipe for burnout right there). I mean like even just 30 seconds of SOMETHING. You can draw shapes, maybe fill a page with circles. There are programs u can find online that give you like a min to sketch something and challenge yourself in a really short time frame. Guess what?? When you draw often you're building those neural pathways (I think) and the more you do it the easier it'll get

2. Don't obsess over making stuff look perfect on the first draft... or at all. I recommend making a "draft" layer or 2... or 3 over the initial sketch. The more you go over it and change stuff, the better it'll be. Also, If you spend hours on it and still hate it?? Who cares! You put in the work and now you have an idea out on paper that you can go over some time in the future and improve if you chose to.

3. DON'T DELETE STUFF!!! Unless it's literally just mindless scribbles, save everything you draw. Like I said, you can go over it again and improve it someday. You can also look back at it in like a year and compare your art to see where you've improved! I deleted all my old art from beyond like a year ago and regret it so much. Don't berate yourself for the stuff you need to work on, be proud of what improvements you've still made

USE REFERENCES!!!!!!! Please just do it, I know it's annoying but I promise it helps so so much

4. Invest drawing tablet, preferably one with buttons that you can map to undo, sketch, fill and such. This will make drawing sooooo much easier (and faster). My quality of art has improved just from drawing the same thing and redoing it like 20 times at a time, and it takes way less time when I can just click a button to do that. It might seem daunting at first but it quickly becomes instinctual. This is the one I got and I'm quite happy with it! It's got good sensitivity, a pen you don't have to replace batteries for or even recharge, and it's mid-range so not wayy too expensive. However, if you're just starting out, I'd recommend this (I got the corded version but I assume it's about the same) since it's small, cheap and you can focus on just learning basics like improving lines n such.

5. Use a bigger canvas size. I started out with 1000x1000, and that's still fine for smaller stuff and doodles, for better quality I recommend bigger sizes. If it's too small it'll look all weird and pixel-y

6. THERE ARE LITERALLY SO MANY FORMS OF ART, maybe the one you're trying just isn't something you vibe with! There's mosaics, digital, traditional (and all the many sub-categories of that), sculpture, photography, etc. All are equally valid and you will improve in your craft if you choose something that 1. you enjoy, 2. are consistent with it!

7. SEGEMENT OUT THE LIMBS drawing DCA stuff for over a year has helped me improve on anatomy sooo much literally just because it forced me to think of each part of a limb in terms of segments, shapes- for instance, instead of an upper arm, I think of a tube which connects to a circle that allows it to rotate and another tube... followed by a weird shape for a hand that connects 5 smaller tubes, whiCH ARE THEN SEPERATED IN TO 3 TUBES EACH. Yes it sounds confusing but breaking it down like that instead of just trying to figure things out helped an absolute shitton

8. Have some kinda hobby that makes you draw frequently. For instance I have a discord sona I draw a new pfp for every month or so. It's a simple design and since the pfp won't show many flaws I can pump out lots of art for it in a small timeframe and I find it relaxing. I've actually improved a shitton just drawing pfps This is one of my first pfps from maybe 2 yrs ago compared with one of my most recent ones

(yes I'm a bit of a furry deal with it) It's cute, there's nothing wrong at all with it! However, you can see how things have changed.

See how the lines are a lot more even, less jagged? The proportions of the shoulders are much wider, the ears aren't just popping out of the hair, the shading makes a bit more sense and isn't just thrown around at random. There's also a broader range of color, with a few bright highlights to catch the eye, colored shading I think as well. The former is just like 3 simple colors. These are all things I learned from drawing pfps consistently.

9. CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! And FUN, if you have fun drawing it'll be a lot easier to do frequently

10. Whether it's drawing pfps, blorbos or landscapes, find something that brings you joy and it'll be MUCH easier to stick to. Draw, draw a lot, do not worry about "good" art and "bad" art cause there's literally no such thing. Compare what you draw now with what you do in like a year or two from now and I promise, if you're consistent, use references and are patient, you WILL amaze yourself with how much you improve.

11. Challenge yourself! Join secret santas (assuming you know you can complete it within the allotted timeframe), draw your friends' sona/ocs (if they're cool with it), do palette challenges, do monthly stuff like drawtober or whatever it's called (BUT I don't recommend doing something every single day for a month cause again, gonna cause mega burnout)

12. Draw when the inspiration comes, it will move your hand. These days I make much better quality art that I'm proud of when I just let inspiration flow through me instead of begrudgingly making myself draw. You shouldn't be forcing yourself!! If you are, you probably are burned out by either drawing too much, feeling a lack of confidence or some other stuff going on irl. Inspiration comes naturally, and when it doesn't it's prolly your mind trying to communicate that something's up. If resting a week or two doesn't help, take a deeper look at your life and see if the artblock is a symptom of something else (for me it's most often depression).

13. At the same time, sometimes you just need to start. Kinda on the previous point of lacking confidence, often we scare ourselves out of even trying. It might feel insurmountable. Nah, try. If all you can do is a wobbly, vague sketch?? You got the idea out!! Start drawing fuckin eyeballs or something, just start. Sometimes the hardest part is just facing a blank canvas and putting a couple lines on it

14. Not all brushes are equal. Some just make drawing easier- at least for me. I dunno the science behind it but when I use my sketch brush (it's got a similar look to pencil) rather than my lineart brush it makes drawings just... look better. Also using thicker lines in general helps. Why?? NO CLUE, maybe thinner ones just show flaws easier or intersect better or something.

15. Music or some other distraction can help, idk why. Some days I like to have a movie/show/podcast going in the background for a mild distraction that keeps me slightly stimulated on other stuff even as I draw- maybe it increases brain activity or??? No idea. Sometimes just listening to music. Sometimes I need total silence. Do what works for you! Give lots of different stuff a try, you may love drawing while listening to a podcast in the background

16. Take breaks!! The pomodoro method works with art as well. Every 25 mins or so, take a 5 min break. Get up, stretch, get some water, maybe watch a yt vid. Call ur friend and tell them you love and cherish them. Then get back to it and you will feel oh so refreshed. After maybe 3 rounds take a 15 min or longer break and then repeat if you still feel like it

17. SLEEP IS INCREDIBLY FUCKING IMPORTANT you will see a deep decline in the quality of your art when you're tired, plus you just feel like shit and art is about feeling good and expressing yourself. Sleep is important, even tho yes I stay up too late drawing most nights, I do my absolute best to get at least 7 hours of sleep every night, as should you!!

18. DO NOT BE SCARED OF STICK FIGURES AND MESSY SKETCHES, they're actually the best way to start bc 1. it's a quick way to get an idea out before you forget it 2. the finished piece will actually look a lot more fluid since you weren't spending all that time obsessing over making the first draft look perfect- which often just makes it look stiff. You can do a whole lot with stick figures. Focus on that good ol' line of action.

19. Random but when drawing the face, I like to first make a circle and then like a "mask" over it for the actual face. For me it just makes sense. Then two lines, one up/down and one left, right, it'll make it easier to align the eyes and ears. In general, the ears usually go where the "mask" begins and just below the left/right line

20. Finally surround yourself with people who encourage you. I grew up in an environment where people would gawk at stuff my sibling drew and ignore me bc they were ~naturally talented~ and it made me not want to draw at all.

Well guess what?? Now that I spend time with people who encourage me and genuinely care about my interest in art I've improved a lot bc I have the motivation, the joy of showing ppl who care about me new pieces. If people in your life aren't encouraging you, or gods forbid insulting your art (excluding constructive criticism that you've explicitly asked for) then TOSS EM OVERBOARD THE BOAT OF LIFE and find people who will treat you with the love and respect you deserve

P.S

This isn't a tip, just a recommendation: Chicory, a colorful tale. It's a game where u play as a cute lil dog who gets a magical paintbrush that lets you color the world. The only issue? You have no ~talent~. My gods, this game struck a cord with me.

Feeling like you don't have any talents that come naturally to you. Being overlooked even when you try your best. Feeling like a complete joke when you try to pick up the brush (or in this case stylus) because there are so many "real" artists and you're not one of them.

Also the things people say and how they can affect you even when not intentional. Damn. It's just a beautiful game. It's made by the same people who made Wandersong, another absolute banger game with a character who is seen as a joke and I cannot recommend them enough.

bonus tip bc why the fuck not: OVERLAYS!!!!!!! In clip paint studio you have all these layer options, I can never memorize what they all do so I just make like an ombre color layer over my base colors and try all of them to see what looks cool

[stormikins]

sorry if this weird I LOVE your tags on the biotic thoughts post and it didn't occur to me that the biotics would be wonky once waking up but i can imagine just how unstable it would be for shepard waking up in so many unknowns (time, place, allies, etc) and using biotics as a way to show that with growth is so interesting and you have such a big brain. thank you for sharing your thoughts they are So good

omg THANK YOU!! Definitely not weird AT ALL! I think a lot about mass effect and what everything looks like in universe so I have thoughts about a lot of things lol. Sadly, I haven't truly delved past what i initially said about the implants but I for sure use Jenn's biotics coming back as way to show she's accepting the world around her and her new body as part of her character arc. I just haven't explored what that looks like for her besides the obvious frustration at the situation and her practicing her own mnemonics/the squadmate's mnemonics in an attempt to unlock something.

Like it would be devastating to wake up in the way that Shepard did and to have another thing taken from them. And biotics are all about control, specifically your own body. Knowing it, accepting it, etc are all things you need, so I think even without a new implant to fuck with the neural pathways, the biotics would be fucky because potentially there are new eezo nodes in Shepard's body. That does depend on how severe you want to think Shepard's injuries are. But according to Jacob, Shepard was, "nothing but meat and tubes". We can take that in all sorts of ways but given that we can change classes in between games, aka make a non-biotic Shepard into a biotic, I imagine some more 'juice' is added to Shepard's body if they were a biotic beforehand. After all, why not make sure there are working eezo nodes in Shepard's body by just putting in new ones? Which leads to the whole "I don't know my body anymore" debacle which would mentally and at least initially physically inhibit any biotics from happening post Lazarus if that's what you want to go for.

I'm not gonna get into the whole implants, amps, and neural pathways because I don't know anything about brains to make a statement about getting a new implant, I just know its a Big Thing that again would potentially hinder Shepard's biotics in the beginning. Even more so because it was a non-consensual procedure. Which leads back to mentality.

Anyways, I'm gonna stop myself before I repeat myself/ramble some more but this is very fun to think about and I really enjoyed your post about it. (mentioned post is here for anyone interested). I am ALWAYS down to talk shop about mass effect. Like I said, I spend waaayyyyy too much time thinking about the lore

[bleachbleachbleach]

I hope this doesn't come off as rude or weird, and you are doing well! I'm dipping my toes into Bleach fanfiction and I have a question that might be more world-building-ish. We know there are prosthetics in Seiretei; do you think there are other assistive technologies (e.g. hearing aids) there? I mean, Mayuri seems to have...misplaced his ears and given himself a set of prosthetics/implants instead. Who do you think would be the go-to department for those things? I hope you have a good day!

Not rude or weird at all! I hope the amount of time it’s taken us to respond didn’t feel rude or weird; we are just… always on this strugglebus. 😅

I’m excited to hear you’re dipping your toes into Bleach fanfic! There is never enough fanfic on this website. <3 And WORLDBUILDING is involved? Say no more! And I love how much work the word "misplaced" is doing in your description. XDD Love it.

I do not have the canon citations for this handy, but it seems like a lot of the major bodywork in Soul Society is more the purview of the 12th than 4th. We know that Kira’s rebar job, and whatever else was required to anchor his being (more or less), happened at the 12th. If you want to be de-zombified, that’s the 12th. (Though in fairness, by that point Unohana was dead and Isane had more than enough to handle without also taking on special projects.) And Hinamori also had dealings with the 12th post-Winter War (which I’m sure was a gr8 environment for her mental health)*—but anyway!

You’ve already seen our post about accessibility/disability studies and the Gotei 13, which gets a little bit into my thinking re: 4th vs. 12th, so I’ll skip over that and say that in the present-day Gotei, the 12th is going to be your go-to for assistive technologies or body modifications.

But what does that mean for the availability of, research direction of, and cultural response to these things?

* Speaking truthfully, though, I think that maybe it… could have been? I mean, not interacting *with Mayuri* if ever she did, but other people in 12th.

I’ll share some of the directions I’d think in, if I needed this for fic. I’d love to hear about your own worldbuilding around this as well!

Availability/Usage Notes

Mostly whenever the Gotei needs something from the 12th, they just have it, because of course they do. Or Mayuri works some mojo and several episodes later they have it. So we could make the argument that if you need an arm, or new ears, or an eyeball, then the 12th can make that happen.

But what if it’s not that simple? Because the 12th also seems like the kind of place where people are… working on stuff, but might be driven more by curiosity than the desire to enact public good, or offer a viable service. Most of that stuff is probably prototype-only, and all of the time and materials and actual working samples may be few and far between. It’s ~artisanal~

And probably fairly dangerous! Or at best, not without risk, and perhaps not without a lot of other factors to need to consider and/or accept/deal with. We know that stuff from the 12th does… get tested, and it’s not like they don’t have the time/lifespans to be collecting longitudinal data, but I’m positive they do not have the kind of oversight and ethnics boards that we do, and it’s not as though our human history (and contemporary lived experienced) isn’t already populated with some pretty heinous intrusions of bodily autonomy/informed consent/etc., even with all that.

I’d be interested to know:

how hard it might be to get the materials required to create any form of assistive technology at the 12th, or to replicate a successful result.

how much risk one takes on, in accepting such a technology from the 12th.

what it’s like to then live with this tech

You might have a "simple" prosthetic like Kuukaku’s, or you might have a whole new arm, like Soi Fon.

Do you get a new arm and never look back?

Do those neural pathways require a different kind of maintenance than the original?

Are there treatments to keep the body from rejecting the new limb? Are there medications?

Are Mayuri’s implants the same as the ears his body came with, or do they function differently? Is sound still an interpretation of vibrations or is here now something else involved? Does sound sound like sound in the way that it does to others?

Research Direction

Kind of going off that, I think the impetus for the research that’s happening would also have a huge impact on how these technologies functioned and what they are intended to do for the user. 

Again, this is something that continues to be complicated (and often frustrating) in our world. You probably know this too well! But in general, a lot of the assistive technologies in our world have been developed for the express purpose of making X thing more accessible, in a world that is otherwise largely designed for some normative, abled prototype of a person.

I am…not convinced that is always, or even often, the case at the 12th. I’m sure they have many labs that do feel a focused direction to their research (military applications), but I don’t think altruism, quality of life, accessibility, or disability justice likely factor in all that often. So what does that mean for the forms of technologies that are available? What does it mean for the potential divide between theory and praxis?

I'm not saying the 12th approach is all bad (okay, some of it involves the completely ubiquitous, unremarked upon death and/or abuse of their research subjects, which seems Bad)--some of it is about genuine curiosity, and some of that curiosity is about understandings things that exist in ways different than oneself, and/or in understanding oneself as different from others. And I do think it's valuable for a lot of these guys to not be trying to "fix" some specific thing (more on that in the next section).

I think there’s a lot of potential here for different labs to have very different approaches to and visions for their research.

How many of them were given a problem that they’re supposed to solve practically?

How many of them observed a phenomena, and are working on stuff that will help them observe it better, or break open some new vantage point from which to observe it (replicate it?  harness it? destroy it)?

How many of them have a fetish they’re exploring?

How much slippage is there between these things, within and across labs?

Cultural Response

One thing I enjoy about Bleach is that while we don’t necessarily see a lot of visibly disabled characters, or see different ways of being highlighted in the narrative, we do see many different choices characters have made about their lives. And sure, maybe it’s not always an element of choice—maybe Kyouraku’s eyeball was seared into oblivion so bad there was no hope of any form of prosthetic or eyeball transplant or some other more magic-forward alternative.

But limb replacement seems fairly straightforward (and again, maybe it’s really not, and Soi Fon and Hacchi and Hitsugaya and anyone else who’s ever lost a limb just doesn’t talk about it); we know Kuukaku has all the money and connections anyone could ever possibly need in Soul Society, yet she has (chose?) a basic prosthetic. Tousen remains blind. And uh, this does get a bit weird at the end of the winter war with the bug-ifying and the exploding, but before things got Complicated, he spent centuries living life as a blind man, where his other senses took center stage and meaningfully shaped his experiences and way of being in the world. Atau doesn’t seem to have any visible hearing aids, but we do know that he signs, and that forms of communication other than vocalized speech are his primary. One would also hope that that means Soul Society has a signing Deaf community of which he is a part, as well.

In Soul Society, there’s a bunch of magic that can "fix" someone, but doing so isn’t a foregone conclusion, and there doesn’t seem to really be a prescription for what root someone would need to take. (Minus Yhwach telling Yamamoto he should’ve gotten a new arm.) There are characters who choose to make use of this technology or that, and characters who choose otherwise. These are all potential ways of being, each with their own considerations, both practical and persona. And it seems like there’s a lot more allowance for that than in many spaces in our world (the military, for instance).

At the same time, like that other post of ours points out, there’s not a lot of thought given to accessibility or support, so this has its limitations. XD And maybe those limitations come out of things similar to what I was talking about with regard to research directions—is there a goal of accessibility being foregrounded, or is it a bunch of dudes (who may or may not be part of the target audience for their tech, if there is a target audience at all) making/breaking shit? It might also have to do with the ways that shinigami bodies, even as they do seem important and not entirely afterthought, are not as critical to their existence as ours are. Shinigami are not as anchored to the body. Maybe this gives them a freer sense of the strictures that "must" govern it/relationship to it; maybe it also supercharges the forgetting, of the ways that it does materially impact ways of being in the world.

As far as what cultural responses to using or not using assistive technologies might be, I imagine a lot of shinigami don’t actually think about it that much, because it hasn’t occurred to them to think about it. Everyone probably thinks Mayuri is a weirdo, but probably not nearly as much as Mayuri would like, and probably not because he replaced his ears. There’s so much other stuff going on with that man. XD He probably wishes he got more of a reaction out of his "hmm… okay then" co-workers! But I like the idea that a shinigami’s sense of what is "normative" is relatively broad. At least where the body—the just-the-organs body—is concerned.

Since that’s not at all the cultural response to other forms of "deviation," like Hollowfication, for instance. Which is certainly a bodily change/non-normative way of being, but which is treated in an absolutely different way. THAT’S a deformity; that’s the grotesque; that’s incompatible with life in the Soul Society. That’s the line.

Anyway, that sure is a whole Post, but those are some directions and questions I personally find invigorating. I hope it was also useful to your own brainstorming, as a jumping off point or as counterpoint to the ways you want to explore things. I’d love to hear your own thoughts as well, and definitely feel free to tag us in any worldbuilding headcanons you choose to share! :)

[artemistorm]

https://at.tumblr.com/unexpectedtraveler/ive-always-been-conflicted-when-writing-fics-or/66x4zruc0l7z

I do think Link (wild) died at some point. (It is called the Shrine of Resurrection, after all)

It would explain why it took so long as well. (Also extra angst)

Did Link die or not? Did his heart stop beating? Did his brain stop making brain waves? I dunno for sure. BotW Canon never says and I doubt we’ll ever find out the what the Nintendo Zelda Team intended when they came up with the game lore (if they even knew themselves). In the long run, whether or not Link died doesn’t really matter because the result was the same. Link enters the shrine broken and dying and he exits the Shrine 100 years later with a healthy body and a blank mind in a new world. (I’ll come back to this in a minute.)

Ok, ok, ok, you got me excited. You bring up a very good point of something that’s always bothered me but no one else talks about. Why did it take exactly 100 years for Link to wake up?

Even with Link’s mortal injuries, it would have taken at least a couple months, but probably up to a couple of years to completely heal Link. How long’s a couple? I dunno. 2? 3? 5? But surely not more than 10. So why didn’t Link wake up once he was all better? Why did it wait 100 years?

I’ve figured a couple of possibilities.

The Shrine has an internal timer set at 100 years either by default or by design. Maybe that’s what it defaulted to once the Shrine was made operational by Zelda, Purah, and co. (it doesn’t sound like any of them knew it would take 100 years for Link to awaken). Or maybe that’s what the ancient Sheikah set it to 10,000 years ago as part of their master plan to destroy the Calamity the next time it awoke.

The Shrine was waiting for an external signal to awaken Link, such as the Guardian Towers around Hyrule castle sensed Zelda’s weakening power and Ganon’s growing strength and sent the signal to awaken the Hero. Or maybe the Shrine would have held Link in stasis forever and Zelda had to use her Goddess powers from afar to force the Shrine to release Link. Or maybe the corporeal ghost of King Rhoam somehow intentionally triggered the Shrine to start its awakening process.

The Shrine was waiting for certain conditions of the world to be met, like X% of Guardians to decay, monster population to rise to a certain level, Hylian population to rise back to X number of people, Hylian civilization to return to a certain level of advancement, etc. Although, I don’t know how the Shrine would sense these things since the Sheikah towers and shrines weren’t activated yet. *Magic*

The Shrine was waiting for Link to choose to wake up. This is the least likely in my opinion but most angsty idea. Maybe once Link was healed, the Shrine was waiting for him to attempt to wake up on his own, but maybe Link didn’t want to for whatever reason (guilt, shame, sadness, fear etc.). The Shrine gave him time, hoping he’d come to term with his regrets, but it didn’t happen, and the Shrine predicted that he never would by his own accord and opted to erase his mind and reset him, to manually and physically remove the mental barrier he had to waking up. I could definitely see this process taking a long time since the Shrine would have had to cherry pick what things, what neural pathways in his brain to leave or to take away.

So did Link die? Did he not die? Why was he asleep for 100 years? The answer is simple:

What do you think?

But that’s the beauty of storytelling. It’s two-way, the storyteller tells you the main parts of the story, but you get to fill in the gaps. Whatever you think the answer is, that is the correct answer. That is canon. And I think it’s really so beautiful that there are so many different versions of canon for the same story. It’s so cool to me to see all these different interpretations and everybody is right. It really makes this story so rich and it leaves so much opportunity for exploration in the fandom.

[wabisabireiki]

Meditation 003- partswork

This morning I got up, did a little yoga and decided to do a little 10 min. guided mediation that popped up after the yoga on youtube.

The meditation was centered around letting go and the narrator took you on a journey of discovering the next version of you that was prepared to let go of you current attachments, hang ups, obstacles, patterns, etc. and step into this embodied version of yourself that was "next level".

My next level being was a giant woman, made of light, who had to turn herself blue so that I could look at her. She was super human, more like an avatar being, radiant, larger than life, alien, and too much for me to comprehend. I finished the meditation confused. The rest of the morning irked me. I felt uneasy and awkward in everything I did.

I decided to sit with my parts

( from IFS and parts work I've established) and ask them how they felt about this experience?

My inner child was terrified of letting go of anything, even though she eventually did. She was entirely confused about what happened. I think she felt rejected and "not good enough".

I talked with her about other parts of the journey that were fun and how the blue woman was smiling and kind in the meditation.

My inner teen scoffed at the otherworldly embodiment avatar at first, and how completely different the embodied self was from my current self. She felt like it was too big of a difference from who/ what I currently am. " That person can't even exist in this world".

I sat and talked with her about expansion, and not looking like that here. Not looking like that, but harnessing something completely new and different in energy. She eventually said" I think it's cool and I'll try it, but I need to process more".

My inner young adult, agreed with inner teen, but she said she understood why it was so different... because it's something entirely new I haven't experienced before. And she gets why its lofty and that the need to process is important.

My inner divine feminine loved the idea of expanding our capacity, ushering in alien/ avatar energy. She said she felt safer and more expansive in this energy for her to express. She expressed confidence and inner support for all the other parts w/ this newfound energetic.

My inner masculine said he was frustrated and agreed with inner teen most at first. " It's an extremely abstract concept", he said it is difficult to be there more and more especially when " we are still in the same body, life, and time space...he understands it's going to be hard to to grasp. "It's becoming so normal for things to not make sense. As long as we are happy and healthy". He is only focused on moving in the direction of wholeness because "that has been what has been the most satisfying in our life so far". He understands we have to usher in " larger than life, alien concepts" to "usher in new faculties, new neural pathways, in order to evolve.... Evolution IS new neural pathways... It's very unsettling, the unknown can be scary".

Suffice it to say, after that I felt a lot better and all of my parts were grateful for the awareness I've developed to untangle my inner dialogues. I can actually feel all of myself get on the same page and my energy coming into alignment. I move, think, breathe and act as one instead of the unconscious aspects of myself doing, thinking and acting in counterproductive, or conflicting ways.

When I got to work I realized I unconsciously wore a dress that was the shade of blue as my blue woman. 🥹💙

[torialefay]

Hi what do you think of the law of attraction? I'm trying to understand how it works .... I would like to decide my destiny even if it is complicated

If you have any advice, I'll take it. !

Tbh, I have mixed feelings about it. Or about the terminology I guess.

I think that it is really just an underlying concept of “positive talk” that people have branded with a new name and added an addition component.

I was a research fellow during my time at my university and we studied this exact thing, both in rat models and in humans (but i’m just gonna talk ab humans right now and not rats bc that gets too nerdy and no one wants to hear that lol). People who went through therapy to learn “positive self talk” were found to have developed more numerous and stronger neural connections between the pathways that connect areas of dopamine and serotonin production with the areas of the brain that deal with emotion, communication, AND sensory processing. The sensory processing part is actually so cool bc it suggests that the more positively you talk about/view yourself and others, the more vividly you FEEL things and feel a connection to the world around you. (And i would argue that that’s the “energy” we all talk about in relation to manifesting things)

So now it’s like, “okay, so what’s the difference between positive talk and the law of attraction?” Both are basically “manifesting” in some regard. The only difference is that LOA usually manifests something material- maybe a job, boyfriend, dream car, etc. It’s speaking more to the likes of “this is what I want from the world”, wherease positive talk is more of “this is what I can give to the world!” LOA asks for something to receive, whereas positive talk seeks only to GIVE. And i think THAT is the key difference: if you are manifesting to be a certain way because you want to attain a certain material thing, you aren’t going to get it. That’s not the way energy works. But instead, if you are learning how to pour love into yourself, you are literally changing your brain chemistry and be able to perceive the world in a different way. That’s the shit that changes you and give you a radiating “energy.” That's the shit that actually changes you from the inside out and naturally draws you closer to what you desire and deserve. So I guess instead of manifesting "I want this, I want that, etc.", maybe try manifesting to be the best version of yourself and reminding yourself of how great you are. Remind yourself throughout the day of the qualities you want to highlight and how you're proud of how far you're coming. Learning to love yourself fully and letting things come from that version of you- not some propped up version of yourself that you're forcing yourself to be.

So all I would say is, it’s okay to hope, want, manifest, and pray for things that you want. It is fine to involve yourself in any type of ritual or practice that brings you peace and meaning. But simply relying on the LOA isn’t going to get you anything you desire. The best way to get what you want is to learn positive self talk, learn to love yourself, earnestly try to find who you are and LIVE in that. And then, naturally you will have to work hard for things, yes, but what is meant for you will come. Because you are whole and your energy is ready to be pushed to what it wants/needs. You may even find that after doing this, the things that you want may change entirely. And as things become more clear to you, you find where you’re supposed to channel your energy. And it’s just such a beautiful, beautiful process <3

if there's an additional aspect of LOA that you think is relevant or i didnt touch on (bc i don't know TOOOO much ab it, ig just the basic principal) then pls let me know bc i'd love to learn :)

[aprayerforclarity]

1/25

Card: Three of Wands

I know I've had these realizations many times before, but it's kinda hilarious (if not torturous) that I have to keep reminding myself that almost all of life is driven between pain and pleasure. Maybe this is just the 7w6 me talking here, but you really can just boil so many human behaviors down to people rationalizing NOT doing something that is painful and then rationalizing moving towards something that is pleasurable. I feel like I've been painfully aware of this in all my behaviors lately.

Of course this causes me to ask what exactly is pain or pleasure. The most immediate answer is that they're chemicals that come from the brain. It is my current worldly understanding is that we're controlled by our brains. Our minds are our brains. All our senses of self and abstract thoughts are created by neurochemistry.

I recently just watched a few hours of my favorite neurobiologist (bordering on philosopher), Robert Sapolsky, and his whole theory about human behavior really resonated with me. Just as many, many writers and thinkers have dwelled on before, (mine most literary reference being the foreword of Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions) is that all we really know in objective, material reality is that humans are machines. Sapolsky's very compelling narrative is that humans have no free will, and that you can ultimately boil ALL of human behavior down to chemicals firing off in their own brains.

Now this may seem like too reductive of a statement. However, the nuance lies in how up until this very point of consciousness, the very decisions and thoughts going through your head, are all inextricably linked to all of your past experiences as a human, starting off with your immediate past actions. As many of us can probably relate to, after a big lunch it is hard to really focus and get back to concentrating on something for work. This is because after a big meal, your body is busy delegating resources to your digestive system. Perhaps there's a spike in your blood-sugar levels, triggering the release of insulin and causing brain fog. So when you get back from a high-carb lunch and have to begin systematically programming a React component hierarchy for the frontend of your website, it can be really hard to do that, due to the chemicals shifting around in your brain and body.

But that chain reaction keeps going back. Let's say earlier in the week, your significant other broke up with you. Obviously that is a very traumatic experience (depending on the situation) and it's left you feeling very bad. Because of a deeper, more primitive human need for connection or love, that severance of a relationship that provided you with those feelings (oxytocin, serotonin, etc.) you may find it hard to focus on the things you have in front of you as well.

The idea is that you can keep taking things further and further back, experiences in your life that you've processed through your consciousness and thus your body reacting by producing chemicals linger in the body, and not only effect your body, but the neural pathways in your brain. This chain keeps going further and further back, where each experience or thought you've experienced in your life shapes your neural pathways by either reinforcing them, creating new pathways or by shutting particular ones down.

These chains of events even go all the way back to before we are even born. When we are in our mother's wombs we receive chemicals as the building blocks of our psychical bodies from our mothers. Through the chains of events in our mother's lives, Our mothers bodies react to the events of their own lives and pass along the resulting chemicals down to us. If a mother experiences chronic stress due to not being able to afford her living expenses, those cortisol chemicals and others are passed onto their babies embryos and begin fundamentally shaping how they began to grow.

This all begins to immediately answer the physical reasons how we are as people and how we interact with the world around us. It is all immediately boiled down to particles in our bodies and minds. But is there something more mystical driving everything at a deeper level? I really don't know.

[vincewillard-1971]

Human Memory and The Brain

Introduced

The human brain is made of millions of neurons placed in an organized manner to ensure the working of the organ. These neurons communicated with each other using specialized chemicals called neuron transmitters. The chemicals are of several types, and the release varies and depends on several different factors. We know a lot about the brain, and there is a lot that we do not. But, with it's complexities and unique coordination system, we have barely scratched the surface.

The human brain is the least understood part of the whole body. This control unit made of organic matter is remarkably complex and is a conundrum of it's own. Although the primary function and coordination are pretty defined, the enigma of deeper understanding remains. There are pathways and complex neural connections that are still unknown, but how the information is coded in the same chemical is beyond understanding. Behavioral patterns, decisions, preferences, and belief systems originate in the brain, but all processes are unclear. The paradox of memory and emotion is a question of it's own.

In this article, we will try to understand human memory and it's types, the ways it can be stored, reason why a person forgets certain events, and many more. So, keep reading!

Definition of Memory

In scientific terms, memory is defined as the encoding, storage, and retrieval of an experience. In a simpler meaning, it is a recollection of the past. Remembering a number just long enough to dial it and the complete mental image of your wedding day or the trip to Greece decade ago are all memories.

Something as simple as remembering the day's task involves complex brain work at the back end. The complete archive of it stored in the brain defines who we are-our behaviors, perception, and beliefs. Ordinary tasks of daily routine and complex ones like learning a new language are all memory-based. In broader terms, memory is something that has got the human race on the top of the evolutionary chain.

Long term VS Short term Memories

If we try to look into the depth of what memories are there can be two types. Based on the time limit, memories can be broadly classified into long and short-term memories.

Short Term Memories

A short-term memory has the time span ranging from seconds to a few minutes. They are stored temporarily and then either get the the long-term storage, or they are discarded. Let us say someone gives us the mobile number. As the number is new so our memory will retain it for the short term. There are the possible chances that we are going to forget about this number after few moments.

Long Term Memory

These are the memories stored in the brain over a more extended period. They are several short-term memories organized to form a long memory that is stored permanently. Depending upon the importance and number of recalls, it can recall your 18th birthday but not what you ate on Monday three weeks ago.

Classification of Long-term Memories

There are several kinds of memories. Depending upon the portion of the brain involved and type of information, they can vary a great deal. Here is a more in-depth look into the classification of long-term memories.

Long term memories can be explicit. Explicit memory can be further divided into episodic or semantic, and implicit memories can be procedural.

Explicit Memory

These are the memories that require the conscious effort of recalling. As a friend, baby shower three years ago or the knowledge like the earth is a planet.

•Episodic: These comprises the events of one's life. For example, the graduation day, a particular Christmas morning, etc. These memories are edited by brain overtime when we recall them in specific context. They are not very reliable. Brain's ability to retain episodic memory depends on the number of sensory stimuli involved and emotions.

•Semantic: These memories are the general facts and knowledge of things around us. Like cats are mammals, earth has one moon, and a year has twelve months in it. These memories get updated with new pieces of information. The phenomenon of forgetting is involved in making place for new facts without cause cognitive dissonance.

Implicit Memory

These memories do not involve active or conscious recalling. They are mostly procedural. For example, shift car gear, riding a bike.

Parts of Brain involved in Memory processes

Technically our brain has many different compartments and they work differently to do certain functions. Not all of the brain is involved in memory. Hippocampus is the main region of the brain involved in memory processes.

When it comes to storing or making a memory Hippocampus is involved. It is the primary regulator of the process of memory retention. It is a seahorse-shaped part of the temporal lobe. It acts as a bridge in engaging all the parts of the brain required to keep a memory. Although it is not involved in retrieving, formation and consolidation are highly dependent on Hippocampus. Consolidation is the fixing or storing a memory permanently.

Suppose due to a dire turn of event someone you know had most of the part of his Hippocampus removed. This person will not be able to remember anything new. Thus, memories will not be retained. However, the ability to recall older memories that happened before removing the Hippocampus will remain unaffected.

Memory Storage in Brain

Generally, we might see a similarity in storage devices or hard drives and brain, but they are hardly alike. Unlike storage devices, memory in mind is not stored at a specific location. And brain structure is not like a hard drive. It is much more complex, and memories are stored all over it. This is evident from the brain scan. Suppose we are looking at the brain activity of a person recalling a past event. The image will show several neurons firing up located in several different parts of the brain. Let us see how it is stored.

Hippocampus that is involved in making memory comes in and takes the aggregate of several short-term memories. Suppose the memory for the graduation party can include the food you taste, what you feel like, and what the house smells like. In short, there are several chunks of memory involved. Hippocampus takes the whole piece and assigns them specific places in the brain center, like the smell, will go to the olfactory region, and sounds go to the auditory area. The neurons on which these are written make connections with each other. This develops a big large memory circuit. The way these connections are made forms the indexing or the flow of how you remember a particular thing.

Role of Memory Retention in Daily Tasks

Memory building has a high range of involvement in doing the tasks of daily life. It is mostly dependent on short-term memory. Ever walked into the room and forgot why you came in? Ever forget what were you writing and question you are on during an exam? It has happened when short-term memory is not built, and we lose the sense of what we are doing for a while.

Most tasks are process, and we need to actively know and memorize what we are doing every step of the way. How and what you are doing is also important. Thus, things go on in a constant loop. If you do not have short-term memory, everything around you will be a giant blur of nothingness. Without short-term memory, you will not be able to make long term memories.

Memories shape our Perception and Reality

Everything we are and everything we will ever be is all dependent on memory. Human belief systems, perceptions, and learning are all memory related. Our consciousness is the ultimate reality of us as people with personality and preferences. Memories define actions, and actions are what we become.

Suppose you think racism was not real. But you came across literature contradicting the idea. Your perception said that it was right. So, you committed the new information to your memory. Based on which you acted differently than before. Had it not because of the mind, you might have stuck to your old beliefs.

Memories are triggered by Senses

We now know that the memory comprises of several chunks of information. The more the sense and emotions involved, the easier it will be to access the memory. In the film Ratatouille, when Remy feeds Ratatouille to Anton, the critic gets a flashback of his mother. It shows Anton as a child, eating the same dish that was made by her mother.

This is a clear depiction of how memory works. The taste of a sensory trigger brought the memory of Anton's mother. Thus, consciousness is based on several such connections. Similarly, a smell of perfume or a song can also take you to a trip down the memory lane because sensory stimuli are involved in accessing a certain memory.

False Memory and Memory implantation

As much as we can trust our brain in keeping the record of everything, it can go through specific alterations. Our memories, especially the episodic ones, are reconstructed and can be falsely stored. One pop culture representation of false memory we have seen is in the movie "Inception." Tit revolves around going into someone's subconscious and planting the idea of memory that was not there.

Progress in psychology has proven that memory implantation is indeed possible. With therapy, the memories can be manipulated, and new memories can be implanted . We see the phenomenon of memory implant going on in Westworld; where Als are given false human memories to mask their reality and purpose.

Reason behind Forgetting things

The brain can store a large sum of data in it, but some things are lost. Forgetting is as essential as retaining something. It helps make new memories and move on. Otherwise, we will never progress into the future and cling on everything traumatic we remember. Sometimes we even forget the memories we cherish because this is how the brain works. It lets go of memories so future memories can be made. This is the reason why we even forget our most heartbreaking break up after a while or even our most cherished birthdays.

Here are the three ways it can happen.

Passive Oblivescence

This is the progress of losing memory when the neuron connection weakens over time. With aging or when we do not actively recall a memory, the neuron's link is lost. It can also happen when we lose the stimulus to the mind. The memory might still be there, but we are not able to access it.

Target Forgetting

This happens when our brain actively prunse and discards certain details of a memory. For example, when we learn a new piece of information that contradicts the previous one, the pleasant memory is retained . The conflicted one is dismissed. With target forgetting, we also eliminate our conflicted believes and welcome new perceptions.

Motivated Forgetting

It is phenomenon of a deliberate forgetting of traumatic and unpleasant events. The exact mechanism is unknown, but when we decide to forget something, the brain steps in. It blocks the neurological pathways to a certain memory, and we forget it.

The Memory Palace

Memory palace or mind techniques is a process of actively archiving important information in an organized manner. It is a compartment technique in which you visualize the space and store memories in a certain rooms and areas. Suppose you want to remember a certain sequence. You envision the room and associate them with certain components lof the course. So, when you want to remember the sequence you walk through, the place in decided order. In Sherlock, we see Cumberbatch organizing the memory palace and getting rid unimportant information to keep him memory tidy. This technique is useful in remembering the detail of any event, whether there is an emotional trigger involved or not.

The Horrors of Dementia

Dementia is often commonly regarded as a disease. The truth is dementia is not a disease; it is a group of several symptoms caused by some brain-related disorder. Although speech and language could also be affected, memory loss is relatively com people with dementia. Strokes and Alzheimer's disease can lead to dementia. The brain activity, including the normal process of memory-making and assessing, is disrupted. The neurons degenerate, causing the symptoms of memory loss. Type of damage can vary with the kind of dementia and other condition.

The memory loss due to aging is different from this. Unlike skin cell that regenerates themselves regularly, nerve cells do not. This means that with normal process of aging, they will degrade. The amount of neurotransmitter will also decrease. This can lead to the loss of specific memories.

Summary

Memories are the past experiences that are stored in the brain in highly organized manner. We can recall the memories at any time by just thinking about that time of our life.

Memories are broadly divided into two types; long-term memories and short-term memories. Short-term memories last for a few seconds to minutes and are then either discarded or stored permanently. Long-term memories are stored for longer periods of time, often for a lifetime.

Long-term memories re divided into explicit and implicit ones. A brief detail of this classification has already been discussed.

Hippocampus is the region in the temporal lobe that is involved in memory formation. However, it is not required to recall the memories.

Memories are stored in the form of neuronal connections that are spread throughout the brain. There is no single location in the brain for memory storage. All the areas of the brain are active when a person recalls a past event stored in his memory..

Short-term memories help us a lot in performing daily life tasks effectively.

Memories also have a major role in shaping our perception of the world and the realities we believe in.

Special senses such as taste, smell, and vision can trigger memories. They not only involved in making new memories but are also involved in the recalling and retrieving process.

Some me literature does exist about the possibilities of memory implantation in one's mind as depicted by some science-fiction movies.

Forgetting different events make space for new memories to be formed in the brain. It can take place in three possible ways as mentioned earlier.

Memory loss is the common and severe memory disorder seen in old age. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of this disorder.

[this-smile-is-real]

Did you know you can create new neural pathways and rewrite epigenetics?

There is SO MUCH in this day and age that we are starting to learn in terms of healing, energy work, consciousness etc. and it excites me to no end.

I’ve seen my psychologist twice in the last 48 hours and yesterday’s session turned into trying something new for me for the first time today and it was amazing.

To keep it brief- before my seizures last week my throat closed up, I was having flashbacks and it was really freaking scary.

There have been many events in my life where I’ve experienced that feeling of not being able to breathe so we went back to the first one:

As a newborn it took me half an hour to take my first breath and my world went from darkness and silence to loud and overwhelm sensory wise.

We went back to the memory that held fear, anxiety, expectation and pressure. Accessing my consciousness I spoke to my echo (my baby self) and rewrote the memory- changed the scenery, accommodated what I needed to to feel safe and spoke to my younger self of the resilience, tenacity and power that lay within her. I spoke to her in that I was able to safely make the choice to breathe and that it didn’t need to be forced to meet other people’s expectations or fear.

I created a safe environment and energy and it changed the way that I now relate to that first memory of life outside the womb. I went from feeling anxiety and fear with my legs shaking at the beginning of the session to naturally taking deep breaths, my legs being still and feeling light and airy and at ease once we had worked through the memory.

I am so grateful and excited to be living at this time, with the right people in my world, to explore healing from energy work, clinical psychology, neuroscience and so much more.

This is some pretty cool shit and I am here for ALL of it 🫶🏻

[imbuity]

I need a place to type-journal that isnt the fanfic blog but also isnt the main blog or my notion entries because all of those are for other people to see.

It has to be SSRI time, right? Like this has gone on for so long and is impacting my nutrition and has hit a real plateau where I am sort of able to do things but not to the degree that they Need To Get Done (not even counting socializing which I am trying to do less of but like, the schoolwork aspect - I'm here journalling this out instead of doing the assignment that I Definitely Need To Do since it's due at 11:59 tonight).

Like, I guess I can give myself a year on pause. June-June is still enough time to be in tiptop shape for the weddings, because those are the goals we are going for here - be able to handle the stress of flying, of being social, of maybe giving a speech, etc. And right now, I cannot handle the stress of "go out to dinner with anyone" which is a much lower level.

Which like, isn't a level I need to be hitting now. In fact, it is a better budget move to not be hitting that; but the point is at some point in my life I will need to do these things to maintain the relationships I have the way that I have them.

Point that I am just thinking of now thats only tangentially related; Hitomi is an excellent example of counter-culture while still being desirable. She, while still yknow travelling and going to restaurants and stuff, acknowledges very openly that she doesnt want to see people and spends a lot of time just like in the forest. And she is still *cool* as fuck. Embrace your new life path as a counter-culture in the same way that Isabel and Hitomi do, where they don't adhere to "norms" by virtue of their living spaces but are still fundamentally engaging. Foster that forest, witch girl energy in yourself to remove yourself from social circles while still feeling at ease with your self-concept.

Ok back to this SSRI thing, the point that holds me back is the feeling of them being a last resort. So, a), it feels like it isn't time yet to bring in the big guns because I am actively getting better (this is true. even if it is so slow, it is true), and b), what if it doesn't fix it and so then I'm just stuck with the knowledge that oh shit this IS how I am and there's no way to fix it. Granted, there are a bunch of different types of anti-anxiety medications so there probably will always be a "next step" to try.

The other point is like, these things very commonly cause nausea. Inducing nausea in me to combat my fear of nausea seems incredibly unwise. But, as this man stated in his book, he has never known someone to throw up from them. Cassa is the only one you know to have done so, and thats really because thats the only thing her body knows how to do goddamn. If you start at an incredibly low dose, go to sleep right after you take them, you should be ok. Because you do have anxious predispositions, this probably would be a good all-around treatment for the 6-12 months they are recommended.

Maybe we wait a little longer, get closer to wedding time. Because if you're still doing this poorly (i.e.; certainly unable to make a speech, haven't gained enough weight to sit comfortably on the plane for 6 hours, not going to have even one glass of champagne) then something will need to be done about that, because these are non-negotiable tasks. But maybe for now you can keep letting these neural pathways die and see how that goes for a few months, because you are keeping your grades quite high and you are meeting baseline caloric needs. Everything else, living your life, that can come later.