Welcome to the series wherein I share my take-aways from church. The things that, I think, are beneficial to all of us to know or think about, whether or not we believe in any church-related things.
This week in church we talked about what we do.
Church this week was different. They called it "Renewal Sunday" and had people from the congregation get up to speak about the work they do in their lives (either professionally or as a volunteer) that contributes to renewal in the world. It was really kind of beautiful.
I love it because it demonstrated tangibly how everyone is (or can be) doing something to help make the world a better place, without necessarily volunteering in soup kitchens or working at an environmental agency. We can all contribute in a variety of ways, through a variety of roles, and it's all part of a better picture.
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There are so many! I love them all! If I lived on my own I would immediately get prints and create a gallery wall, but I do not, so instead I will be satisfied to share them with you on the internet.
This Week's "I want to go to there": I want to travel to a new city and look at it from on high.
Prisoner Art
First, some outrage: the US has decided that prisoners in Guantanamo do not own the art they create - it's owned by the Pentagon. BAH! I guess I have to give them credit, that is a great way to dehumanize someone. I am also quite taken with a lot of the art created, which can be viewed on this Hyperallergic post.
Catch a Landscape in a Jar
Artist Christoffer Relander has captured Finnish landscapes and put them in jars. It's beautiful!
A post shared by Christoffer Relander (@christofferrelander) on
What's Behind Sharia Law?
Yassmin Abdel-Magied is an inspiration! I love hearing her talk about her faith in this video.
The Best Selfies
Kimiko Nishimoto is an 89 year-old woman who discovered her passion for photography in her 70s and has been taking hilarious self-portraits since. Her style is silly and fun and makes me want to bring more play into my life.
Un Gif Dans ta Gueule
Artist Nicholas Monterrat has made some pretty incredible and enchanting gifs.
Today is the day that I try another new thing. Today I stop taking them.
The time is right. The circumstances that caused me to need them in the first place have all changed and I have gotten better at taking care of myself. I was never supposed to stay on the pills indefinitely.
I'm kind of nervous. Nobody really knows what I should expect. My doctor and my counsellor both said the same thing: physical symptoms can have a huge range, and nobody knows how my body will react until it does. I just need to give myself the space to experience some things and see how it goes.
Because people are bizarre creatures, I have been sent many articles about the horrors of withdrawal from antidepressants, as well as permanent brain damage some people have experienced, so I am fully aware of the worst end of the spectrum. (Why people think it's necessary to send a friend who is already on antidepressants articles about how going off them will ruin their life, I don't know.) My hope is that since I experienced very few symptoms going on the drugs, I won't experience many going off.
But now all I can do is stare into the great unknown and wait for it to hit me. Theoretically, I have the strength to deal with it.
I'll let you know how it goes.
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First of all, how did I only just realize that Obama has the word "bomb" in his name? (I mean aurally, obviously it's not spelled the same.) I hope he had a lot of fun in university making jokes about how he's "the-BOMB-a!" or dropping mics because he just dropped an "O-BOMB-a" truth in their lives.
Second, this is an important lesson to all my fellow cat ladies out there: if you want to commit a crime, your cat might give you away. I know, I know. Your cat would never betray you like that. Except that this lady's DID! We may have gotten used to having cat hair on everything, but this is a good reminder that other people aren't, and that said cat hair may be evidence against us.
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Sometimes Gertie and I are sitting together and then she just reaches up and grabs onto me. Obviously, it's her way of telling me that she loves me and needs me and appreciates me and can't live without me, right?
I barely remembered that this song existed, but now I love it all over again. Remember when Mel C. was the only Spice Girl who actually knew how to sing?
WHEN YOU'RE GONE
by Bryan Adams ft. Mel C.
I've been wanderin' around the house all night
Wondering what the hell to do
Yeah, I'm trying to concentrate but all I can think of is you
Well the phone don't ring 'cause my friends ain't home
I'm tired of being all alone
Got the TV on 'cause the radio's playing songs that remind me of you
Baby when you're gone I realize I'm in love
Days go on and on and the nights just seem so long
Even food don't taste that good, drink ain't doing what it should
Things just feel so wrong baby when you're gone
Yeah, I've been driving up and down these streets
Trying to find somewhere to go
Ya I'm lookin' for a familiar face but there's no one I know
Ah this is torture, this is pain
It feels like I'm gonna go insane
I hope you're coming back real soon 'cause I don't know what to do
Baby when you're gone I realize I'm in love
Days go on and on and the nights just seem so long
Even food don't taste that good, drink ain't doing what it should
Things just feel so wrong, baby when you're gone
Baby when you're gone, yeah
Baby when you're gone
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Want to be more creative in the office? Look at some art. It is, apparently, as simple as that. Exposure to art, in the case of this study, both Vincent Van Gogh paintings and Bob Dylan lyrics, increased peoples' creative thinking on work-related problems.
If you want to write a dystopian future, starting with autonomous killer robots created by humans seems like a good beginning. However, just like driverless cars will have less accidents than human-driven vehicles, robots that identify and eliminate targets without human intervention will, apparently, make less mistakes and save lives. I still don't like it, but then, I am a pacifist who thinks we should all just stop killing each other, so what do I know?
It's been a stressful year. I think I read somewhere (although this is completely unsubstantiated) that this year everyone, regardless of political affiliation, is feeling higher anxiety than normal. No surprise there. Here's advice from 11 therapists on how to deal with all that stress.
This Week's "I want to go to there": I've been sick for the past two days, and the idea of having enough energy to jump with enthusiasm is... exhausting. But I want it!
The Secret Life of Pencils
Who would have thought that in "today's world" (in quotations because, what the heck does that mean?), the pencil would still have relevance? And yet! A new art book titled The Secret Life of Pencils is a portrait series for the pencils of creatives around the world. I love the concept, even if the book might become slightly dull to flip through. (Just like a pencil! Ha! I made a pun.) What everyday thing deserves a little extra attention?
Progress
“No one is going to stand up and hand you a plate of progress in life. You must make progress by your own sheer will, discipline, and efforts every day.” – Brendon Burchard
I like this because you might get handed a plate of opportunity, but if you're going to progress, you've got to actually try a little bit.
Storybook Illustrations
I am so taken with Amber Ma's fantastical illustrations!
I recently subscribed to the Small Victories newsletter, and it's wonderful! Every week, a roundup of (you guessed it) small victories against the Trump Administration. There are so many of them!
Cyborg Jesus
This image was used in an article about the "Problems and Possibilities of Cybernetics", but something about a cyborg Jesus gets my imagination humming. (Image from Giphy.)
Have you ever been so sick that you forgot all the things you were supposed to do? That was my day yesterday! Luckily, I have my sweet girl to nurse me back to health. In the meantime, here's yesterday's cuteness roundup.
My friend has been sending me videos from his trip to Vegas to see Celine Dion, including several clips of her singing River Deep Mountain High. Now, I LOVE Celine, and I love her cover of this song because she really gives in and goes crazy every time she performs it. HOWEVER, nothing beats Tina's original performance of the song. Listening to this made me realize I need to listen to some more early Tina Turner.
RIVER DEEP, MOUNTAIN HIGH
Tina Turner
When I was a little girl
I had a rag doll
Only doll I've ever owned
Now I love you just the way I loved that rag doll
But only now my love has grown
And it gets stronger, in every way
And it gets deeper, let me say
And it gets higher, day by day
And do I love you my oh my
Yeah river deep mountain high
If I lost you would I cry
Oh how I love you baby, baby, baby, baby
When you were a young boy
Did you have a puppy
That always followed you around
Well I'm gonna be as faithful as that puppy
No I'll never let you down
Cause it grows stronger, like a river flows
And it gets bigger baby, and heaven knows
And it gets sweeter baby, as it grows
And do I love you my oh my
Yeah river deep, mountain high
If I lost you would I cry
Oh how I love you baby, baby, baby, baby
I love you baby like a flower loves the spring
And I love you baby just like Robin loves to sing
And I love you baby like a school boy loves his pet
New research shows that women won't have equality for 100 more years. Cool cool, coolcoolcool. Cool. Yep. That's fine. Oh, and issues like the wage gap have gotten WORSE in the past 10 years. Grrrreeeeaaaat.
Ta-Nehisi Coates is always brilliant. If you are a white person and curious about whether or not you can or should say the n-word when rapping along with rappers that use it, he has the best answer for you. (The one word answer is no, but if you want more than that, watch the video below or here.)
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Over the past several years I have been trying to become a person who has more down time in their life. In the past year I have made actual headway in this regard, and have experienced whole evenings where I go home and have NOTHING planned or on my to do list. It is amazing!
If you have never experienced the freedom of leaving work without a million other projects on your mind that need attention and action, then I highly recommend giving it a try.
Here are some of the things I now do instead of working all the time:
Read books! I have time to read books way more often now. Reading books is wonderful.
Have conversations with my partner and cuddle with him, not out of desperate need to recharge my depleted soul, but because it's nice.
Read more.
Write. My writing is no longer crammed into the little writing times I carved out in my days. I get to write sometimes just because I feel like it.
Go for walks. Anywhere!
Walk to the library to get books to read.
Tidy my home at a leisurely, non-frantic pace.
Be spontaneous.
Do yoga and stretch.
Make tea.
Lie on the ground and breathe.
Sit outside and read.
Go to sleep and get something resembling "enough" sleep.
Play board games.
Think about life and goals and big picture junk, giving them the actual time and space to form into something interesting.
Make things just because I feel like it.
What do you do in your "I don't work all the time" time? What would you do if you had this time in your life?
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This Week's "I want to go to there": At the foot of a mountain.
Crazy in Love
Need some love inspo? Try E.E. Cummings
(I CARRY YOUR HEART WITH ME)
by E.E. Cummings
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
Celui Qui Tombe
This choreography by Yoann Bourgeois is STUNNING! Also, it reminds me of theatre school exercises where you have to imagine your ensemble is standing on a teeter totter or something and be "balanced" and nobody quite knows what to do. Except this one is real and beautiful.
Message in a Pocket
Unpaid labourers for Zara have slipped pleas help into the pockets of the clothes they are making. Obviously (I hope obviously) I am in NO WAY inspired by the use of unpaid labour, nor anything to do with this situation. Partially I was just looking for an excuse to make sure word spread about this so more people can make informed decisions about buying things from Zara. But also, let's admire the courage of those workers for putting the notes in the clothes.
Millie Bobby Brown Raps
Actress Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven in Stranger Things, raps a recap of season one.
Patrick Rothfuss
“It’s like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.” -Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind
Remembering and honoring the saints today. What saint(s) do you carry with you close to your heart? A parent? A spouse? A mentor? A beloved hero? An activist? Today my heart seems to be moved to remember and honor my grandpa, Jim Henson, Fred Rogers, Sojourner Truth, Bartolomé de las Casas, Miriam, Origen, Malcom X, Queen Elizabeth I, Iqbal Masih, and Teresa of Avila.
I will be honest. It had never occurred to me that we could think of saints in this way. Saints are dead people who the Catholic Church has decided are extra-holy for a variety of reasons and are dedicated to certain causes that you can pray to for help. (It has never been clear to me if you pray to the saints to get them to help you directly, or because they'll be able to bug God on your behalf, but that's the kind of confusion that happens when you grow up in as a not-Catholic.)
My friend changed the saints into anyone whose life and work holds meaning for you.
Thinking of the saints in this way is quite lovely, don't you think? Imagine asking Malcolm X for courage in the face of injustice or Prince for inspiration and perseverance to be your true self? We could ask Marie Curie for the focus and dedication to keep working a problem and Amelia Earhart for passion and courage.
Do they have to be dead? Let's say they have to be dead. Unless you really want a living person to be one of your saints. Then you do you! And hey, bonus! That means you have a saint you can ask for help in real life instead of just in your mind.
This month is one of reflection and potential transformation. It's one where I need to listen to my heart and have some measure of courage about what I find. So... I'm going to pick myself a patron saint for the month, and I'm going to go with Frida Kahlo. She faced herself with creativity and courage and honesty. She is my saint this month.
Researchers are on their way to creating a world where restaurants float your food from the kitchen to your mouth. Okay, that's a huge overstatement. They ARE, however, able to use sound waves to transport flavours into people's mouths. Weird!
There has been a member of the orangutan family that slipped under the radar for years. Somehow, we never figured out that there is a third species of orangutans until just now. They live in a forest in Sumatra, and there are only 800 of them left.
Recently I got my first-ever tattoos. Aren't they fun?
I have just started to get used to having them there and not getting distracted every time I see them, which is fun but also a little bit sad to have this exciting thing blend into normalcy.
It made me wonder: what if tattoos had powers? What if they unleashed spirits hidden within us or connected us to spirit powers?
There are a variety of ways this could work:
We all have multiple spirits inside of us, say, the spirit of the river or the spirit of a 16th century farmer who died after getting kicked in the head by a horse. When we get tattoos, whatever we get pictures of connects to a particular spirit and sets it free. Yay! It's grateful.
OR
We all have multiple spirits inside of us, say, the spirit of the river or the spirit of a 16th century farmer who died after getting kicked in the head by a horse. When we get tattoos, whatever we get pictures of connects to a particular spirit and unleashes it on the world. This could be good or bad depending on the spirit.
OR
We all have multiple spirits inside of us, and when we get the corresponding tattoo, the spirits get a little window outside into the world and maybe can communicate with us through it, but they are still inside of us.
OR
We don't all have actual spirits inside of us, but it's more that we are all tapped into some universal spirit world and the tattoos we get connect us directly to the powers of that spirit world. What powers we connect to (and thus can use) depend on what kind of tattoo we get.
OR
Getting a particular tattoo draws a spirit or power into us from the universe.
This would probably alter a lot of peoples' tattoo-related choices.
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This is both brilliant and terrifying. A lamp that reacts in real time to tweets from Donald Trump, and other political events on Twitter. I don't know if it's good for our mental health to get an instant look at the state of the world, but it's pretty incredible that it's possible.
Beauty contests are already... well, they're a thing. A thing that happens and that maybe shouldn't happen, but also for some people it may be their only opportunity to access certain resources. Also, I used to watch them alllll the time. I admit it!
Anyways, the Miss Peru contestants win the AWESOME AWARD!
Award Title: For Demonstrating Bravery and Integrity in Using Their Platform to Highlight a Social Issue While Giving the Middle Finger to Sexist Traditions
Contestants in the Miss Peru competition (and maybe others, I don't know), are required to give out their body measurements when they introduce themselves. This time they gave statistics regarding violence against women in their own country instead.
It looks like the contest organizers were even in on it. During the swimsuit competition, they projected news stories on the back wall regarding high profile domestic violence and abuse cases. The question period asked women what laws they would change to make women safer in their country.
This is AWESOME. A high five and a hug to all these women, as well as the contest organizers.
The skin around my eyes. (I have always had dark circles under my eyes, and then started worrying about aging very young. I have been gently patting cream, and now skin oil, around my eyes since I was 12.)
My left pinky toe. (It is swollen because it got stomped on in a mosh pit in high school and probably broke but I never did anything about it. Also it always has a massive hangnail and no matter how middling my efforts to fix it, I just can't.)
My right knee. (It has a large lump on it thanks to osgood-schlatter's.)
My hands. (I think that the tendons and veins in my hands stick out too much. Since I was young I thought I had scary old lady hands.)
My hair. (Is that really a body part? I have curly hair and it gets frizzy so easily and I have a routine that was carved in stone and blessed with blood to keep it at bay, but I have to be SO CAREFUL, especially if it's raining. Also, every once in a while I wonder if I should dye it magenta or if I'd look like a deranged clown.)
My finger nails. (They get all pitted very easily, but if I dutifully rub a nice oil into them every day they stay relatively smooth and nice and also break less easily.)
My upper lip. (I have "peach fuzz" up there that needs to get bleached every once in a while. Honestly, I should obsess over this area more. What actually happens is that one day I look in the mirror and suddenly have a Tom Selleck and of course that's a day that I'm out all day and can't do anything about it for hours, and then I forget by the time I get home, which probably means it wasn't QUITE so prominent as a Tom Selleck, but it's still there.)
Where do you zero in on your body?
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Am I still allowed to even share this picture? Halloween is so long gone by this point there aren't even discount candies left in the stores. BUT I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN!
I always thought of this song as a simple folksy commentary on everyday life, but watching the music video now it appears to be a symbolic dance hit. Who knew?
I love the placebo effect. It's so awesome that our minds are so powerful they can basically replicate the effects of medicine all on their own. It's like magic! Well, unsurprisingly, our beliefs can also harm us. In this research, people who believed themselves to be poor sleepers had the same negative health effects of insomniacs. On the other hand, poor sleepers who didn't identify it as a problem had none of the anxiety, depression, or other negative effects of insomnia.
Musician Memory
Musicians are obviously already superior to the rest of us because of their sexiness and increased intelligence. Now we also know that their short term and working memories are stronger than the rest of us non-musician chumps.
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