Wisdom

Giving ‘Til It Hurts

Each of us is a unique soul, a piece of the All That Is.  Yet the messaging we get from the world around us is that we need to do in order to be valued.  We are supposedly defined by our careers and our success in those careers, by our families and their happiness and/or successfulness, we must do constantly, give ’til it hurts, and once everyone around us agrees that we are a good person, then we can rest.…Details

Generic Answers to Generic Prayers

People want to know what the meaning of things are.  Why they happen, what they are supposed to learn from that, how they can get what they want or what’s best for them.  In the spiritual community it’s taught that everything happens for a reason and that there’s always a lesson to learn from the things that happen. …Details

Straight Line Fallacy

There’s nothing like learning a new language or working with a different culture to point out the cultural assumptions you’ve been taught.  I remember a conversation in my first year of college where two of my friends who were science and math majors were laughing about the straight line being the shortest distance between two points. …Details

There’s Needs and Then There’s Needs

I’ve been seeing this a lot lately, people being confused because they can’t get what they need.  They are clear what they need, most of the time, and sometimes they are even clear on how they could/should/would achieve this, but something happens to keep them from getting their needs met. …Details

One More Interesting Snippet

In the realm of interesting information bandied around at an academic conference, this article came to my attention.  When people talk about “50 Shades…” they mostly point to the facts that it’s A) badly written, B) a knock off of Twilight, C) pretending to be about BDSM when it isn’t. …Details

Just One More Day

You would think we had all run a marathon each day by the level of fatigue we’re exhibiting.  Sessions about the progression of Black Widow’s character from the 50’s comics through to Captain America’s Winter Soldier, the trope of the anti-hero in American TV and how dangerous it is outside of the Fantasy/Super Hero genre because people lose sight of the fact that those shows are just as contrived and constructed, the hope that the female hero would take root after Buffy and how little it has and, disturbingly, only with petite women given super powers of one kind or another, topped off with how leather pants = evil in the costuming tropes of TV shows.…Details

So, While I’m here…

This week I’m at the Slayage Conference and like any conference you have great conversations, experience chance encounters, and learn surprising tidbits.  Yesterday I was reminded how much Whedonites dislike…yeah…that’s a polite word for it…the Twilight series and pretty much everything about it. …Details

Claim Yourself

Life requires us to prioritize.  These things over here are more important, those are time critical, this is necessary to make sure we have the necessities for survival, that will keep the peace, and all of this other stuff will just need to wait until we can get to it. …Details

What’s Over There?

As a kid I was known as an adventurer.  Not the kind that got lost in the woods studying bugs and had to be found because she’d lost track of time and self, but the kind that could find an adventure anywhere she was and in any situation. …Details

Emotional Camouflage

It is a function of self preservation to want to hide the fact that we are vulnerable.  People get confused when their pets don’t show that they are sick or injured until things are pretty darn critical, but that’s animal instinct. …Details