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#if i could reclaim my old blogs url i would
waitineedaname · 5 months
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what was tumblr like 9 years ago
god idk how to describe it. I'm not sure how much of my perception of tumblr 9 years ago is affected by me being 13/14 at the time, how much of it was the fandoms I was in, and how much was indicative of tumblr at large, but I'll try to describe it
the like. overall tone of the site was different? you know how people look back on old tumblr posts and cringe? these were the days where those posts were shared unironically. a good example is the shoelaces pose, that was enjoyed entirely unironically. tbh I've watched tumblr's tone shift a lot over the years, going from unabashed cringe, to being deeply embarrassed by those times, to being jaded/disaffected/cynical, to trying to reclaim the cringe era. again, that might be affected by who I've been following, but that's just the vibe I've gotten from the kinds of posts/blogs that get popular
the way people used the site has changed too! some of this is because of features being added and taken away. the messages function wasn't added until 2015, and before that, people talked to each other through the fanmail feature, which has since been removed. it was kind of like asks I guess? you'd send a message directly into someone's inbox. it was like sending letters lol people would also carry on conversations in the reblogs of a post. it was not uncommon to see a post a mile long where two people were just having a public conversation. it was harder to reply to replies too
also, ask games and especially ask blogs were really popular. ask blogs seem to have kind of died out, so in case that's unfamiliar, they were blogs themed around a character (or sometimes a collection of characters, like a particular friend group, or even the whole cast of characters if the blogrunner was ambitious enough) and people would send in asks that the blog would respond to in character, usually accompanied by art. I really loved ask blogs lol I miss them
oh also people really took pride in their blog themes. it makes me sad to see tumblr actively trying to kill this function by making it so that clicking on someone's blog opens them as a tumblr(.)com/url popup that just looks like the mobile blog theme. it used to be the default that it would open as a new page, url(.)tumblr(.)com, and you could customize the hell out of how it looked. people used to take great pride in customizing their blog themes, updating them occasionally, fucking with the html to get new features, some would even add playlists to their blog. baked into this too was the "pages" function, where you could have other pages on your blog, like an about page or whatever. now everyone uses carrd I guess. I miss blog customization and the pages </3
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steponremix91 · 3 years
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Some of my favorite Lori Beth Denberg looks~
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b-lessings · 3 years
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Tag game ~
I was tagged by my sweet Gigi @rednet to play this game, but I personalized it a bit and made my own version of it O:)
1) why did you choose your url?
'bintafriqiya' is a description of who I am, a short bio lol. I love it because it could be interpreted or understood in a couple of ways that both describe me either 'African girl' or "the daughter of Afriqiya (that is that old name of Tunisia aka my home country)".
2) any side-blogs? If you have them, name them and why you have them.
@tounaghribiya my regional project to promote the culture of North Africa and Tunisia pricesly. I might have other blogs or had but this is my main and active one.
3) how long have you been on tumblr?
I've had this account since 2018 ( just like @rednet ) but I've been on tumblr since 2011!! so that's 10 years ! oh wow 'm an old G.
4) do you have a queue tag?
Sometimes I queue my posts as #qd but not really
5) why did you start your blog in the first place?
So with my first account, I was more active on my sideblog, and my main was literally empty which seemed weird for some people to have an empty blog following them, and they wouldn't follow back lol. And then I couldn't have "mutuals" per sey, so I made this one to be able to follow and get followed back without all the confusion, and here we are :')
6) why did you choose your icon/pfp?
Because in this blog we support Palestine #SaveSheikhJarrah
7) why did you choose your header?
It's one of my favorite verses from one of my favorite surahs. Surat Ta-Ha is my miraculous anti-anxiety pill.
8) what’s your post with the most notes?
Hmm, I think my "why we fast" quote from Ustadha Yasmin's book Reclaim Your Heart got very popular about two years ago, but currently, my post on @tounaghribiya is gaining popularity, which is really unexpected!
9) How many people do you follow?
+3400 blogs lmao (but I more like 3k of them either deactivated or are no longer active *sigh*)
10) have you ever made a shitpost?
Lmao, have you ever seen my posts?
11) how often do you use tumblr?
How often do I NOT use tumblr?
12) did you have a fight/argument with a blog once? who won?
I am not into that, I just ignore.
13) how do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this post’?
Sometimes they are right. Idk.
14) which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?
definitely @trepika but also a lot of the girls @eleminim @heruwrittencanvas @fa-sabrun-jameil @sahrawia @arabskaya-devushka @onwaba @haneen-1
My @riricitaa is super famous in her community and I am proud of her!!
15) do you have a crush on a mutual?
@amazighbuffyofrivia ehem.
Phone Photo Meme Game
rules: choose one picture from ur camera roll without downloading to sum up your personality and then tag 5 ppl
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Not my personality but my current mood 😅
I tag everyone I already tagged in the questions above, and everyone who wants to play just go ahead and play 🌝
I would tag @lacantaloupa but only after she finishes studying !!
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nikatyler · 3 years
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random questions game
Tagged by @kbeesims. Thank you very much! I’m taking a break from studying rn, so let’s do this.
1. why did you choose your url?
Nika is actually one of the first things I’ve ever called myself as a kid and last year I decided to sort of “reclaim” this old nickname and start using it again in online places and I’m surprised by how right it feels.
As for Tyler, well. I think it’s obvious. In my head he’s the main character of this blog, the mascot, if you will. And also, and this is a bit embarrassing, but about a month or two ago I saw this post that was like “changing names shouldn’t be such a big deal, we expect trans people to do it if they’re uncomfortable with their birth name, but we should normalize EVERYONE changing their names if they’re not okay with it” (or something along these lines). And well, I like my name, but I thought, what if I didn’t like it, what would I pick instead. Immediately, this one popped up in my head. Yeah. I mean it makes sense to me, but it feels so dumb at the same time. So yeah. I guess if you called me Tyler, I would respond to it. I’m not sure how I feel about the fact that I would respond to it, but hey. It’s weird but it would work.
2. any sideblogs? name them and why you have them.
The only one that is still active is my cc finds blog @simmeronnie-cc (yes I need to rename it too, we’ll do that). I don’t really post on my sort-of-studyblr-but-more-like-a-rantblr sideblog or my simspiration blog anymore. Among other things, I rant on twitter again (@/nikatyler22 if anyone’s interested), and I need to bring back the simspo tag on this blog.
3. how long have you been on tumblr?
Almost five years. I refuse to believe that.
4. do you have a queue tag?
I do. Well, I schedule my posts manually, I don’t queue them (because earlier this year I noticed it would eat at least one post a day, so I stopped using it), but still. I don’t know what I’d do without this function haha
5. why did you start your blog in the first place?
There was this blog that did this really cool comic with very pretty characters. That’s what convinced me lol, even though my content has never been like theirs.
6. why did you choose your icon?
Because Tyler lol
7. why did you choose your header?
Because Tyler and Sharon and I want to have what they have dAMMIT
But I might change the picture for the one I posted yesterday, you know, the awkward one
8. whats your post with the most notes?
That would be the pride paints post I believe!
9. how many mutuals do you have?
I don’t know, but a lot I think? At least in the simple sense of “I follow you and you follow me.” I never counted it. I’m not sure how many people would actually consider me their mutual or online friend or something like that. I hope someone would haha
10. how many followers do you have?
Over 2 000. What the heck. I mean, not many people are actually active and I think most of them don’t even lurk, but it’s still a pretty cool number
11. how many people do you follow?
I checked and it’s 183. I can’t realistically keep up with all of them but at the same time I’d feel bad for unfollowing any of them
12. have you ever made a shitpost?
My entire blog is a big shitpost tbh, and I wouldn’t have it any other way ✌✨
13. how often do you use tumblr a day?
I usually keep the tab open all day and just check it from time to time. I’m not counting
14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?
Oooooh boy
Yes. I was dumb, okay? Very dumb.
15.  how do you feel about “you need to reblog” posts?
Those scared me when I was younger, I remember I couldn’t sleep when I was like 8 and saw one of those “repost this or you’ll die in 7 days” pictures. Now I’m okay with them, I just scroll past. Usually. Sometimes I still get nervous. Don’t post them, guys. You can really hurt people with anxiety and similar issues.
16. do you like tag games?
Y E S
17. do you like ask games?
Y E S   Y E S   Y E S   PLEASE SEND ME ASKS
18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?
One that immediately comes to my mind is @berrysweetboutique. I can’t believe such a big simblr is following me and seeing my daily pixel clownery on their dash :D
19. do you have a crush on a mutual?
I don’t, but back in the day, I used to sort of put some simblrs on pedestals and then act in a way that I thought they would like, if that makes sense, and I was really insecure about what they would think, and if we started talking I was so worried I’d say or do something wrong and it was all in all not a great experience. I know it’s not a crush in the romantic sense, but it reminds me of how sometimes you’d go and try to impress a crush and change yourself so that they like you too. I guess they were sort of crushes in the sense of “oh wow this person is so amazing and perfect, I’m so little next to them, they could probably never love me the same way I love them”. Anyway, once you let go of that mentality and just start doing whatever, without trying to impress anyone...oh that freedom is sweet.
Sorry, went off topic here 😅
20. tags?
I’m just gonna tag whoever wants to do this, go make another cup of coffee and go back to my 19th century poetry 😄
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seoulslayr · 3 years
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This is an independent RP blog for Dead by Daylight’s Hak Ji-woon / The Trickster (est. 18 April 2021). My portrayal is primarily game / lore-based, but there will be a considerable number of self-indulgent headcanons.
— GENERAL RULES. 
I’m Jun, Viet-Aussie, 21 years old. Transmasc butch lesbian, please use he/him — gays & lesbians may use he/she interchangeably! Be forewarned that I also reclaim Asian slurs in a joking context, and you may run across that on this blog. Here’s my carrd bio. 
I write ONLY with writers who are 18+. My personal preference is 20+, but it’s not a big deal! I do make mistakes sometimes and accidentally follow a minor. Please let me know if I do.
Semi-selective. I’ll follow if I see interaction potential; I give almost everyone a chance. I’m multiverse, multifandom, multiship. Basically, anything goes.
I like chatting and discussing characters & dynamics long-term. I lose interest when there’s no discussion at all.
If you don’t plan to interact or speak to me, feel free to soft block me. I don’t like one-sided unfollowing, and if the number really matters to you, that’s too bad lol. I don’t keep mutuals if we don’t appear to have any plans to write together.
— WHAT I WANT TO SEE ON YOUR BLOG.
Rules with your age, alias, and pronouns! I don’t mind if you don’t have a bio for your character. I’d like one for OCs, as information about your OC is probably not readily available elsewhere online.
Cut / trimmed posts. I simply don’t bother if I see untrimmed posts; I wrote a guide HERE way back if you don’t know what it is!
Would prefer that you’ve had some IC writing on your blog, or something I can read, before I follow back. It’s not necessary, though.
— HOW I RUN THIS BLOG.
Very slowly, but very carefully. I put maximum effort into replies. But sometimes I’m busy, sometimes I don’t feel like being on this shit-site. But I don’t drop threads without warning.
I track the URL SEOULSLAYR. Hit me with an @ if you want me to see something.
I use small text + icons. Formatting is otherwise minimal. My sight is VERY bad, so I really prefer not to see double small (any combo of small + sub/sup) text.
I primarily do multi-para / novella. You’re never obligated to match my length, but attempts at a few paragraphs or more is always appreciated. I use present tense and third person; I will not write with anyone who uses primarily first or second tense.
— PLEASE DO NOT...
... format heavily. If double spacing helps you with ADHD or dyslexia, etc., I’m happy to see you use it. For others, do not format beyond this when interacting with me. If I can’t easily read it, then I will not read it.
... use heavy Shakespearean / flowery / surreal poetry when writing with me.
... fuck with me if you’re a kpoppie that fetishises kpop idols/Asian men, or someone who generalises lumps Asian men into kpop stereotypes.  Real-life fiction is a hard no for me. No living person, including Asian men, is your creative property, shipping fodder, or your little baby boy. In other words: kpop enjoyers OK, kpop extreme stans stay away. If you act like a freak @ my people, you’re hard blocked. If I'm not 100% sold on your vibes in regards to this topic, I don’t follow back.
— SHIPPING.
I like it, though I prefer to plot it first. Unhealthy/toxic relationships are probably going to be the main shipping dynamic — Ji-woon does not make human connections readily nor does he experience human sympathy/empathy on most levels, if any.
I don’t tend to ship with duplicates, but if you can bring something new to the table, I’m down to try.
— OTHER.
I have no triggers, but I try to tag other people’s (so long as they are listed in the rules or I am informed) by the following format:  [trigger] cw.
I rarely have limits when it comes to writing. Bring any ideas up in discussion if you’re interested in playing something out; I won’t judge, I'll just decline if I’m not interested.
Tag drama as “callout” or “drama” and leave me out of it. If you are the type to perpetuate public drama or to take what could be a mature, one-on-one conversation into an open space where it does not belong, then leave me out of your circles altogether. Soft-block me right now if this applies to you. The next time you post something drama or callout-related, think about whether you’re doing it so the subject of your callout has the opportunity to learn and change, or whether you are fuelling a fire for your friends’ and/or your own satisfaction or amusement. If you do fuck with me, continue to fuck with me, and cannot be reasoned with, I will take your URL to the dashboard and lampoon you publicly, since that’s what your behaviour is asking for.
Blog header is by @YanimaDbD on Twitter.
— ENDING NOTES.
Thank you for getting this far! Promise I'm chill despite the long rules, and I'm sure we’ll have a good time writing together. See you on the dash!
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curseddallonweekes · 2 years
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hey y'all, its me again 😎
has it been years now since i deleted this blog? time flies. anyways yes this is the real cursed dallon weekes and ive come to reclaim the url although ive sadly lost my old iconic pfp
i just wanted to make a statement 4 the few people who may still wonder abt me n such and describe my experience with running this blog
when i first started i really did not expect it to blow up and to have the influence on the fandom that i did. i just wanted to share funny photos of dallon weekes who was my at the time favorite musician. but i was also a bit young and stupid, to put it bluntly. i believe i was 13 or 14 when i ran this blog 😬. several things i did have not aged well, which is why im a bit glad i made the decision to delete it initially. i was a bit obsessive and treated the members of idkhow and p!atd more as fictional characters rather than people, as evident by that awful cursed brallon blog, and i hope it could at least serve an example as to what not to do in such situations.
i also hurt people's feelings/crossed lines unintentionally sometimes in my immature cluelessness (made memes out of photos that were important to them and other similar things) which i know i have likely apologized for but im still truly sorry.
although i should not have had my platform, it was still very fun while it lasted and i am glad to have brought joy to others with my shenanigans. it always brought a smile to my face when i would post an image and soon after id see it everywhere on instagram and such. things just inevitably fell apart when i grew too ambitious, realized my mistakes, and had been going through a lot irl.
at some point i will try to upload some old videos i never got to publish to my youtube channel for you all.
as for everything else, cursed dallon weekes shall remain a ghost of the past. i am open to answering any questions tho and i hope everyone is doing well ❤ peace
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animentality · 6 years
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angry internet discourses animentality has (voluntarily and involuntarily) started
- i once said college isn’t as tough as they make it seem in high school, got a bunch of engineering/biology/STEM majors in the notes, whining about how easy social sciences and liberal arts are and how it’s pussies like me that are ruining the economy. 
- i said i thought a thirty year old man fucking a fifteen year old boy was gross. which is just totally unacceptable, right? not the fucking, that is, but my criticism of the fucking. 
- i also said fangirls shouldn’t fetishize fourteen/fifteen year old boys just because they’re boys, and had girls telling me that it’s ok when men do it to girls, so why can’t they “reclaim” their sexualities or something...these are fucking 30 year old women fantasizing about old men raping children in churches. but im the one who’s being gross, hmmm. 
-i once said i didn’t think people with mental illnesses should decide what mental illness they had based off a personality test they took on quizilla or what medications they should take at night based off of a list of symptoms they read off webmd. instantly got people saying im ableist and neurotypical because self-diagnosis is good....even though TRAINED PSYCHOLOGISTS FUCK THIS SHIT UP AND THEY STUDY THIS SHIT EXCLUSIVELY so why would a bunch of angsty hormonal teenagers be the experts on what pills they should be taking.
-also my url used to be mental insanime. got called ableist for referring to the word “insanity.” 
- said yuri on ice was a bad anime with a weak plot, sexualized “gay” characters, and had shitty animation, got called homophobic and transphobic. 
-ALSO related to yuri on ice, saw a post where it was suggested that yuri could be asexual...prompting thousands of fangirls to call the asexual girl who’d originally posted it a bitch for trying to “take their gay character away from them.”
because straight women own gay characters. not gay people, straight girls, that’s who gay character are for, right 
anyway, i said shame on all of  you assholes, and got called homophobic again for my troubles. 
-once joked about how bad the english in Knb was, got called racist against asians (I am Asian)
-got called a nazi for liking snk (I’m asian) 
- got called homophobic AND racist for not supporting the victuuri ship from yoi, a show i hate, whose characters i hate... because Victor is white, Yuri is Asian, and I’m Asian, so not supporting an interracial relationships makes me both homophobic, racist, and also transphobic because why not. 
- I said that officialhajimeisayama wasn’t the real hajimeisayama and got called a racist because my evidence was that the blog was in english...presumably it’s racist to imply japanese people can’t learn english...despite the fact that i said it was because the blog was written in very casual, american english that referred to memes and was written stylistically in a very meme-friendly teenage girl way.
- i then got blocked by officialhajimeisayama because i said in my tags that i couldnt believe people were dumb enough to believe she was really isayama (cuz a grown man would want to be called isamama? really?). 
she then said “how dare you hurt my followers like that” and then blocked me...and then deleted the post when she realized we are roughly the same in terms of follower count....whoops. 
always remember to pick fights with people who’re weaker than you, children. 
- a blogger named korracrat followed me some time ago and i followed her back, but then didn’t want to see her content anymore. i unfollowed her, and she IMMEDIATELY noticed and started badgering me about why i had unfollowed her. i was forced to lie and say it was an accident.
i did it again much later, only for the same thing to happen. 
then when i finally decided to cut the knot, i wrote a post about how i just wanted to be done with this person. 
she then sent herself anon hate, and swore that it was from me because she has some kind of tracker. 
yeah. 
someone literally sent herself anon hate, then claimed it was from me to make herself look like a poor innocent victim....
and i mean, im an asshole, but i don’t send anon hate. i like to fucking square up. 
- called donald trump a liar, got trump supporters reaaaaal mad. came to my blog to call me a libtard, a faggot, and someone who hates america
-talked about how i liked bernie sanders and got called a communist and a libtard 
-oh, i said that the ghostbusters remake wasn’t so bad and that people should give it a chance, got called a libtard, an idiot, and someone made reddit posts about me or something. 
-said that it’s sad that erwin (from snk) died, but can we talk about how (insert rant about armin). got angry erwin fans saying i was trying to detract from his death. 
- also was confused as to why junkrat has a summer skin in the winter, completely forgetting how hot it is in Australia during the winter...got accused of being...hemispherist? because someone who wrote a half-assed joke about junkrat’s summer skin forgot that it’s warm in australia all the time, im north america centric, ok. 
- said that trump is a liar again. got someone telling me everyone’s equal, im retarded for not taking advantage of my opportunities, and that he felt sad for me because im a dumb retard who doesn’t understand politics. k. 
- got told to kill myself for quite a few of the above. then argued over why you shouldn’t tell people to kill themselves.
and then got told that this is....policing. 
- said that the argument that “incest/rape/abuse is fine because it’s fictional!” is dumb because in the same breath, ya’lll will say representation matters.... when clearly fiction cannot matter for both arguments to be true. got called a bitch. 
- said tokyo ghoul was sexist, transphobic garbage, got TG fans upset because the idea that their manga is anything less than the sequel to the Christian Bible is akin to literary heresy. 
- said anime is sexist garbage, got people upset because im supposed to be an anime blog and talk about how hot husbandos are or whatever. 
- recently said that you shouldn’t ship tracer (lesbian character) with men, got told i was a retard who was trying to police people’s creativity or something...ironically, they’ve run amok on that post, but i have no interest in stopping them cuz guess what?
i don’t care anymore, why would i care about policing you? 
what purpose would that have?
you’re going to do it anyway, and i don’t have the time or heart to spare for you. 
policing doesn’t equal me saying, “lol you’re garbage.” 
I’m not stopping you. I’m not even trying to stop you.
I’m just expressing my general disappointment in you as a person.
A long time ago, I was very involved in trying to convince people that they should change their ways. 
But I’ve given up on this, and why?
Because this species is incorrigible. 
And it doesn’t matter, because we are well beyond the brink of salvation.
And it’s fine, it’s all fine.
But a man’s gotta complain, a man’s gotta bitch to get it out of his system, to make his life bearable, because he’s logical, because he’s got a natural talent for reasoning and maybe he’s a little compassionate too, so how can he cope with an irrational, amoral world?
by whining on his blog.
the fact that you are here is irrelevant.
you can stay or go. 
it doesn’t matter to me, at this point. 
i’ve reached transcendence, i have realized that i decide what you’re worth, in my world. 
that post can stay angry. 
you can argue until you’re blue in the face about how badly you wanna fuck tracer. 
if that’s how you cope with your inner loneliness and your desperate fear of the human condition, then fine by me, bb. 
we’re all dying, and i understand it better than you. 
and that’s fine. there’s no sin in being dumber than me. 
but the end statement, i mean, i don’t know why i ever bothered.
i was a dumb kid, i thought it mattered.
i was raised thinking i could help people. 
but damn, man, there’s no helping any of you.
and come on, we all have to admit it!
some of you aren’t worth helping. 
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Note
Are you a Gold Star lesbian? (Just in case you don't know what it means, a Gold Star lesbian is a lesbian that has never had sex with a guy and would never have any intentions of ever doing so)  
Hi! I’m not trying to shame you in any way, anon, but I’m pretty sure it’s been covered in a few places that the concept of “Gold Star” is… Not Good. 
I’d rather not get into all of that and speak for people who have way more experience and knowledge in the matter, especially because I don’t identify as a lesbian*, which is particularly because, old as I am, I’m still trying to figure out a lot of things, including how to identify my gender and sexuality. They’re both pretty fluid, although I’ve never not been attracted to girls and women when I was a girl** or attracted to women as a grown ass human being. I’ve also never identified as male, but this isn’t the right post to be going on about that! Long story short, the problems with gold star anything can be googled and is very informative!
That said, I’m very comfortable at this point in my life saying that I’ve never had sex with anyone (or kissed anyone, or had any sort of consensual physical sexual contact to be honest) and have no plans to have sex with anyone at the moment. I’m actually attracted to men, which is why I identify as bi, though I definitely don’t see myself dating a man.
As much as I go on about wanting a girlfriend and wanting to date on this blog, it’s actually a pretty scary concept to me and a large part of my PTSDed ass doesn’t even want to think about it! 
Sorry this went on forever, anon! I hope you and everyone who reads this has a great day/night and hopefully no one judges anyone about their sexual or romantic experiences (or in my case, lack thereof.)
Editing to add:
* I realized that some of what I said could be construed in a way it wasn’t meant and wanted to be clear that I am absolutely not trying to say that they/them and he/him lesbians don’t exist or aren’t valid! I just constantly feel like an intruer in anything and everything I do, so I don’t feel super comfortable identifying as anything, really.
** I also never fully identified as a “girl” as a child, though I am still trying to figure out if it’s fully or only partially because of internalized misogyny.
My url says “I’m so gay” for a few reasons, including the fact that gay can be a blanket term--so can other words, but they were never used as a slur against or near me and gay was, so I feel pretty fine reclaiming it! Also, it rhymes with okay, and Okay Kaya, aka Kaya Wilkins, is one of my favorite people and artists. I have a lot, though, to be fair.
If I’ve said anything else that could be misconstrued or seems hateful or dismissive, please let me know! I’m basically all about spreading sapphic love, tbh and happiness for non-hateful people, I guess, so I’m really not trying to do anything but that! I just didn’t want this getting way too fucking long.
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inthatstateofgrace · 7 years
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Not A Creative Person? Meditation Will Change That
By Paul Harrison
Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”  – Pablo Picasso.
Creative people. They’re the rock stars, authors, and artists of the world. They’re the ones we look up to for their imagination and their talent.
They’re special, aren’t they? Those creative artists who create the music, books, and art we turn to when we want to dream.
I remember the first time I went to La Louvre in Paris, one of the most impressive art galleries in the world. A teenage art nerd, I couldn’t help but fall in love. I ogled the works of artists like Gericault and Da Vinci. They were people born to create works of creative genius.
As an author, I dreamed that one day I might create works that would be one hundredth the creative brilliance of those paintings adorning the walls of France’s most important gallery.
But where Da Vinci and Gericault were born for creative brilliance, I was not. Most of us are not. Right?
If we were born with creative talent we would surely know about it, wouldn’t we? Talent like that couldn’t be hiding somewhere, unbeknownst to us. Could it?
But what if creative talent isn’t reserved for just the lucky few? What if creative talent is actually inside us all?
Pablo Picasso famously said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
Sure enough, every child is indeed an artist. Give a two-year-old a crayon and they’ll draw you a picture. True, it might be a mangled mess completely uninterpretable until said child tells you it’s a cat, but they will grab that crayon and they will draw to their heart’s content; they will have a go.
Trouble is, most adults will not have a go. Give an adult a crayon and they’ll probably just put it right back in the box and tell you to grow up. It’s like the mere idea of being creative seems absurd to them.
We lose our creativity as we grow old. And no wonder. “Stress is a well-known creativity killer,” says psychologist Robert Epstein, PhD. “Time constraints are another.” As we age we are gradually exposed to both increasing levels of stress and tightening time constraints, and our creativity is stifled.
Stress and time-constraints kill creativity in many ways:
Stress prevents the mind from being playful, which is essential to creativity.
Stress makes us obsess over worries rather than thinking about possibilities.
Stress prevents us from living in the moment, cutting off our main source of inspiration.
Stress is tiring, sapping our creative energy.
Time constraints mean we’re forced to do things the way we know rather than looking for alternatives.
Both time constraints and stress make us hyper-focused on action and results, preventing us from looking outside the box, from considering alternative options, and, ultimately, from being creative.
Put all these factors together and it’s easy to see why the modern world is custom designed to kill the average adult’s creativity.
But that doesn’t mean adults cannot be creative. It just means we have to make a concerted effort to actually use our creative powers.
The key to reclaiming our creativity, perhaps surprisingly, is this: We need to chill out.
Sounds jovial. It’s actually both vital and incredibly accurate.
If we want to be creative we have to let our minds play. We have to stop being so darned focused on the time and on productivity and results. “Chilling out” truly is the answer.
To say we need to “chill out” really means we have to let go of stress so we can be more mentally flexible.
We can liken this to yoga.
Physical stress kills a yoga practice like mental stress kills creativity, and for precisely the same reason.
When we are tense (in other words, physically stressed) our muscles are cramped in one position, making it impossible for them to take up an asana.
Similarly, when we are mentally tense (stressed) the mind is too forced in one position, too focused on one way of looking at things, making it impossible to be creative.
We can solve both these problems in the same way.
When we are tense in yoga we don’t immediately jump into Locust Scorpion. We begin by helping the body to relax. Only once the body is relaxed can we perform advanced asanas.
It’s the same with creativity.
When we’re mentally stressed we don’t pen A Tale Of Two Cities.  Rather, we have to take steps to relax the mind so that we can start to be more creative.
To relax the mind, we meditate. But in a specific way.
The majority of meditation techniques are focused. These are techniques in which we focus the mind on one thing, such as the breath. This, however, is not conducive to creativity because creativity is not about focusing on one view. It’s about being open to myriad different views.
The opposite of focused meditations is Open Monitoring.
These are meditations in which we do not focus on one thing, but rather we extend awareness to the entirety of our environment. It’s as though consciousness were butter in a warm pan. The butter expands evenly to cover the whole pan. Same with open monitoring meditation. Consciousness spreads evenly so we are aware of our whole environment.
If you have ever found yourself fully absorbed in beautiful scenery you will have experienced open monitoring meditation. It’s the state in which we feel one with our environment, when we seem to breathe with the world, when we are calm and yet aware of the fullness of our environment.
Scientific research proves that open monitoring is an incredibly powerful technique for creativity.
Cognitive psychologist Loenza Colzato studied the affect that open monitoring meditation has on divergent and convergent thinking. These are mental processes that enable us to come up with new ideas and bring those ideas together into one cohesive unit (such as when we conceptualise a story, first brainstorming ideas and then bringing them together into one story).
Colazato’s study showed that open monitoring meditation significantly improved these mental processes. This, Colzato said, showed that open monitoring meditation is an incredibly powerful tool for creativity.
The reason open monitoring meditation boosts creativity is, essentially, because it is freeing. It undoes the damage that too much stress and time constraints do to us.
As adults, it is far too easy to become hyper-focused on productivity and results, always choosing the trusted way rather than being free to experiment. It’s a self-imposed cage in which we cannot see the infinite possibilities that are always within us.
Open monitoring meditation opens the mind, limbering us up like those warm-up moves in yoga. It creates mental flexibility and freedom with which we can realise our creative potential.
Why not try open monitoring meditation today. It’s easy.
To do open monitoring meditation:
Go somewhere quiet and relaxing, a place you would want to be one with (such as a beautiful countryside).
Sit or lie down.
Count your breaths up to 50 just to relax.
Be aware of your senses. Listen, feel, smell, taste, and see the environment around you.
Let your consciousness rhttp://dailycupofyoga.com/wp-admin/index.phpeach out so that you are aware of everything.
If thoughts and feelings arise, let them come and go while still paying attention to the environment.
Continue for 20 minutes.
Notice how you feel more open, more relaxed, and freer.
Practice this technique whenever you want to get in touch with your creativity. It will open your mind and give you the mental freedom and flexibility with which to be creative.
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Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Paul Harrison, based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Paul is a spiritual author, meditation teacher, and owner of The Daily Meditation.com. Be sure to read Paul’s guide to using meditation for creativity so you can achieve your true creative potential.  
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