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themysticdreamlifesociety · 2 years

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New Age Manifestation Methods: How Magick is Seeping into Popular Culture and How to Utilize it to Manifest Your Dream Life

Every magickal practitioner who has even the least bit of exposure to popular culture has heard of it; New Age manifestation methods are all the rage. Not only are they nearly ubiquitous now, this niche of magick is also selling like crazy. Ask the Law of Attraction gurus that make millions from what they teach; think Bob Proctor, Deepak Chopra, and Tony Robbins. And I call this a niche in magick because it has the condition of a true magickal art: that of achieving power through changing reality. Throughout this blog post, if you can spot them, I will give you practical tips on how to enhance your magick to achieve your dream life and attract abundance and prosperity using this trend of magick!

Before we dive deep, let’s clarify what New Age stuff actually is. According to an article in pewresearch.org entitled “‘New Age’ Beliefs Common Among Both Religious and Nonreligious Americans“, New Age beliefs often constitute a belief in:

-Spiritual energy that is present in everything in the universe

-Psychics

-Astrology

-Reincarnation

In the article, it states that roughly six-in-ten Americans accept at least one of these New Age beliefs regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof.

Although these beliefs are inherent in religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Wicca, even self-professed Christians(the largest religious demographic in the U.S.) are reported to hold some of these New Age beliefs. This includes roughly 62% of Christians, 47% of Evangelicals, and 70% of Catholics.

Among the religiously unaffiliated, 56% of Agnostics, 78% described as ‘nothing in particular,’ and 22% of atheists hold New Age beliefs. The rise of acceptance among these groups can be attributed to the scientific research that has been published of the validity of its concepts such as energy and ESP(extrasensory perception) phenomena. Scientific proponents of such phenomena include psychologist Daryl Bem, Dr. William Bengston PhD, Konstantin Buteyko, and Vlail Kaznacheev. According to an article on The Guardian titled, “CIA file on Russian ESP experiments released – but you knew that, didn’t you?”, the last two scientists above were Russian scientists who conducted experiments that tested ESP, which is described in the article as “the ability to gain information, or influence physical objects, using only the mind.” Their findings, previously classified, were declassified by the CIA in 1991 after John Greenewald filed an appeal to release the records. Some of the ESP documents remained secret, as the CIA and the Air Force refused to declassify them(https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/extra-sensory-perception-esp/). The results of their experiments found that psychic energy can be concentrated and transmitted, and that images can be relayed to another person’s mind.

How is this relevant in magick? When we cast a spell or perform a ritual, we concentrate energy into our magickal objects. If the objects naturally vibrate with an energy that we are trying to use(think: lemons for solar energy, roses for Venusian energy, etc.), it only adds to the power of our spell. At the end of the spell, we make a final movement that releases this energy to the universe or to our target. ESP is something we as magicians have been practicing since the beginning of time.

ESP is one of the core explanations for the validity of New Age science, as well as the ideas of quantum mechanics and string theory; both of which support the concept of a fluid, malleable universe that can be altered with consciousness.

But science is not the only field that progressively accepts the core tenets of the New Age. In the celebrity world, bigshots are revealing that the law of attraction has helped them create the amazing life they live now. Among these celebrities are Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Carrey, Lady Gaga, Conor McGregor, Will Smith, Steve Harvey, LMFAO, Kerri Walsh & Misty May-Treanor, and Denzel Washington. If you want to read what they said about the law of attraction, go here.

New Age thought is also seeping into the songs of popular singers. Some examples are Lil Baby’s “Dreams 2 Reality”, The Script’s “Hall of Fame”, Black Eyed Peas’ “I Got a Feeling”, Imagine Dragons’ “On Top of the World”, and Travie McCoy’s “Billionaire”. One of my personal favorites is Ariana Grande’s “Just Like Magic,” and “Successful.” These songs make you want to imagine your dream life while you’re vibing . . . and two of the steps to the manifestation process is visualization and emotion(emotion is created when you’re moved by the song, aka ‘vibing’).

Now that we’ve covered how this New Age movement has influenced mainstream thought, let’s talk about the popular manifestation methods that it espouses.

-Affirmations

-Scripting

-Visualization

-Vision Boards

-Subliminal Messages

I omitted the law of attraction from this list, because we are talking about manifestation methods here, which are tools. The law of attraction is more of a viewpoint rather than a tool; like magickal theory rather than the procedures for a spell. However, many theories can converge on the same tool, and the tool works just the same regardless of the different theories of how it works.

In addition, a New Age law called the law of assumption is quickly replacing the law of attraction; it states that to manifest your ideal life, you assume yourself to be already living that type of life. The hole in the law of attraction is its theory that if you want something so much, the universe will conspire to bring it to you. The problem with that is the lack of detachment creates a blockage from it happening. After casting a spell, we are told to “set it and forget it.” There is a reason for that message; it’s because when we obsess over the results, the intention we wanted to send out through the spell is “bound” by our obsession. Instead of being sent out to the universe, it spirals around our energetic field like a person trapped in a roller coaster. This is why the law of assumption is more valid than the law of attraction. It assumes you already are what you want to be, so you naturally detach from the outcome.

In a sense, you will see how the following methods adhere to the law of assumption.

Affirmations

Affirmations are writing down new beliefs and repeating them to yourself over and over. You recite these to yourself in the morning, at night, while driving, or doing your daily tasks. You can also write them on sticky notes or on your bathroom wall so you see them frequently. With time, these new beliefs replace your old beliefs as you drill them into your subconscious.

Repetition is the key here. Any thought, emotion, or action becomes a habit if you persistently repeat it everyday for a few months.

If you come across a point where your conscious mind argues with the affirmations, realize that it is just your old beliefs rising up to protect its position in your subconscious. In that moment, stay true to your affirmations and don’t give up; feel the resistance and eventually it will fade as your affirmations replace the old beliefs.

2. Scripting

Scripting involves writing down in detail how you would experience having what you want. An example would be describing a day in your ideal life incorporating the five senses: see, smell, taste, hear, touch.

“Outside the window wall of my penthouse, I can see the ocean in the distance and I imagine the sound of the waves from far away. I have a hot chocolate with a smell brimming of nostalgia and the delightful taste of vanilla pinched in, and I spend the morning reading a good book on my luxurious couch with my cat on my lap.”

“I enter into the building of my company, and all my colleagues greeted me enthusiastically, ready to start another eventful day as I, the CEO, present the plans for an expansion of our company to Dubai.”

“The smell of a first class airplane ride smells delightfully elegant, and as I sit on my seat I can feel the high-quality leather as I relaxed into it. The flight attendant puts desert on the table before me and I savor the taste of chocolate and mocha. The lounge looks absolutely stunning., and the view outside the plane is breathtaking.”

You don’t have to be as wordy as the three examples above. You can use scripting to manifest something simple, like a laptop:

“My new laptop feels smooth, and its color is pink and shiny. I turn it on, and the sound came on. It smells fresh from the box and brand new.”

Your style of scripting is up to you, but it has to conjure up a clear image as you write and reread it. It needs to feel like a memory playing out in your mind.

3. Visualization

Visualization is when you form an experience of your desire in your mind. It is basically like scripting, although you don’t need to write it down. However, you need to be really immersed in the visualization and feel all the feelings as if you were actually experiencing it at that moment.

4. Vision Boards

A vision board is like a collage you put together with pictures of things you want to manifest. How you make your vision board is up to you; some people cut pictures from magazines, others create their boards digitally.

When the vision board is done, you put it in a place where you will see it often like on the wall of your room or by the kitchen table. The more you see it within the periphery of your vision, the more it embeds into your subconscious.

5. Subliminal messages

Subliminal messages are affirmations or images that are positioned in a way that you don’t take notice of them consciously. The messages reach your subconscious more easily because they bypass the conscious mind, which is the main defense mechanism of your old beliefs. Thus, choosing your subliminal messages help you rewrite old beliefs pretty quickly and replace them with the new beliefs you desire.

There are an abundance of material on subliminals on the internet. Some popular ones are subliminal videos on Youtube. You choose a topic(like becoming fit or gaining wealth), search for it on Youtube, and you will have a large amount of free subliminals to choose from. Some have music in them, some have rain sounds, and some add frequencies to the subliminal. The common thing about subliminal messages is that they have to be fast enough or quiet enough to remain undetected by the conscious mind.

The awesome part about these New Age manifestation methods is that they don’t require as much time, effort, or money to do. Whereas some folk spells require ingredients that are costly or not readily accessible, and that rituals involving circles and the Triangle of the Art can be time-consuming, these methods merely require a pen, paper, and your imagination. If you don’t have the time or money for magickal ritual, these methods of manifestation can be a good medium of magick.

Now that we near the end of my blog post, I hope you spotted the tips for using New Age thought to your benefit, other than the methods that I outlined.

One of them is the paragraph where I talked about ESP and the findings it revealed in the Russian scientists’ experiments. They found that energy can be concentrated and transmitted; this is something you must do in your spells. Rather than just doing the procedures, focus all your energy into the intention and then release it in the direction of your desire.

The other hidden nugget of wisdom is in the law of assumption. It states that you attract or manifest what you assume yourself to already have or be. Do this in your magick; cast every spell as if it is already complete. Visualize its fulfillment as you make the motions.

That said, if you’re an occultist that values traditional magick and shuns science, do not dismiss the New Age movement for its novelty, connection to science, and its mainstream influence. It is a valid current to learn from because it has its own results. And as magicians, we value results. Just because we are magicians doesn’t mean we have to go against every grain. There is a piece of wisdom that can be extracted from every path, so don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

The New Age movement, although it strays a bit from traditional magickal teachings, nevertheless has value in it. As a modern magician we are eclectic in our practice, taking what we learn from other paths and systems and using it for the development of our own practice. The New Age movement is rather youthful, not in its novelty, but in its optimism. It is not concerned with dogma; its main purpose is to help people live the most abundant, happy life that they can imagine. Perhaps this is why so many people from all backgrounds are attracted to the movement.

#lawofassumption #lawofattraction #manifestation #newage

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channelvewor · 2 years

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Son of god and the passion of christ movie scenes

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“Having spent time with them on the set, my wife Victoria and I witnessed first-hand the deep and abiding passion they both possess for God¹s Word.”Īrchbishop Jose Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles, notes: “Each one of us is a son or daughter of God. Mark Burnett and Roma Downey have succeeded in doing what few before them have done: “Son of God” proves that when talent and passion collide, the outcome is spectacular,” said Joel Osteen, Senior Pastor of Lakewood Church and #1 bestselling author.

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Jakes says, “I believe the audience will be enthralled, encouraged and inspired by the movie “Son of God.” It is a joy to watch this film bring alive the pages of the Gospel to help us see what those who lived at the time of Jesus experienced.”īishop T.D. says, “I would recommend to individuals, and particularly to families, this wonderful story of the Son of God in order to be inspired all over again with the story of God’s love for us. SON OF GOD is not just a production worth watching it is a gift worth experiencing.”Ĭardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, D.C. Sam Rodriguez, President of the Hispanics Evangelical Alliance says, “SON OF GOD fills the big screen with two catalytic elements: the passion of the cross and the purpose of the empty tomb, forgiveness and eternal life. I am thrilled that Twentieth Century Fox is distributing this film and I know it will be a blessing to millions when it opens all across America on February 28, 2014.” It is a powerful and poignant movie, the best Jesus movie I have ever seen. “Son of God” stands alone, in a class by itself. Pastor Rick Warren says, “I’ve seen most of the films about Jesus produced in the past 50 years. This movie has been publicly endorsed by the largest group of cross-denominational faith leaders of any project, bringing religious leaders together in support. “It’s impossible not to be moved by the love of Jesus as he walks into the lion’s den of Jerusalem to take on the power base, and save his people. “Son of God” presents a dramatic, gripping story,” says Roma Downey. Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado beautifully portrays the role of Jesus, as the film spans from His humble birth through His teachings, crucifixion and ultimate resurrection. SON OF GOD features powerful performances, exotic locales, dazzling visual effects and a rich orchestral score from Oscar®-winner Hans Zimmer. Jesus is presented as the lion and the lamb. The larger-than-life story of Jesus gets a larger-than-life treatment in this stand-alone feature with the scope and scale of a fast-paced action epic enveloped within gentle intimacy.

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Angelou tweeted that the series “gives life to stories that have shaped our world and shaped my life.” The series was tweeted by a wide range of public figures, including Oprah, LL Cool J, Shakira, Sarah Fergusson, P Diddy, T.D. A huge hit in many countries, it mixed adventure, action and drama from and drew acclaim for retelling the sacred text in a way that was relevant to today’s audiences. The series became the number one cable entertainment telecast of the year, one of the fastest-selling TV-to-disc titles ever and went on to garner three Emmy Award nominations.

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Producer-actress Roma Downey and Emmy winning producer Mark Burnett brought the epic miniseries The Bible to TV audiences around the world through their company LightWorkers Media. Audiences are moved to cheers, then tears, and then cheers again as the story unfolds. “Son of God” aims to gives audiences an epic experience of Jesus’ life through compelling cinematic storytelling that is gritty, dramatic, powerful and inspirational. “Son of God” is the first major picture in ten years that puts Jesus back on the big screen since Mel Gibson’s 2004 “The Passion of the Christ.”Īnd it’s almost fifty years since the entire story of Jesus’ life, in George Stevens’ 1965’s “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” has been experienced as a movie.

#Son of god and the passion of christ movie scenes

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lboogie1906 · 2 years

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Temitope Balogun Joshua (June 12, 1963 - June 5, 2021), commonly referred to as T. B. Joshua, was a Nigerian charismatic pastor, televangelist, and philanthropist. He was the leader and founder of The Synagogue, Church of All Nations, a Christian megachurch that runs the Emmanuel TV television station from Lagos. He was known for his popularity across Africa and Latin America and his social media presence with 3,500,000 fans on Facebook. His YouTube channel, Emmanuel TV, has over 1,000,000 YouTube subscribers and is the world’s most viewed Christian ministry on the platform. Described as the "Oprah of evangelism" and "YouTube's most popular Pastor", Emmanuel TV is among the world's largest Christian television networks. He has been awarded various accolades, notably receiving the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic by the Nigerian government and being voted the Yoruba man of the decade by Pan-Yoruba media outlet Irohin-Odua. He has been called one of Africa's 50 most influential people by Pan-African magazines The Africa Report and New African Magazine. He was Nigeria's third-richest pastor, although the claim was denied in a statement by the church. He was known to be controversial and was even 'blacklisted' by the government of Cameroon. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence https://www.instagram.com/p/CetMscWLV8zxAxZQcaunbWIHSxq55E6ZglVn5c0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

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sempervirens117 · 2 years

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Oprah Winfrey: Tell us more about how God “speaks” to you. Bradley: Right. That. It’s super hard to explain to y’all, but I’ll give it a go. You saw Bumblebee, right? OW: The Transformers movie? B: Yep. Remember how 🐝 communicates? Cause he lost the ability to speak and humans aren’t on his level, anyway. OW: Something about songs and lyrics, if I recall. B: So, our brains 🧠 have, like, limitless potential and we use a fraction of our cognitive capability. With training, you can rewire your neural pathways and access paranormal powers. Neuroplasticity. Google it. OW: I will. B: Mystics, artists, and people with genetic predispositions to mental illness can tap into this, and you can brainwash people, too. Like in Bourne Identity. It’s all real. Ask DARPA. Ask the Russians. Thing is, it’s super risky to go there. Nietzsche called it the abyss. Kafka drove himself crazy. And don’t get me started on secret societies like the Illuminati and Bohemian Grove and Oracle-CIA collaboration. You have to be careful not to go all Conspiracy theory like Mel Gibson did. OW: Because most people would think you’re crazy. B: Yeah, I get that. My family think I should be on medication 💊 but that only slows me down. I was scared to come out as the Second Coming of Jesus on social media for years. But it had to be done once I realized that the Apocalypse was coming. This weekend really did the trick. Friday the 13th and a blood moon at the same time. It was go time. I put Black Eyed Peas on my iPhone and have been evangelizing ever since. And obviously that’s why I’m running for President. Seems like a good place to get started with the whole Final Judgement thing. OW: (speechless). B: Yeah. I get that a lot. [end of transcript]. (at Chicago, Illinois) https://www.instagram.com/p/CdqG3w0Lj6N/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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faithnfrivolity · 2 years

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As a ‘Seismic Shift’ Fractures Evangelicals, an Arkansas Pastor Leaves Home

Kevin Thompson thought he would lead his hometown church for the rest of his life. Then came Trump and everything after.

May 9, 2022Updated 5:01 p.m. ET

Kevin Thompson in an old cemetery where he spent a lot of time before leaving for California.

Kevin Thompson in an old cemetery where he spent a lot of time before leaving for California.September Dawn Bottoms for The New York Times

FORT SMITH, Ark. — In the fall of 2020, Kevin Thompson delivered a sermon about the gentleness of God. At one point, he drew a quick contrast between a loving, accessible God and remote, inaccessible celebrities. Speaking without notes, his Bible in his hand, he reached for a few easy examples: Oprah, Jay-Z, Tom Hanks.

Mr. Thompson could not tell how his sermon was received. The church he led had only recently returned to meeting in person. Attendance was sparse, and it was hard to appreciate if his jokes were landing, or if his congregation — with family groups spaced three seats apart, and others watching online — remained engaged.

So he was caught off guard when two church members expressed alarm about the passing reference to Mr. Hanks. A young woman texted him, concerned; another member suggested the reference to Mr. Hanks proved Mr. Thompson did not care about the issue of sex trafficking. Mr. Thompson soon realized that their worries sprung from the sprawling QAnon conspiracy theory, which claims that the movie star is part of a ring of Hollywood pedophiles.

For decades, Mr. Thompson, 44, had been confident that he knew the people of Fort Smith, a small city tucked under a bend in the Arkansas River along the Oklahoma border. He was born at the oldest hospital in town, attended public schools there and grew up in a Baptist church that encouraged him to start preaching as a teenager. He assumed he would live in Fort Smith for the rest of his life.

But now, he was not so sure. “Jesus talks about how he is the truth, how central truth is,” Mr. Thompson said in an interview. “The moment you lose the concept of truth you’ve lost everything.”

A political moment in which the Supreme Court appears on the brink of overturning Roe v. Wade looks like a triumphant era for conservative evangelicals. But there are deepening cracks beneath that ascendance.

Across the country, theologically conservative white evangelical churches that were once comfortably united have found themselves at odds over many of the same issues dividing the Republican Party and other institutions. The disruption, fear and physical separation of the pandemic have exacerbated every rift.

Many churches are fragile, with attendance far below prepandemic levels; denominations are shrinking, and so is the percentage of Americans who identify as Christian. Forty-two percent of Protestant pastors said they had seriously considered quitting full-time ministry within the past year, according to a new survey by the evangelical pollster Barna, a number that had risen 13 points since the beginning of 2021.

Michael O. Emerson, a sociologist at the University of Illinois Chicago, described a “seismic shift” coming, with white evangelical churches dividing into two broad camps: those embracing Trump-style messaging and politics, including references to conspiracy theories, and those seeking to navigate a different way.

In many churches, this involves new clashes between established leaders and ordinary believers.

Sometimes the breaches make headlines, like when Russell Moore, a prominent Southern Baptist, left his denomination in 2021 after publicly criticizing evangelical supporters of former President Donald J. Trump and urging Christians to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. But more often, the ruptures are quieter: a pastor who moves to another church to avoid a major confrontation, or who changes careers without fanfare.

Community Bible Church in Fort Smith, Ark., where Mr. Thompson was a pastor.

Community Bible Church in Fort Smith, Ark., where Mr. Thompson was a pastor.September Dawn Bottoms for The New York Times

When Mr. Thompson landed back in Fort Smith after seminary in the early 2000s, Community Bible Church was an exciting place to work. Inspired by booming suburban megachurches like Saddleback in Southern California and Willow Creek in Illinois, Community Bible offered modern music, multimedia worship services and “seeker-sensitive” outreach to people who were not regular churchgoers.

“My concern was spiritual vitality,” said Ed Saucier, the church’s founding pastor. “I wanted it to be fun and engaging and different on purpose.” Mr. Saucier rarely talked directly about electoral politics or public policy from the pulpit. It was easy to avoid. The church was mostly white and mostly conservative; congregants agreed on what they saw as the big issues, and there seemed to be little cause to prod on the small ones. “I applied some common sense,” Mr. Saucier said. “If I can’t make something better, maybe I should leave it alone.”

His philosophy was not unusual. Despite their status as an influential voting bloc, most white American evangelicals have historically avoided the perception of mixing politics and worship. In many evangelical settings, “political” means biased or tainted — an opposite of “biblical.”

“The one thing that I loved and was so refreshing about this ministry is there were no politics at all,” recalled Sara Adams-Moitoza, a longtime church member who owns a boutique shopping center in Fort Smith. “Ever, ever, ever, ever, ever.”

Mr. Thompson had always been interested in politics, but he was no activist. He saw himself as part of the contemporary evangelical mainstream, a movement that included people like the prominent New York pastor Tim Keller and the Bible teacher Beth Moore, who were theologically conservative and skeptical of becoming entangled with either political party.

He still sees himself as a conservative. Mr. Thompson has voted Republican in almost every major election. He admires Mitt Romney and the Bush family and is conservative on issues of gender and sexual orientation, although he does not emphasize them often.

When he took over as head pastor after six years as an associate, he was immediately popular with the congregation. One founding member, Jim Kolp, recalled a sermon that Mr. Thompson preached on the “fruit of the spirit,” based on a passage in the New Testament that lists attributes like gentleness and self-control, which show that the Holy Spirit is working in a Christian’s life. The sermon prompted Mr. Kolp to examine his daily habit of listening to Rush Limbaugh. “I’d never stopped and thought, ‘Does it meet up with the fruit of the spirit?’” Mr. Kolp said. “I leave listening to this man angry.” He stopped tuning in.

But over the years, subtle gaps between Mr. Thompson and his congregation tore open, like a seam being tugged from both sides.

If he spoke against abortion from the pulpit, Mr. Thompson noticed, the congregation had no problem with it. The members were overwhelmingly anti-abortion and saw the issue as a matter of biblical truth. But if he spoke about race in ways that made people uncomfortable, that was “politics.” And, Mr. Thompson suspected, it was proof to some church members that Mr. Thompson was not as conservative as they thought.

The discontent over Mr. Thompson’s approach started with the 2016 presidential campaign. The pastor wrote a blog post that did not critique Mr. Trump by name, but whose point was clear. “Many who thought Bill Clinton was the Antichrist now campaign for a man who would make Bill Clinton blush,” he wrote.

When Mr. Thompson wrote in a 2020 blog post that “Black lives matter,” the friction in his church suddenly looked more like a crisis. He had been speaking and writing about racial issues with some frequency for years. He had hired Jackie Flake, a Black pastor, to lead a new branch of the church on Fort Smith’s racially diverse North Side. In 2015, he got involved in a successful effort to change the “Johnny Reb” mascot at his old high school. But the phrase “Black lives matter” rankled some congregants.

Mr. Kolp said he found the far-reaching conversations about racism spurred by Mr. Thompson too negative. America does have a history of racism, he said. But “if the slave trade had never happened, would they still be in Africa? Would they have the prominent positions?” he wondered about Black people. “And now our pastor’s talking about it, and we’re systemically racist because we’re white?”

Mr. Thompson’s actual sermons were hardly scathing. At one point he asserted, “If you grew up in any way like me, there’s bigotry within you” and encouraged listeners to seek out perspectives other than their own.

His friend Steven Dooly, a white former police officer with two Black children, sometimes urged him to speak even more directly on racial justice. But he knew Mr. Thompson was in a difficult position. “You’d hate to see a church fall completely apart over a few lines in a sermon,” he said.

For many pastors whose conservatism matches their congregations, however, there is little cost to speaking out. Some conservative pastors now find that their congregations want not careful, conciliatory talk, but bold pushback to what they see as rising threats from the secular world.

“There’s a great separation taking place,” said Wade Lentz, pastor of Beryl Baptist Church in Vilonia, Ark., a few hours east of Fort Smith. “A lot of people are getting tired of going to church and hearing this message: ‘Hey, it’s a great day, every day is a great day, the sun is always shining.’ There’s this big disconnect between what’s going on behind the pulpit in those churches and what’s going on in the real world.”

Mr. Lentz has seen his church grow as he leaned into topics like vaccine mandates, which he preached against in a sermon titled “We Believe Tyranny Must be Resisted.” In 2020, sensing “so much disruption in the world,” he started a podcast in which he explores political topics with a fellow “patriot” pastor.

“This mind-set that Christianity and politics, and the preacher and politics, need to be separate, that’s a lie,” he said. “You cannot separate the two.”

At Community Bible, just about everyone liked Mr. Thompson, but some could not understand why he picked the causes he did. “There are areas he should have backed off of,” said Johnny Fisher, one of the church’s founding members. “The best thing probably is to shut up and answer any questions that are given to you from the Bible.”

The church stopped growing. Whole families were leaving; Richy Fisher, a pastor and consultant who prepared a report for the church in 2019, described membership as “hemorrhaging.” (Richy and Johnny Fisher are brothers.)

Mr. Thompson was equally frustrated by the actions of some of his congregants. People he thought should have known better were endorsing online conspiracy theories about Covid-19 and the results of the 2020 election. On his blog, he called for Christians to apply “research and discernment.” “When we share, promote, like and further things that are not true about others, we are violating the ninth commandment,” he wrote.

Fort Smith’s mayor, George McGill, said his city was like many other places in the country: Issues including masks and vaccination have fractured relationships, and people doubt the leaders they once trusted. Mr. McGill, the city’s first Black mayor, saw Mr. Thompson as someone who spoke the truth. But within his community, antagonists “rose up against the very people God had put in place.”

Mr. Thompson’s reputation did appear to be shifting. A local woman emailed her Bible study group in the summer of 2020, warning that he was promoting a “progressive Leftist agenda.” When Mr. Thompson invited her to meet with him, pointing out that he was a frequent guest of Focus on the Family Radio and hardly a leftist, she accused him of being beholden to “The Marxist Agenda” and “the BLM agenda.”

When a job offer came last summer to become an associate pastor at a larger church in the Sacramento area, Mr. Thompson accepted.

Mr. Thompson hoped that the church’s next leader could preach “the same truth” without the baggage that had accrued around him. But he also wondered how the next generation of pastors would lead. Seminaries are shrinking, and many in his own congregation seemed to view his theological training as the thing that turned him “liberal.” The next generation might have less training, and be more inclined to turn churches into “an echo chamber of what the people want.”

Months after his departure, Community Bible was still figuring out its future. “We’re still bleeding some, but it’s under control,” Mr. Saucier, the founding pastor, said in December. The church’s interim leader is Richy Fisher; the church’s board recommended this spring that he take the role permanently, and a congregational vote will take place May 22.

In the meantime, the people of Fort Smith have different choices than when Mr. Thompson arrived at Community Bible. Newer churches with flashier aesthetics have popped up in town. A branch of New Life, a multisite church with more than 15 locations across the state, is practically across the street.

On a recent Sunday morning, the congregation at New Life heard a sermon drawn from the book of Daniel.

“America is no longer a Christian nation,” the pastor said, setting up a message about resisting the broader culture’s pressure to change “what we say, how we raise our kids, how and when we can pray, what marriage is.” The sermon’s title was “Stand Firm

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alexalbert-blog-blog · 2 years

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As a ‘Seismic Shift’ Fractures Evangelicals, an Arkansas Pastor Leaves Home

FORT SMITH, Ark. — In the fall of 2020, pastor Kevin Thompson delivered a sermon about the gentleness of God. At one point, he drew a quick contrast between a loving, accessible God and remote, inaccessible celebrities. Speaking without notes, his Bible in his hand, he reached for a few easy examples: Oprah, Jay-Z, Tom Hanks. The pastor couldn’t tell how his sermon was received. The church had…

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doll-collecting-aerialist · 3 years

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AG Lines For Dummies

Your Truly Me is not a Create Your Own.

AG has made many character lines when it comes to their 18 inch dolls. Here’s a breakdown of the various lines, and which dolls are included.

Historical Line

AG started as solely a company that sold dolls with historical narratives, and the original dolls include Samantha, Molly, and Kirsten. Felicity, Addy and Josefina soon followed. The best friend characters are best known from this line, although they have also appeared in the GOTY line. The best friend dolls were often released in order to hype customers up for upcoming movies, Logan Everett of the contemporary line being the exception. The only best friend doll who is movie-less is Ivy Ling, as Julie Albright’s movie was scraped after the mass retirement of all the friend dolls, in favor of an Amazon special.

The Historical line was originally intended as a way for feminine children to see themselves in history, which is often a male dominated scene. At the time of creation, dolls like Barbie that depicted older role models were popular, and marketing dolls meant to be the same age as little girls was unheard of. The line was originally strictly for ages 8-12, however in recent years has been marketed more towards nostalgic adults and collectors.

The Historical line still exists, but is constantly fluctuating, often falling to the wayside. It is no longer the main interest of American Girl’s buyer base.

Subsections of the Historical Line include Beforever, and the 35th anniversary collection.

Truly Me Line

Known as also (but not limited to) “Just Like You,” “American Girl of Today,” “My American Girl,” and “Innerstar U,” the (currently known as) Truly Me line is a collection of blank slate dolls who are bland enough in their features to resemble many different kids.

Until recently, these dolls were marketed as being the doll version of you. However, with American Girl’s newfound commitment to diversity, they have tried to stray away from that notation, emphasizing that the doll is your best friend, rather than literally being “you.”

Truly Mes come in meet outfits that represent the children’s fashion of the times. Until the release of the “Trendy Girls,” also known as the “Street Chic Girls,” all Truly Mes came wearing the same meet outfit, however boy Truly Mes and girl Truly Mes have differing meets from one another.

Boy Truly Mes were introduced to the line in 2017 with the contemporary character release of Logan Everett. This was met with a lot of Evangelical pushback. No new masculine Truly Mes have been released since 2017, however the original masculine Truly Mes are still available to purchase.

The “Trendy Girls,” formally known as the “Street Chic Girls” were released in 2021 as part of American Girl’s diversity plan. While much of the reception was positive, the line had issues such as including a white character in a line heavily influenced by Black culture, and not researching well enough in certain areas to properly represent things such as hip-hop. Because of this, AG has dialed back their original campaign plan for these dolls, and now simply refers to them as “The Trendy Girls.”

Currently there are three Trendy Girls, each with colourful hair and a meet outfit unique to them.

Girl Of The Year

The Girl of The Year line began in 2001, and continues to be added to each year, with tradition being that the new girl is announced on Good Morning America. Girl of The Years are typically developed two years in advance, with the exception being the Gabriela McBride fiasco, in which Oprah called American Girl out for lack of diversity within the line, and AG responded by (poorly) producing a Black character in less than six months.

The Girl Of The Year line became popular during the year of Marisol, the third doll to be released in the line, and continued this popularity through the 2000s and 2010s. In the 2010s, Girl of The Years were often accompanied with movies and apps.

Until the latter 2010s, with the exception of the early girls (who had a weird release/retirement schedule), Girl of The Years retired at the end of each year. Currently, GOTYs are available for multiple years, and are available in stores such as Costco even after retirement.

GOTYs often have a color theme associated with them, as well as a main interest their collection is based around. Popular interests amoung the girls include dance, water sports, and environmentalism.

Now a days, the Girl of The Year line fluctuates in popularity. GOTYs often don’t resonate with adult collectors due to lack of diversity in doll design. Parents are also beginning to notice the lack of diversity and repetitiveness, with recent dolls like Luciana and Joss selling out again and again, while dolls like Kira fall to the wayside.

2017 Contemporary Line

The 2017 contemporary line was a line of three dolls released along side the ill fated Gabriela McBride. Gabriela was a rushed Black character who was not the original intended GOTY, and was made as a response to the anger about the lack of diversity within the GOTY line.

American Girl still wanted a way to release their originally intended Girl Of The Year; Tenney Grant with her “best friend” doll, Logan Everett, and so they created a contemporary line consisting of Tenney, Logan and Z Yang. Z Yang was an Asian character with a very similar appearance to JLY 30, and was based off an American Girl web series. Logan was the first (and only) boy character released, and faced controversy due to being a white character with the culturally significant Kaya mold.

This contemporary line released alongside Gabriela, and Tenney Grant was heavily marketed, with Z and Gabriela being mainly side pieces.

With the exception of Tenney and her collection, Gabriela and Z experienced many quality issues, and much of their collections were rereleases of previous products.

This contemporary line quickly retired, with no additions or mentions of it since.

Gabriela and Tenney Grant are still available at Costco, however Z has not had a rerelease, and goes for $200+ second hand despite quality issues.

World, By Us

World By Us is an upcoming line with three confirmed characters of colour, and was created in response to the growing criticism of their clear favoritism of white dolls with light features. This line is aimed towards older children, with the characters having light makeup, and attending middle school. The line seeks to talk about real world events/issues, particularly racism, in a kid friendly way. There is speculation this line will expand to talk about more marginalized identities in the future, with AG dabbling into “controversial” territory with Kira and Courtney exploring the LGBT community, and Joss being the first visibly disabled character (something they’ve seemed reluctant to do since the public reception of Gwen- a houseless character). This line is also rumored to be collaborating with the high end children’s clothing brand, Janie and Jack.

Create Your Own//CYO

American Girl: Create Your Own is an official GUI that lets you design your own doll with the various options given to you for $200. These options include 6 different skin tones, the Classic, Josefina, Sonali, Jess, and Addy molds, as well as exclusive outfits and accessories, and more. The CYO GUI officially released in 2017, and has expanded since then. The “CYO experience” is available in flagship stores, but is also available online. Dolls typically take 6+ weeks to arrive, and the CYO line also has a clothing design section where you can design various pieces of clothing with official prints.

The CYO line has been both praised and criticized for having exclusive features such as a light toned Addy mold, and a dark toned Jess mold. The CYO line also has an exclusive pink hair colour, and you are able to give your doll mismatching eye colors.

#guide #American girl for beginners #American girl doll #girl of the year #truly me #world by us #just like you #pleasant company #ag #dolls #ag dolls #dollblr #text post #long post

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ingek73 · 3 years

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Prince Harry’s Savvy Media Pivot

His Apple TV+ show and recent media appearances are clear attempts to establish a new public image as a relatable dad in therapy.

By Elamin Abdelmahmoud

Posted on May 28, 2021, at 1:58 p.m. ET

Courtesy of Apple

Prince Harry in his new docuseries, The Me You Can't See

The opening moments of Prince Harry’s appearance on a May episode of Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast give us good insight into the royal’s new life as a public figure in the US. You get the impression that the Duke of Sussex was still settling into his seat when he casually asks his host, “What do you think about Joe Rogan’s comments [about vaccines]?” He’s referring to Rogan’s inane advice to young men not to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

Shepard somewhat dodges the question. For Shepard, the comments are “ridiculous, obviously,” but he sees where Rogan is coming from. “[Rogan’s position is] ‘I fucking call fights. I’m an MMA announcer. I’m not Fauci,’” Shepard says. He concludes that he agrees “with both sides.” Harry pushes back: “[Rogan] says, ‘Don’t listen to me,’ but it’s like, well, Don’t say that.”

The exchange sets up the rest of the episode as a sort of laid-back chat — Harry comes off as unguarded and off-the-cuff, your smart friend riffing on current news stories. Only it’s not your smart friend — it’s Prince Harry, a figure who’s been in the spotlight since he was born. He’s accustomed to being the most-watched person in the room even without a camera present. So it’s hard to imagine he didn’t know the microphone was on, that the show wasn’t already rolling when he started his riffing. But he pulls off the unfiltered vibe in a smooth and unassuming way. And it’s this casual cool that is the story of Prince Harry’s reinvention right now.

Harry has been in the news because he’s an executive producer (and central figure) alongside Oprah, in a new docuseries about mental health on Apple TV+, called The Me You Can’t See. He’s on the cover of People magazine for it. And this week, the docuseries is following up its five episodes with “a special town hall” featuring Harry, Oprah, Glenn Close, and experts who will continue the conversation the show started on mental health.

On The Me You Can’t See, Harry is compelling, charming, and heartbreaking. He is forthcoming about details of the by-now-familiar story of how he and Meghan Markle left life as working royals to move to the US. He becomes emotional frequently — as he did when he told Oprah that Meghan didn’t act on her suicidal ideation because she didn’t want him to lose another woman he loved.

He is relatable, too, asserting that, “like so many people my age, I know that I’m not going to get from my family what I need” (same, my guy). The 36-year-old royal speaks with authority and precision on mental health and trauma. He is unvarnished when it comes to talking about the dark periods of his life.

Watching him at work in The Me You Can’t See, it’s hard not to admire what he’s pulled off: a total and complete pivot to a new kind of social currency. After all, Harry was “cool” in a very different way not long ago. He had a reputation for being a “bad boy,” the iconoclast within a stodgy family, the wild one who takes it too far, or parties naked in Vegas, or...whatever this is.

But in a moment still in search of new definitions for masculinity — ones that do not rely on machismo and bravado and showing off — somehow, Prince Harry is here to deliver. He’s out here evangelizing therapy and the virtues of getting help when you need it. He makes taking care of your mental health seem like the in thing to do. He’s joining the ranks of men like Nick Jonas, Michael Phelps, and Dax Shepard himself who are embracing a refreshing approach to their own mental health struggles.

Harpo Productions / Joe Pugliese via Getty Images

Oprah Winfrey interviews Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on a CBS primetime special, which aired on March 7, 2021.

Before his move to the US, Prince Harry’s identity was deeply intertwined with life as a working royal. That meant the public's engagement with his choices was limited to that realm: Was he doing the job, or was he failing at it? This is not to say people didn’t have strong feelings about his identity, only that he had little say in the matter.

But with the move to California, Harry’s celebrity posture has changed. He has comfortably slipped into a decidedly American version of celebrity, relying on a more personal story to grow his platform. He invoked the tragedies of his past to powerful effect. He shared that his years of unhealthy alcohol and drug use were the darkest of his life. When he and Meghan launched their nonprofit, Archewell, they wrote, “I am my mother’s son. And I am our son’s mother. Together we bring you Archewell.” The story may be familiar, but they are the ones doing the telling. The power has radically shifted.

In his new mode of celebrity, Harry’s not exactly reimagining the wheel. We’re living in a potent moment of the multihyphenate celebrity — Barack Obama makes podcasts with Bruce Springsteen (?) while Michelle Obama makes Netflix shows (??); Beyoncé sells athleisure (???); the Clintons are writing novels (????). Harry and Meghan have a well-established trail to follow, and they’re doing so enthusiastically (including a Spotify deal and a Netflix one, because why not!).

Piece their moves together and you’ve got the makings of an all-encompassing “brand,” the kind every celebrity is expected to have now. And with this type of public profile, the expectations are that you are to be judged on your public choices. Who are you aligning yourself with? What shows are you appearing on? What are the subject matters you want to elevate over others?

And this is why the Rogan comment is important. The MMA announcer/podcast host/professional “just-asking-questions” guy has, for myriad reasons only some of which are under his control, become shorthand for an old-school story of masculinity. He is understood as rugged and assertive, a tough guy’s tough guy.

In other words, Rogan is a natural foil to the story Harry is trying to tell right now. Even the prince’s choice of media is telling. Before his Armchair Expert appearance, his significant sit-down interviews were with James Corden and Oprah, interviewers who reach broad audiences. Turning to Shepard, a figure whose public identity is propelled by vulnerability about addiction and mental health issues, signals that Harry wants to be included in the conversation about changing masculinity.

The prince is building a public narrative on the idea that the old ways of being a man are not working. He presents himself as living proof that flying an Apache helicopter is cool, but facing your inner demons is cooler. ●

#prince harry #duke of sussex #buzzfeed

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skippyv20 · 3 years

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Happy May! The US has being doing a multi-year deep investigation into CSE along with other countries. Josh Duggar was arrested on child porn possession, he's from a prominent Evangelical family in the Quiverfull movement, their family had a popular television show and speak on religious retreat circuit. He'd previously gotten the original show cancelled when it came out he molested his sisters (Oprah was tipped off the day before taping a special, her team reported to a hotline). More to come.

Thank you! Time to take out the trash!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

4/30/21

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gramarobin · 2 years

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I won a calendar from @ clucknorrismanor and I love it so much!💖 Each month is a different photo of Cluck Norris dressed up as a version of a celebrity, like Bitty White, or Meryl Cheep, or Oprah Henfrey. It is great and will hang in a place of honor in my new chicken salon...more on that later.

Today I mistakenly thought it'd be a good idea to show my conservative evangelical christian dad my new calendar. Why, I now have no idea, and as soon as he realised the person in the photos is gay he got on his high horse and got disgusted, said he would burn that calendar and its not funny and left😳

I thought he'd roll his eyes and not be as amused or delighted as I am by it, but not disgusted. Sigh. The ignorance and bigotry in some of the people I love and call family is tough, I hate it. But I used to have the same mindset before I left evangelicalism behind. I love being able to care about all people now regardless of their belief in whatever myth or skygod they may have. I think love is love and that is beautiful. My dads critical vibe still gets under my skin...oh you bet it does. I was still jittery an hour later texting my lil' seestor @idratherbehiking about the incident. Sigh. I love our dad, but he is an ass at times.

#sigh #exvangelical #love is love #clucknorris #beliefs #humanity #chicken humor #take the stick out of your ass dad #anyway 🙄#biddies #biddie white #lgbtq #💕❤🧡💛💚💙💜

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steamedtangerine · 4 years

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This is a book I barely got a sift through at the Hamiliton County Branch library in Cincinnati.

There is a NYTimes article from 2000 https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/25/us/beliefs-a-minister-turns-to-food-s-role-among-whitebread-protestants.html

I highly doubt this book will take the more critical approach books like “Why Catholics Can’t Sing” (a book I also hope to address soon), but I like the premise. Food is a big part of American consumer culture; the concept of exercise of self-control and abstaining among many contemporized Evangelical movements is simply stark heresy!

Though the book may glaze on fringe faiths like 7th Day Adventists (and Battle Creek’s Kellogg, a eugenicist purist nutjob who was made famous by Anthony Hopkin’s portrayal in the comedic film “Road to Wellville”) as an example of a faith that indeed goes in the authoritarian fascist route of enforcing a strict (vegetarian) diet (which-as a side note-all better exemplifies St. Paul’s warning to Timothy of those forbidding meats, rather than say when the Protestant attempts to vilify the Catholics for brief observances of Lenten Fish-Fridays....yet the same verse also mentions forbidding of marriage-which Catholics clearly do not enforce outside core clergy...yet, that doesn’t stop Protestants from painting horns on them instead of looking at fringe cults like Heaven’s Gate or the now extinct Shaker movement which strictly demanded that absolutely no one shall marry or procreate).

I also doubt the book will examine the other side of consumption when you have the LDS (Mormon) faith strictly encouraging meat-consumption (being propagators of cattle country, go figure) among their followers (even going so far as to say it is wise to eat beef/steak three times day)....and oddly enough, bare a very high mortality rate among their followers....the cause: colon cancer (which almost evokes a passage from the book of Hebrews about how certain strange doctrines can be a dis-benefit-like poor diets-to their adherents...hmmm?). Something that gets hushed-up just as bad as when Rick Perry took to suppressing Oprah on the Madcow epidemic (remember that little bit of political drama in the 2000′s?).

(Ren and Stimpy’s Rev. Jack Cheese by Glenn Fabry)

I also feel that while the book will look at soup and community kitchens, I doubt it will examine how some denominations are better than others when it comes to charity. From my lengthy experience as one who frequented (and volunteered) at many charities (community meals, food pantries, Homeless coalitions, FNB, etc.) in 17 states, the Catholics top the charts...sometimes evident with food pantries that allow patrons the right to shop for items they need instead of shoving a pre-prepared bag at them or the fact that many Catholics encourage the act of the food preparers and servers at community kitchens-as a sign of good faith and community-to sit down and eat the same food they serve alongside the community they serve-now that, to me, exhibits a more raw and genuine felt concept of the word “communion”...something not lost on groups like Food-Not-Bombs.

Other top notables in charity include Congregationalists (often insisting that you sit down, examine a menu and then they bring you the food-a fine dining experience during hard times), Methodists, and Episcopalians....and the bottom of the list for me: Lutherans with their dried spaghetti canned pasta mush followed up by the encouragement to grab a condom before leaving (don’t want the poor bringing in too many of the “wrong people” into this world, right?). Must’ve seen this about four different times with the Lutherans, in different states even....

...In fact (if I can radically digress here at personal length a moment), I feel I should mention there was an incident in Madison, WI where self-professed “Catholics” were feeding folks at James Madison Park. They were serving “venison” in a sauce. Being a person highly intolerant of MSG in all of it’s forms, I am always leery of sauces and gravies. The more I pressed them on it, the more they insisted how good it was and how the “venison” was freshly hunted. They simply would not elaborate on what was in the sauce. One woman kept imposing on me to take my bags off and offered to put them in her van (trying to pigeon-quote a verse about remove the burden). I asked why they were not eating some of the “venison”, and they all stated they just ate, but it was clear they were starting to get nervous. At one point, one of the women got in the van “to get supplies” and made off with the bags of like three guys who threw a fit (in which the burly servers insisted she would be back). I left before matters escalated....oh, I should mention that these “Catholics” were also insisting folks help themselves to condoms they had in a bowl...asking around, I found that there was no Catholic parish that engaged in the activities these guys were involved in. What was in that sauce? Saltpeter? Keep in mind U of Michigan and U of Wisconsin were hotbeds of eugenics in early 20th century Midwest academia. The above incident was happening in the mid-2000′s Bush era around the time a James Kruger was running a “street ministry” (stencil-painting the words “HOPE” in indelible paint on store windows-not off to a good start there-the evidence of which can be found from 2007 posts on Flickr) where he would play “Robin Hood”, steal nice bikes from campus bike racks, turnaround and give them to the homeless, only to allow them to get caught for stealing said bikes. Madison, WI is no stranger in exhibiting stark hostility towards it’s homeless population (mostly from the Chicago area)-like when 8 years ago, Mayor Soglin wanted to buy one-way tickets for homeless to bus away from Madison for good https://www.wpr.org/bus-tickets-homeless-madison-appears-dead

anywhoo....

One thing the book (we were talking about a book, right?) addresses is the silly issue of wine and how it fits in spiritual ritual. This of course, brings up the issue of “two wines” (natural fermented wine and the grape juice crud used by fascist temperance types). Funny how in cultures outside of the US, wine and beer are not these things children are sheltered from, but here in the US.....Catholics are, again, vilified by Protestants as being-

Yet, how does one explain to many Protestants the wedding hosts’ exaltation of Jesus creating “good wine” or better still, Jesus’ insistence that “old wine is better than new wine”? On closer examination, the bible doesn’t condemn drinking alcohol (even saying it is good for stomach infirmities and for those perishing from affliction and poverty), but it does condemn drunkenness and excess (which I guess, the same can be said about the intoxication that can ensue from power-slamming three tall glasses of chocolate milk in an hour and half period).

Which brings us back to food. St. Paul warns about disputing about “doubtful things” in Romans chapter 14...this can pertain to which holidays some choose or do not choose to follow, what foods a person decides they will or will not eat (heck! this might as well pertain to things like books, movies, video games, and secular culture)...it’s a clear case of allowing people the right to eat/engage in what they will or will not without imposing otherwise as clearly the Mormons or the 7th day Adventists do. The right to avoid being harassed about food is also mentioned in St. Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae. Yet, do not be tricked by imposing “meat” doctrines; the Bible does, indeed, protect the right of vegetarians (as evidenced by Romans 14, certain passages in Proverbs, and even the beginning of the book of the prophet Daniel)....a fact most secular-minded folks would benefit to know.

Now, I was just gonna offer a brief plug for a book in this post, and it looks like I simply bit off more than I can chew.....

#idiocracy #madison #ren and stimpy #cincinnati #book pick

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anonymoushouseplantfan · 5 years

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Hi, I confess I am foxed about what these two desperate famemongers hope to achieve by constantly trying to overshadow W & K. This does not alter the line of succession, or make them popular in the UK which is where you need to be popular to keep the monarchy going and justify the tax payers' money being spent on you. Or have they turned into such megalomaniacs that they think they are entitled to use the UK public's money to court the US celeb culture?

That is exactly what they think.

This circus has gone on for so long, that I keep thinking nothing new can shock me, but this has managed to do the trick. He wanted to be a cheesy American motivational celeb? Whyyyyyyyyy? Why would anyone do this???????

I don’t get it. “Purpose-driven”?????? WTH????

Oprah has classed this area up a bit, but it still reeks of Richard Simmons positivity and evangelical motivators. Why would anyone with Harry’s resources go this route? I don't get it.

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doomedandstoned · 5 years

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Closer To The End (part III)

I contend that human beings are not suited for the world we've fashioned for ourselves. Cases of anxiety and depression are practically ubiquitous, and suicide in all age groups is once again on the rise. Some will suffer mental afflictions that last years -- perhaps even for a lifetime. This is the third and final part of my story.

~By Billy Goate~

Cover art by Ruso Tsig additional art by Karl Briullov

I'm so tired of hearing that I'm wrong Everyone laughs at me, why me? I'm so tired of being pushed around I feel like I've been betrayed

youtube

We take each other's love, forget to give back Isn't it a pity, how we break each other's hearts I know we're only human and not to blame But who the hell are you to cause so much pain Why...

MEDICATION

My parents have been anti-establishment for as long as I can remember. In the climate of the 1980s, the institutions of the day were being called seriously into question. One of them was the authoritarian nature of public education (there's a reason why Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" resonated so strongly with people). It's no surprise that my family got caught up in the first wave of the homeschooling movement. Other areas of modern life began to be called into question, as well, taking the family down a dark, windy road that led into conspiracy culture, extreme libertarianism, and religious dogmatism.

This distrust of the "experts" put us at odds with the medical establishment, too. "Doctors only know how to do two things," mom would often proclaim loudly in one of her famous rants, "cut you open or prescribe you pills." Natural medicine held the keys to recovery from all ills, be it cancer or the common cold. "All those chemicals aren’t good for your body," she insisted. "God put everything we need for healing in the ground." I’m not here to knock naturopathy (I was an ardent follower of this way of life for years) nor my mother for her convictions, but there are some things that can’t be cured by Saint John's Wort and herbal tea -- major depression being one of them.

At one point, my anxiety, melancholy, and a generalized feeling of social isolation reached such a heightened state I turned to hypnotism, enamored by an obscure radio program hosted by Roy Masters and his Foundation for Human Understanding. I was too young to understand the significance of most of the bullshit he was spewing, but it was the comprehensive approach to life that appealed to me. I wanted answers -- all of them. About the only thing I got out of it, though, was learning how to make my own arm go numb through self-hypnosis.

Later, I'd get caught up in a movement of Biblical counseling that rejected psychiatry altogether. "Christ has given us all things we need for life and godliness," says the holy writ, ergo we need none other than Jesus to cure our mental ills. Furthermore, the thesis said, since "God has not given us a spirit of fear" it must mean that the root of depression and anxiety is ultimately sin against God. The answer? Confess your sins and walk by faith, not by sight. In short, pray the sadness away. All of this had limited effectiveness in coping with the claustrophobic cloud of melancholy that was constantly with me.

Cough & Windhand: Reflection of the Negative by Windhand

The stigma of psychiatry and modern medicine kept me from treating my depression for damn near a decade. Somewhere in my late twenties, after a prolonged and particularly dark depressive spell, I decided to talk to my medical doctor about antidepressants. He started me on the industry standard, the well-known and well-marketed Prozac, which became a household name in the '90s. I took the first dose at bedtime and when I woke up, I was seriously hating the daylight. Feeling extraordinarily fatigued, all I wanted to do was sleep. I called in a rare sick day from work. The next day I was feeling groggy, but well enough to return. Giving it the good ol' college try, I took Prozac for several weeks as directed, but the side-effects just weren't worth it for me. That’s when I was referred to my first psychiatrist.

It was a weird feeling sitting in the waiting room for my appointment. I felt like I’d joined the ranks of the fragile, broken, and confused, perhaps even the insane. It was hard for me to see myself sharing anything in common with the others that shared the tiny lobby. The psychiatrist who greeted me looked like a regular chucklehead -- you know, one of those sidekicks from a sitcom that's not coming to me now. (It just came to me: Glen from the Tom Green Show.) A paunchy man in his 30s with wavy dirty blonde hair parted to the side donning wire-rimmed glasses, the shrink pulled out a notebook and started asking me about my background, while he busily took notes. Turned out, the man was very methodical in his approach. Over the course of the year, we cycled through all kinds of drugs -- Paxil, Effexor, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Zoloft, and a lot of other names I'm not remembering, before finally settling on Cymbalta.

Certainly, this was something I didn't want to share with my coworkers, much less mom and dad. The first time I told my brother I was taking antidepressants, he was outraged. “You don’t need that stuff in your body. You don’t need pills to feel good.” I don’t know what it is about antidepressant medication that offends people so badly, but some people feel it is their personal mission in life to get you off of them. Why all the evangelical fervor? Are they secretly afraid they are "nuts," too? It’s not like I’m trying to get everyone else to take my medication, but suddenly these people, well-meaning or not, are trying to get you off of your meds.

I’ve seen YouTube videos from a guy claiming that God has cured him of his bipolar disorder and he flushed all his pills down the toilet (bad idea, by the way). Then a month later, he comes back online crying uncontrollably, talking about how he feels like God is testing him and asking viewers to pray to stop Satan’s onslaught. Moral of the story: It's dangerous to let people's religious opinions and untested hunches drive the agenda for our mental health.

I'm very reluctant these days to talk to anyone about my depression, because of all the rush to judgement involved. Ironically, it's this breakdown of community that I believe is at the heart of much of our mental health issues as a society. Look at the comments on any confessional video addressing burnout, depression, or anxiety and you'll find everyone is suddenly an expert who knows so well the precise and perfect solution to your problems. Well-meaning or not, it's incredibly annoying and I'd rather not have trouble with it. Hell, it took me two years to finish this article.

Depressed people are often viewed with the same cynical dismissiveness ascribed to angsty hormonal teens. "It's just a phase, you'll get through it," you're told with the reassuring wave of a hand. Besides, they remind you, "Happiness is a choice!" Because they are feeling chipper today, they have little patience for you dampening their mood. Others call you edgy when you say the pressures of life are so great that you feel like just turning off the lights on all of it. Still others will view you as selfish for leaving the family reunion early (or not wanting to participate in holidays at all). When you spend the whole weekend in bed sleeping, they'll accuse you of being indulgent, not realizing sleep gives you a respite from the hurt, guilt, and regret of painful memories or the misery of an unstable home life. Or the well-meaning "It Gets Better!" It doesn't always get better as life moves on.

Then there are those who try to talk you off your meds, entirely (cue: the ridiculously overwrought Facebook posts). We've all been privy to those conversations that strike a conspiratorial tone about how it was really the pharmaceutical companies that led to Chris Cornell's death. "You should just get off the stuff," they argue -- be it from noble intentions or just pride from clinging to an opinion they've stubbornly invested in.

Then there are those who are convinced that since Jesus (or Buddha, Allah Oprah, Jordan Peterson or juicing) gave them an escape from their depression, certainly it is the universal cure for all that ails you. Understand that I was a committed Christian for decades. I know what it is like to feel spiritually serene and I value many of the things the church gave me as a young adult, namely the fellowship, tolerance, and love. I know the feeling of peace that comes from believing in someone who reigns over the chaos and cares about your every need -- an ultimate being who will make sense of the nonsense one day.

I don't wish to diminish anyone's faith or diminish your personal experiences. The fact is, however, that major depression is as much a physical illness as cancer is. Certainly, there are transitional feelings of unhappiness, emptiness, and despair that come from facing situations that seem out of one's control -- the nightmare roommate, being laid off from a job, losing a loved one. It's also true that in most cases, this sadness can be overcome by a new perspective, trying better strategies, or simply allowing the passage of time to do its healing work. Depression can be impacted by one's beliefs, but there is a kind of depression that exists independently of one's perspective on life.

SUICIDAL TENDENCIES

Apart from this series of articles (which took me a good two years to publish), I've stopped sharing my depression with other people. It's annoying, because most people don't know how to listen and empathize. They want to jump in with a solution that, if implemented by nightfall, just might make a difference by daybreak. It's just more hassle than it's worth. Over time, I've gone from being someone with an intense need to belong, to not caring what people think about me at all. I'll often go out of my way to avoid anything deeper than transactional relationships. Once a social butterfly, you'll find me quite the hermit these days. As a consequence, while I was once open to sharing my feelings of loneliness and despair, I rarely mention them any more on social media and practically never to my IRL friends. I would be the last person to call a suicide hotline, by the way. Judge me if you wish, but I'm just being honest. If you want to know what is going on in the head of a severely depressed person with suicidal ideation, here's a least one brain you can peer into.

There's a general consensus that suicide is a selfish decision, even a cowardly act. This was a casual opinion of my own for years, as well. Not until suicide touches someone in your life -- or when you enter its despondent realm yourself -- does the ridiculousness of that notion becomes apparent. Understand that for a person to commit suicide, they have to overcome the brain's own strong predilection for self-preservation. It's not so easy to take the step of ending your life. Something has gone terribly wrong with the brain's ability to convincingly cry, "STOP!" for that to happen.

In my worst bout of depression, following the demise of long-term relationship, I reached the point where every waking moment was sheer misery. Some call this anhedonia -- the inability to feel pleasure. Normally, when we are feeling blue, we seek out something to stimulate our pleasure receptors. That's why ice cream, chocolate, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are popular go-tos for the bummed out. For me, it's always been music and movies. On this particular week, though, I had somehow lost the capacity to find any joy whatsoever in the usual pastimes. Anything that attempted to pacify my mood met with my contempt. The only thing I could do to escape the agony of just being alive and conscious was to sleep...and sleep I did. At first 8 hours a night, up from my usual 7. Then it advanced to 9, 10, 11, 12 hours. When dawn came, a wave of misery washed over my mind again.

Once, I woke up feeling so despondent that I knew with absolute clarity that I could end my life. Today, I could actually do it. Immediately upon this realization, I wept bitterly. I've not cried like that before or since. If anything, I've become more stoic about the idea of suicide. Don't get me wrong, my internal sense of self-preservation is still quite strong. The problem is that in moments of severe depression, that instinct is dampened. You'll do just about anything just to get rid of the feeling of misery making it unbearable to be awake.

DOOM AWAKENING

One of the most important developments in treating my depression, besides medication and therapy, was the discovery of doom. There's an old expression that misery loves company. I don't know about you, but when I listen to music it's not generally to cheer me up. No, I want my tunes to have a certain level of commiseration with what I'm feeling and going through at the time. When I discovered (quite by accident) Saint Vitus, I knew I'd found my soul food. I can't fully explain that eureka moment when Dave Chandler belted out that first downtuned note on the guitars on "Born Too Late" or when Wino joined with plaintive lyrics for "I Bleed Black." This resonated with me powerfully. It brought chills. This was medicine for my weary head, a kind of mental morphine to dull the pain. I'd come to the Roseland Theater for Down and left with Saint Vitus.

As a funny aside, my roommate (who accompanied me to the show) and I rehashed the bands of the night, giving our two cents on this or that. One thing he said still makes me smile a little inside. "What did you think of Saint Vitus?" I asked. "I don't think they're the kind of band that will withstand the test of time," he remarked. "Well," I rejoined, "they have been playing now for over 30 years and were the co-headliners on a national tour, so their sound must be resonating with a good number of people." Sure, it wasn't for everyone, but on that night my doom had come.

Every song on 'Born Too Late' (1986) so perfectly captures the malaise of the deeply wounded soul, not just in lyrics but in the whole vibe. There's a thick, smoky haze permeating the record and it reminds me a lot of what it feels like after you've poured out your heart until you've got no more tears left to cry. Come on, don't pretend you're so macho that normal human emotions elude you. It's hard to put doom into words, but I'll try: on the one hand you feel emotionally exhausted because you've emptied out all those pent up feelings of loss, fear, regret, and frustration, on the other hand there's a feeling of "reset" and it often makes things much clearer to sort through. For me, when I've exhausted all my emotional resources, I'm left with a feeling of blithe acceptance. A sense of being dealt a set of cards by the impartial hand of fate. That's the kind of vibe that Saint Vitus captures perfectly for me on this record.

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I spent entire weekends on those long, wonderful rabbit trails of discovery. "Dying Inside" led me to Trouble's "The Tempter" with its oh-so-tragic central riff. Lyrically, the songs I was running across could not have been more apropos.

Pentagram, The Skull, and Candlemass were not lingering far behind. Then came the more recent monoliths of doom: Electric Wizard, Windhand, High on Fire, Burning Witch, Khanate, Pilgrim, Serpentine Path, Usnea, Demon Lung, Ancient VVisdom, Dopelord, and the NOLA sludge scene, along with lesser known but equally as powerful acts like Undersmile, Shepherd's Crook, Reptile Master, Purple Hill Witch, Witchthroat Serpent, March Funèbre, Beldam, Hooded Priest, Regress, and 71TONMAN (listen to the Spotify playlist).

Doom metal spoke to me with a sharp realism that I connected with immediately. When you have no strength left to get angry at the world, you switch your listening habits from Car Bomb to Cough. You can say, I suppose, that doom was my salvation. It kept me hanging on a little while longer. The salve of those slow, low riffs gave me a strange feeling of consolation. "We know life sucks, too. Welcome to reality." It's like being awakened to the Matrix, but feeling there's not a damned thing you can do to change any of it. Your fate is sealed. It's an honesty that is both refreshing and freeing, I suppose, though one does wish to reclaim the notion of hope.

Believe it or not, even after writing all of this, optimism is my default mode. When I'm feeling well, and even when my depression is at low levels, the needle always leans towards inspiration, creativity, even a mischievous sense of humor and an aw, shucks smile that people tend to notice. I don't want to be depressed. The problem is that severe depression can make you feel, illusion or not, like you're paralyzed from doing anything about it.

As I've experienced more and more cuts and scrapes of life, I've become increasingly numb to it all, like the massive build-up of scar tissue. Things that upset me easily in the past might still hurt, but I've come to expect them, so they have the impact of a dull table knife. Perhaps I'm becoming a nihilist, despite my optimistic tendencies. It's hard not to be. Don't worry about me, though. If anything, I want to stick around to see what's going to happen next. It's the inborn curiosity we all have inside of us -- the same thing that I imagine kept Stephen Hawking going for decades after being wrecked by a disease that cruelly mangled his body into its famously misshapen form, stealing away his most basic expressive freedoms -- save for the power of his eyes and the thoughts behind them.

I've also made a deliberate attempt to pursue treatment (both psychiatric and psychological care) for my depression, which I urge you to do if you are likewise laboring under its crushing weight. The perspective of time, coupled with a remedy for mind and body can have a significant impact on your perspective, if not your life circumstances.

THE WINDY ROAD AHEAD

Learn from your mistakes, don't dwell on them. Repeated affirmations like this one may seem trite, but they are ultimately true. You can be free from the chains of guilt and move forward, as one performer puts it, "from strength to strength."

Don't kill yourself (literally or metaphorically) for someone else or for someone else's decisions. It may bum you out that a roomie decided to take your money and run or that you were rebuffed by a long-time crush or made jobless through corporate-wide cuts. You don't own that, they do.

Walks

Get off the couch, move that bod. Something as simple as a walk down the block or a drive out of town can do wonders for your perspective. As a homeschool teen living under the strict rule of a radical fundamentalist household in rural East Texas, my one salvation were those long walks in the open field -- especially when my parents started having loud, intense fights related to my mom's own mental health. I sorted through so many of life's problems (most of which seemed much larger then than they do now) through those solitary, hour-long strolls.

I really miss that where I live now, in a more congested neighborhood, so I have to find other ways of getting away from it all (getting up and out a half-hour before the other walkers, for instance, helps). Even if I don't want to rustle myself awake and move around to do as simple a task as taking out the trash, sometimes the feeling...let me revise that...quite often the feeling follows after the decision has been made and the body is in motion.

Projects

Another piece of advice I have for coping with depression is to channel your frustrations in projects. When I'm depressed, I throw myself into my work. Hell, Doomed & Stoned started because I needed a project to pour myself into. My counselor asked me once, "If you woke up tomorrow without depression, what would be different about your world?"

She encouraged me to start with the things that were in my immediate vicinity. "Well, there wouldn't be mail strewn all over the floor. My dirty clothes would be in the hamper, my clean clothes folded and put away. I'd take the time to cook myself a meal, instead of running out the door eating a quick bite out of some package."

Good, let's make a list and start there. Do at least one of the things on your list between now and the time we meet again next week.

Talks

Despite my isolationist ways, I begrudgingly admit that talking often helps, too. Though I'm an introvert and am horrified at the idea of sharing my feelings with others, I've reached points in my depression where I was compelled to tell others about it. It's as natural to do that as to cry out when your body is experiencing jolting pain. I'm one of those verbal processors that tends to sort through my problems by talking to someone else. Often, pride or shame or lack of trust gets in the way of sharing with our family and friends, so at the very least the much talked about Suicide Prevention Hotline could actually help you gain perspective on your situation.

Journals

If you don't talk, at least journal. Again, I'm not a journaler and this is the first time in almost three decades that I've written about anything related to my depression. Role play with me. You're a scientist studying the human psyche. How would you describe those feelings you call depression? When I was first asked to describe it to a counselor, I found myself at a loss for words. She helped me with prompts:

Can you tell me what it feels like?

"I walk around feeling like a dark, thick raincloud is hovering all around me all the time."

Do you feel it in a part of your body?

"Well, yeah, I guess. The head. And the chest. It feels like there's pressure building from all around me, like my head is going to explode. My heart feels like it's going to leap out of my chest."

What's happening around you when these feelings arise?

I'd then go on to detail some recent happenings. She'd press me further to describe the kinds of thoughts racing through my head in these situations. All of this was really helpful in getting me to define this nebulous, gray malaise that was following me everywhere I went.

I don't keep a journal, per se. Something about it feels needlessly egotistical, a vain attempt to reinforce the illusion in our YouTube fame crazy world that my life is worth discovering and remembering at some point in the distant future. And yet, writing down one's thoughts can be another effective way of untangling that anxious ball of feelings that keeps me from thinking rationally about the depression I'm feeling.

Today is my birthday, but I couldn't care less. It's not about getting old. I stopped caring about that 10 years ago. It's something about celebration, specifically when the attention is on me. I can't adequately describe how contemptuous I find it. My last birthday was spent alone in an empty house and a bottle of Scotch, catching up with past seasons of Game of Thrones. I was so glad it was over and the happy birthday wishes stopped. There's nothing special about this day for me.

At some point, my family stopped celebrating birthdays and holidays. I'm not sure when it happened or why. Certainly not for religious reasons, more probably for financial ones. I grew up in a family that barely scraped by, so birthdays seemed a luxury we couldn't afford. Now, it just feels indulgent. More than that, it feels sad. It reminds me of all the disappointments, hurts, and failures of the past year. It's not as though it's all bad, of course. If nothing else my birthday gives the illusion that a chapter has turned, with new possibilities for the future. I also have to come to terms with how many people out there actually seem to care about me, maybe even love me.

And later that day, I forced myself to go to a show I was quite enthused about, but didn't factor in depression being the party pooper.

I can't account for what it is that comes over me. There are people here that genuinely like me, who probably even want to get to know me better, but I push them away. Not so much directly, but indirectly, by excusing myself to use the restroom and then changing my mind midway and just leaving the venue -- without even the courtesy of a "goodbye" to friends or a "great show" to the bands. I feel awful about it afterwards, but in that moment it's like a flood of emotional pain washes over me and it feels like I'm carrying an anchor chained around my neck. I feel the great urge to find my way to unlit corners. To look busy and preoccupied. Would it hurt me to say hello? To smile? Perhaps not, but right now my psyche is tingling like some kind of Spidey Sense telling me, "Get out of here! Just get your shit and leave...NOW."

As dour and hopeless as that may feel, just the act of writing it down afforded me a release, which incidentally I did not feel until the writing was all said and done.

Hope, a new beginning Time, time to start living Just like just before we died

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Hurt, falling through fingers Trust, trust in the feeling There's something left inside There's no going back to the place we started from.

ONE MORE THING

For those of you who are wondering what you can do for a friend, family member, coworker or just someone you know casually from shows you both frequent, I couldn't say it better than one of my longtime fellow travelers in doom, who offered up this advice:

"While it's all very well and fucking dandy that there are so many people telling those who are struggling to reach out to them, I don't think people are quite understanding just how mental illness works sometimes. People quite often don't reach out, because those that are suffering from mental illness, at times, feel like they are a burden by unloading their shit onto someone else, despite the invitation to do so. It's generally the same concept that leads on to suicide.

I obviously can't speak for everyone, but I can speak for myself when I say the last thing I want to do is reach out to anyone because I feel like I am a burden and everyone would be better off without me -- and that is ultimately why I don't reach out. The point that I'm trying to get at is if you see someone struggling YOU reach the fuck out. If you don't see someone who used to be around, YOU reach the fuck out. Think about it. It's not that hard."

Well said and completely on the mark. At the same time, if you're feeling alone and uncared for, you may look at people’s lack of inquiry as more confirmation that you are worthless trash. You may interpret a busy person's slight as utter rejection. Don't worry about what others may or may not think of you. You need to take care of you, for you. The future is fickle. Your fortunes can change on a dime, so why base your self-worth and your decision about whether to live or die by how you feel right now? Ride it out, seek out help, get a game plan in play.

I say this as someone who knows how hard it can be to get mental health. I was double insured -- through my employer and the Veterans Administration -- and I couldn't get a god damned psychiatric appointment to reevaluate and adjust my meds. I called all over town trying to get in with someone. "Sorry, we're not accepting new patients" was the universal refrain. The VA would just be too many month's wait, I told myself, based upon how long it has taken me in the past to get a conventional medical appointment. In desperation, I called up my primary care doctor who asked if I was suicidal. For the first time in my life, I knew with full certainty the answer was yes. The more miserable I felt, the more I contemplated dying. If I did it, it would be something quick and sudden, I would daydream in my most despondent moment. "You need to check yourself into the hospital now," she told me adamantly. I did exactly that. I walked into the ER and told them I was suicidal. They led me to a room, had me take off all my clothes, and put on a hospital gown. I stayed in a padded room waiting for a social worker to see me. It was a desperate move, but it did pay off in getting me fast-tracked to see a psychiatrist.

One thing I learned about medication from my new psychiatrist (because he was very caring, very careful, and hence very effective at his job) is that everyone’s brain chemistry is uniquely different. There can be other issues impacting mood, too, such as thyroid, environmental stressors, sleep problems, vitamin deficiencies, and so on. Again, it’s often hard to see whether the cart is leading the horse or the horse is leading the cart, in terms of the mind-body connection. Long story short, this doctor adjusted my meds to near perfection to get me through the rare summer-long depression I was experiencing.

Just a few months later, he got hired away to work for the County and I was left back in the same boat once again. I got a great referral, but didn't realize until bills came in I couldn't pay that the doctor was out of my insurance network. Believe me, many people prefer to go without care entirely than to go into debt and I was one of them (truthfully, I still am). I went another year until I couldn't take it anymore and this time in my desperation reached back out to the VA. Surprisingly, they saw me within a week and prioritized my suicidal depression. I'm now in a good spot as a result, but it was a long, windy, uncertain road getting here. I know it's hard to find help. Sometimes you don't know what's available to you until you knock a little louder and get people's attention.

The older I get, it seems the more stubborn I am, particularly when it comes to reaching out and asking for help. Perhaps I've always been that way and am only now realizing it's become a liability. After taking off three weeks during the holidays to catch up with the many projects that were piling up around me, I realized that my depression was sometimes stronger than my will to power through and do my best work. I would find myself sitting at the computer for hours trying to get started with a story, trying to edit audio for a podcast, trying to prepare a team member's submission for publication, and every time I would find myself coming up against something painful, perhaps similar to the long recognized creative crimp known as writer's block. I describe it as an inhibitor chip in my brain that sends pain signals to my psyche whenever I contemplate moving forward.

Of course, rationally, I know it's all just a matter of the will, right? That's what those who aren't experiencing depression will tell you, at least. They don't want to go to the gym, but they make the choice to do it anyway, so why can't you just "man up" and do what needs to be done? Well, those aren't so much the messages other people give me, as they are my own conscience. The guilt itself from a day coming and going without results adds its own layer of complication to my mood. Thankfully, I have a wonderful counselor who understands and is helping me to tackle this with cognitive strategies. This, coupled with sensible medical treatment, has at least helped me to find "even flow" again.

Finally, you're going to have some bad days where you may even want to be productive, but your body feels like it's in revolt. As a creative person who loves to pour myself into as many projects as I can when I'm feeling good, it can be extraordinarily frustrating to not even feel the will to check email, open a letter, or listen to a stitch of music. Most days, I'm trying to work in concert with my body's natural rhythms. I'm more of a morning person and get my best work done between 8AM and 11AM. Anything after that is going to be hit or miss with diminishing returns. With that in mind, I have to hold back from starting new projects before the ones already on my plate are finished, because when I'm feeling good, I think I can take on the world.

This is all a part of me rediscovering what it's like to feel balanced, bright, and in love with life. It can be frustrating to have that feeling back, only to watch it wither away as the week progresses. Since I have very high expectations of myself, it's natural for me to heap guilt upon guilt for all the missed opportunities, but beating myself up only compounds the problem (it took me a long time to really get this about myself, too). Every day is a struggle, but I've decided I'm staying in the fight for the long haul.

In short: Be patient with yourself. Be fair with yourself. Be good to yourself. Remember, this too shall pass.

"Someday you're going to die, just like some day I'm going to die. But until then, you fight like hell to stay alive, you get that?!"

-- William Holden, The Earthling (1980)

#Closer To The End #Depression #Suicide #Doom #Metal #Saint Vitus #Trouble #Alice in Chains #Windhand #Doomed & Stoned

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