Grant Me the Power…

Ok, I am back. 2019 has been a hell of a year. I left my toxic job, bought a house, and started really focusing on school for my dream job. Needless to say, while I have remained resilient, writing positive thinking posts were not a the forefront of my mind. It’s ok though, resiliency means we bounce back from what life throws us.

So Revolutionary Girl Utena,

The OVA is what made me fall in love with anime, as an 18 year old who had just joined the military, something about a girl wearing boys clothes was rather comforting. (Forget the whole idea of  figuring out my sexual preferences, that came later).

What can we learn from her?

Take initiative! Change your world yourself!

Instead of waiting for her mystery prince to return, Utena decided to become a prince herself willing to rescue other princesses.

Be weird! Be different! Be you!

Both teachers and her peers made it very clear that she was weird by defying gender norms, wearing the boys uniform (and dueling for the Rose Bride in secret). At one point she let’s this get to her, she puts on a skirt and tries to be a normal (girl) student; she ends up proving she is a bad ass regardless of what she is wearing. Don’t let others try to force you to conform.

Sometimes you can take your bad experiences/ past trauma, learn from them, and help others.

I am not getting int to Akio right now…. Let’s just leave it there….

You have the power to bring your own world revaluation. Be a self rescuing prince(ss), and possibly help others along the way.

 

 

So, I am back. Practicing what I preach, because I am a hot mess. Hopefully I bring you something new to think about (even if it was just a new anime recommendation). Today’s topic came to mind because I recently pulled out my Utena cosplay for Fargo Pride. A friend ask if I wanted to be in the parade and she replied: Cosplay, gay…. So Utena it was!

 

 

So it’s sunshine day…

I have picked up the description of coffee snob, more like I am a caffeine addict with taste but, whatever.

I was discussing this post:

Sankta Lucia: The Survival of a Nordic Sun Goddess

With a fellow caffeine connoisseur today, because I found it very interesting that Saint Lucia’s day is celebrated by drinking coffee.

He asked what the holiday was about. I brought up that from a nordic heathen prospective, it was a day to honor the sun goddess. Because, just like here in North Dakota, this time of year the Scandinavian countries wouldn’t get much sun light, so they are celebrating the little bit they get.

“Oh, so it’s sunshine day ” he replied to me. “Time for more coffee then.”

Why do I share this story with the internet?

I was running around like a mad woman today for work and spent little time at my desk, so I was out in sunshine. I had not taken the time to appreciate the (North Dakota) nice weather we had today. Nor, had I been grateful that a meeting had been moved to give me time for coffee.

Remember in your busy day to appreciate the little things. The Vikings set a day aside to be thankful for sunshine in the winter,  we need to remember to do the same. Because when we’re thankful for the light, the dark is not so bad.

 

Time for more coffee…

Obligatory Thankfulness Post

Well, yesterday was Thanksgiving here in the states, and I’m sure we all saw posts about being thankful for friends,family, jobs,etc.

So what’s the big deal?

Is there a purpose to expressing this gratitude or is it all lip service? Well, it is shown that gratitude is a key component in one’s resiliency. But, it does not have to be in the context of a holiday where you over eat and are possibly stuck with people you can’t stand.

It can be as simple as noticing 3 good things about your day, each day. They do not have to be something big, and some days it might just be the fact that you woke up this morning (which is a feat in and of itself sometimes). My favorite to do this was through journaling.

I’ve fallen off the wagon a bit with these entries lately, but as you see mine is kind of a mix between a bullet journal and a scrapbook. When I started this challenge I had to find my 3 good things for the day, soon I was noticing so many more!

After a while, I fell behind on doing my journal daily, but that’s ok! After you try it out daily, find the frequency that works for you!

If you want journal inspiration check out: #iggledailyjournal

The other important thing to do is to share your gratitude with others, again for big or small things!

Try this right now!

Send someone (friends, family, random mutual on social media) a message saying you appreciate them. See what the response is! Because you gratitude and positivity is contagious and will rub off on them.

Another way would be snailmail. Winter holidays are coming up, send cards to those who helped you survive 2018 (it’s been a hell of a year). It may be the boost they need too!

Here’s my last batch of outgoing happy mail, holiday cards are being put together soon.

Take it from the goth geek girl, life is not all sunshine and rainbows, but if we don’t appreciate the rainbows when we get them, that’s going to lead to a really gloomy outlook on life.

Midoriya Monday

I apologize for my unplanned hiatus, I messed up my hand (don’t ask me how, I do not know) and it was literally a pain to type. It did make for a great addition for my Deku cosplay:

He happens to be key to today’s topic: Value Based Goal Setting.

We all have to do things in life and often you have people telling what you should be doing with your life. If you’re in high school they really push you to choose what you want to do with your life and pick a path….I didn’t figure it out until 12 years later, because I am finally trying to live to my values. AKA being more like Deku.

The first step is defining your values. This can be abstract like justice or more concrete like financial independence.

These will vary from person to person, whenever I teach this “food” and “sleep” always come up, defiantly legit values, especially if you ask Eraserhead.

Midoriya values justice and being able to help others with a smile.

(Side note, could you imagine what we would be like if we stuck to the goals we set when we were this young?)

So he sets his goal to become a hero!

Step 2: Define your goal and set milestones

One does not just become the number one hero over night. So step one, get into UA. That was going to be a feat in and of itself except for a chance encounter that he was going to make the most of.

So, now he has a sub goal to his sub goal: Get in shape enough to accept All Might’s quirk.

As demonstrated during his training montage, ask yourself:

What can I do in the next 24hrs?

What can I do in a week? In a month? In 6 months?

Check back in with your mile stones and reset them as needed.

Step three: Find ways to trip over your goals

If you hit a block or a set back find a way around it.

Get hurt? Adjust your work out routine!

Can’t use your arms anymore with out risking permanent damage? Use your legs!

(Who else face-palmed that it took him that long to figure this out?)

Step four: Share your goal with others

Share with family, friends, the internet whoever can help you stay accountable.

In the case of Class 1A, they have all banned together to work on their shared goal of being heroes. Heck, they even help this perv out:

In sharing your goals, you do not only do you get support and held accountable, you may inspire someone else.

Setting and sticking to your goals is not going to be easy. Depending what you’re trying to do there’s going to be set backs and tears….

……or is that just me that cries about everything?

But when you start living your values, you will be able to take the hits life throws at you with a smile.

 

Hobbit Day

My introduction to The Hobbit and all things J.R.R. Tolkien was due to my dad being tired of reading me Dr. Seuss (I’m pretty sure 25 years later he can still recite Green Eggs and Ham from memory) and  pulled out what is still to this day, my favorite novel.

So with today being being the 81st anniversary of the book’s publication and tomorrow being Bilbo and Frodo’s birthday, let’s talk hobbits.

Poor Bilbo, minding his on business, enjoying his hobbies of food and books when some strange bearded man forces him out of his cozy hobbit hole and on to an adventure….

Things do not really look up from there for a while for a while; Thorin went out of his was to find problems with him, he’s out of his element, away from home and trying to get the hang of his new job. All this poor guy want is to sit by his fire place and have a cup of tea.

Wait,Wait,Wait…. wrong movie starring Martin Freeman…… Here we go:

Our darling halfling protagonist does not quit, he does not return home, the dwarves don’t get told to go screw themselves, and he continues to save Thorin and company from sticky situations.

Bilbo uses his size, stealth, keen eyesight, whit, and luck (not to mention a magic ring…)  to be the best burglar he can.

Stuck in the dark with a creature that wants to eat him? Accept its challenge to a game of riddle.

Party in prison? Sneak the out in barrels.

Caught by a dragon? Flatter him until he finds its weakness.

In the end our hobbit is a hero, an unlikely adventurer whisked away from his home who survived relying on his talents and standing resilient in the face of whatever came his way.

Its like this for us sometimes too. We are pushed out of our comfort zone, and feel like we’re in over our heads. We have to dive head first into a new job or new class and this means working with new people. Sometimes those people are going to be like Gandalf and see the best in you, pushing you to learn and grow. Other times, those people are going to be like Thorin, doubting you and criticizing you for not being just like them.

How do we deal with this situation? When we get ripped from our comfort zone by a well meaning person only to be faced daily with someone who thinks you are worthless?

Be like Bilbo, prove them wrong. Let your skills shine through, show the team what you can do. Those abilities that make you different from everyone in the group? They’re your strengths! Your creativity, your writing skills, being a good listener, your organization skills, or even experiences you have had in the past are things that only you can contribute to the group and you might end up saving the day.

It might not be something they wright into stories and songs, but that insanely large collection of gel pens or your PowerPoint skills may be just what was needed to finish a project. You may not get the happy ending Bilbo got, where your haters become your friends, but you will have thrived outside your comfort zone, ready to take on the next challenge.

What will you do when Gandalf come to your home with 13 uninvited guests? Do you ignore the challenge and pretend it was a bad dream? Or do you rush down the road on an adventure to let your skills shine?

I will leave you with something fun:

Check out Jonathan Young’s cover of Misty Mountains:

Hopefully it gives you the same chills Bilbo got in the book, and sets you on the right path for your next adventure.

Mail Call Monday

“EVERLY!” my T.I. shouted before chucking an envelope at me. My dad had passed my address on to a friend I had known since middle school and she sent me letters to help me survive the hell that was basic training.

11 years later, we’re still writing each other, its just no longer by the light of the latrine and I have much prettier stationary to use. We have managed to to keep up with each other during all our life changes with a few pieces of paper and some stamps.

I have have picked up other penpals over the years, keeping up with old friends and making new ones all over the world.  My daughter already has her own penpal, and she is super exited when something shows up for her in our mail box.

Why do I bring up this archaic hobby of mine?

Often when the concept of social resiliency is brought up, we think of parties, going out drinking, or participating in sports. Not knocking anyone who enjoys those things, but they are just not appealing to some people; crowds just really are not your thing and being out in them does more to drain you than build you up. Well, like it or not social is a pillar of resiliency and you have to find something that fills that void.

Que snail mail. Writing and receiving letters is a wonderful way to make new friends and stay in touch with old. You can exchange video game recommendations, talk about the weather, or role play as an airship mechanic in the year 1888. All things I am not great at in person at times, but when I have time to write them out on paper it is fun! Then add the anticipation of receiving happy mail in return gives you some thing positive to look forward to to help you get through your day.

How does one get started writing letters? Not everyone is going to put up with having letters chucked at them by a slightly unstable man who is supposed be responsible for you and 40+ other young women….

The International Geek Girl Pen Pal Club is a great way to meet fellow nerds, geeks, fans, etc.

Between their forums, twitter activities, special swaps and pen pal sign up rounds you can find friends across the world that share your geek loves.

As a matter of fact, sign ups for their next pen pal round are open right now:

Sign up here: http://geekgirlpenpals.com/    All genders are welcome!

Another suggestion is Postcrossing:  https://www.postcrossing.com/

Send a postcard to someone somewhere in the world, get one back from someone else somewhere in the world. I must add that is one perk of living in North Dakota; I add some pretty unique cards to folks collections. You get the opportunity to learn about other countries, cultures, and languages, while receiving something fun in your mail box.

I have had the opportunity to write to schools, old folks, and even a cat! The cat was definitely my favorite; I had my own furry friend write to them about the local rodent population.

So, if you are looking for social interaction form the comfort of your own chair, grab a pen, paper, some stamps and get to writing! It makes this wide world a little smaller.

 

Mercy Monday

After a weekend of binge playing Overwatch with my favorite people, I really got to thinking about how my main can be a reminder on how we should deal with life.

Overwatch is not the type of game I would normally gravitate to; I am not very good a shooters…or anything in first person, but I gave it a shot and sixty some odd levels later, I am a pretty decent Mercy player.

Mercy is a pretty awesome character to play….when you are on a good team. When your tanks protect her, you just spend the match healing and resurrecting your team mates as you all work to take the objective.

Normally you end up dying a lot because your left to your own devices, or because players on the other side of the map keep spamming the the “I need healing” button and you get shot down trying to get to them just so they shut up.  Then there is the cases where Mercy has to take matters in her own hands and be battle Mercy, shooting down the enemy to get to your ally that needs to be resurrected.

 The neat thing about playing as her is that even though she has pretty low health, she heals herself slowly as you keep going. Sometimes if you’ve been hit you just need to step back behind cover, and let yourself heal before you keep going.

We need to do that for ourselves sometimes too. We get busy running around taking care of others at home or at work, solving problems and saving the day. As we do this though, we take hits, it wears us down and if we keep going no stop we’re going to burn out and are no longer be helpful.

So we need to step back behind cover and let ourselves recover our own hit points. Self care is very important for us to do. It seems like a horrifically selfish thing to do, especially when everything around you seems to be going crazy, but if you do not take care of you , you can not take care of anything or anyone else. Just like Mercy, if you do not let her step back and heal, she dies and when she respawns she now has to catch up to the rest of her team to get back to doing her job.

For us that moment of mindfulness, that long walk, that bubble bath, that coffee break are very important. Yes, self care goes much deeper than these things at times (note to self….remember to take meds), but doing a small act that may seem selfish helps clear your mind so you can keep going.

You also can not always make it to the other side of the map to help your allies in time and that’s ok too. Say no to volunteering this weekend, or to helping plan the office party. Focus on what you can get done and do not take on too much extra to keep yourself from being overwhelmed, otherwise you’re not going to be helpful anywhere. It sucks saying no, especially when people have come to expect you to say yes to everything they they ask you to do. You got to take care of yourself. Mercy can’t resurrect everyone, and you can’t take on every side project that comes your way. Say no sometimes, preserve your sanity.

Its a tough thing to stick too, I am very guilty of taking on too much. Honestly, yelling at the screen playing as Mercy hit very close to home that I can not help everyone and that I need to look out for myself at times. So just like improving my gaming, self care is something I am working on.

So, when you start getting overwhelmed, remember be like Mercy, take a moment, let yourself recharge and then get back to the fight.

Mindful Monday

Have you seen Aggretsuko yet?

Retsuko is defiantly my new favorite Sanrio character (don’t tell Hello Kitty). She’s an adorable, over worked, under appreciated, red panda. I feel like I relate to her a lot…..and so do my friends….

My daughter was binge watching this on Netflix with me and said “Mama, that’s you!” Not when she’s singing metal songs….when she was frustrated at work.

My coworker said, “Lol, you’re Retsuko, and I’m her sarcastic friend (Fenneko)!”

Well, she’s not wrong there…I’m constantly exasperated over something or another, and my coworker just laughs things off.

And my bestie is convinced that Retsuko is my patronus….The show really does capture life in your 20s really well…..Looks suspiciously at my Hello Kitty collection….Pretty convinced that Sanrio has been spying on me now….

One thing I absolutely love about the character and an area I need to be more like her on, is the mindful ways she copes with the stress in her life. I don’t mean the excessive drinking you see her and her coworkers participate in through out the show.

That is a level of social commentary that I am not getting into right now, but I will note that it causes more problems than it solves. Her great mindful moments start out with her favorite hobby: Karaoke.

I’m not much of a singer myself (can’t carry a tune in a bucket), but I defiantly agree with her that metal is incredibly relaxing.  She unwinds at the end of a hard day screaming her emotions into a mic. At first it’s a hobby she pursues on her own, but then later she has friends that she vents to through the music.

She does not bottle everything up to release at the end of the day once she gets her karaoke room though, if she’s getting too stressed at work she takes a pause and screams her heart out into the mic she carries in her purse.

Now, blasting metal music in the bathroom, may not be acceptable at the place you work at, but Retsuko has the right idea. When everything is going crazy, take a minute, gather your thoughts, let go of what you can not control, and get back to it.

Some sort of mantra or exercise is good for this. Nothing cheesy like:

(Do Seinfeld references show my age? oh well)

Maybe it is the lyrics to a song, or the motto of your favorite comic book character, just something that will ground you so you can get back to it!

Something else Retsuko starts doing to work on her mindfulness and unwind is she takes up yoga. To be fair, her original plan was to lose weight so she could marry a rich man and never work in her hell hole of an office again. Who hasn’t had that day dream though?

Yoga not only is something that worked on her physical fitness, but it is also a form of moving mediation. As she twists herself around into one pose or another she has time to reflect and unwind from a rough day. Moving meditation is great, if you’re like me being still and trying to be in the moment is incredibly difficult, but things like yoga or trance dance are a great vehicle to let things go.

Retsuko also gains friends from these exploits.

Gori and Washimi, two strong women who work for the same company Retsuko does. They are able to provide her with a place to vent and mentorship. If they think she is doing something stupid, they’ll tell her and those are the friends you need sometimes.

To sum up, this cute little Sanrio cartoon may hit close to home when it comes to how stressful life can be, but we can take away a few good reminders on how to survive that stress:

1. Pursue a hobby, metal karaoke is everything for Retsuko
2. Move it! Yoga or other exercises can be used as moving meditation to bring yourself back into the moment.
3. Good friends are the ones that will tell you when you are doing something stupid, they are not always your cheerleader, they have your best interests at heart

So, when life gets you wound up be like Retsuko. Take a moment, let go of what you can not control and get back to it!

Move it Monday

Happy Monday everyone! If you’re reading this, you have survived the first day of the week. What’s a good way to make Mondays suck less? Get moving!

I’m not preaching that kale and yoga solve all your woes, but setting aside a little time for physical activity will help build up your personal resiliency.

Productivity begets productivity…. yes, that means walking around and playing Pokemon GO for a bit before you start your homework is a good thing. Also, finding a physical activity that suits you can help you manage chronic pain, or even symptoms of depression and anxiety. Not by any means a cure all, but it helps practice mindfulness.

I emphasize that it needs to be something that suits you. If you have physical problems don’t dive head first into something that will put you at risk for further injury. Find your niche, that could be sports, dance, Pokemon GO walks, strength training, light saber fighting (seriously http://usa.ludosport.net/ ), yoga, running, whatever!

Which leads me to my favorite app to get me up, out, and moving:

If you love audio drama and RPGs this is for you!

You are Runner 5, and you have become a runner for the Able Township after the helicopter you were in was shot down over zombie infested territory. Of course this calls to mind rule #1 from Zombieland :

If anything will get you moving, its the moans of the undead in your ear.

Runner 5 is the typical silent main character you encounter in an RPG such as the Persona series or Butthole from the South Park games. What they do an amazing job on, is there is never a physical description for 5 and they keep the character completely gender neutral making it really easy for you to become Runner 5.

There are many diverse characters in the story, but the one that guides you through this apocalyptic version of England is Sam Yao, your radio operator. Sam has your six, warning you about zoms heading your way and helps you out of many a sticky situation.

The game is not all running in terror from the undead. There is plenty of humor and adventure as Runner 5 discovers more about what caused the outbreak and about themselves. You also pick up supplies on your run and you use those to build up your own personal Able township….mine is mostly made of sports bras…..

If you finish your mission and don’t want to start the next one, you can do a supply run or listen to Radio Able.

I should add, this game works with the music player on your phone, so you can still listen your favorite music between story injects.

Also, if running is not your thing you can change the settings on the app. There’s GPS, pedometer, and constant speed. The constant speed one is great if you are using something like a bike or elliptical, if you’re finishing out your workout with strength training, or even if you’re doing house work!

On the other hand if you are trying to improve your run time, you can turn chases on. This will add injects for the zoms to chase you and if you don’t speed up, you lose supplies you have collected.

This is the most obscure, but inclusive fandom I have ever been apart of. The game sends you emails as part of the missions, and you can get on Rofflenet to talk to other runners. It does not matter what your fitness level is, you are part of Able township.

I encountered a man with the Zombies,Run! logo as a tattoo at the last convention I went to. Our conversation went as such:

Me: “Excuse me, are you Runner 5?”

Him: “Yes, I am!”

Me: “I am Runner 5 as well!”

Him: “Pleased to meet you Runner 5!”

We then talked about where we had gotten to in the story and which of their 5k events we had signed up for. He also gave me this pin:

For the rest of the con, when we encountered each other we would great the other as Runner 5.

I have to mention that my kiddo enjoys the game as well, but that’s because if mommy is on a “bombie run” she gets to come with.

(btw, toddlers are great to use for strength training).

So if you are looking for a new game to play, something to motivate you to get up and moving, an awesome fandom, and/or something with an amazing story line, I highly suggest trying out Zombies,Run! It’s free to play, but if you love it s much as I do, you can throw $20 dollars at it and unlock more features.

https://zombiesrungame.com/

Well, until next time, Stay safe out there!

-Runner 5 (Kemeah)