#- i am a very philosophical person interested in psychology and other related topics ever since i was a little kid - >< | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dashawfrostart · 1 year

Text

“Time & Again” Official Announcement!

It’s officially on, my fellas! 😁 I actually wrote this little article for sharing in social networks... Only then I realized though that my essential idea of its representation has been captured in this little text surprisingly well. I’m not really even sure what else to add. I haven’t made posts like that before in my life, so I’m not really even sure how to make big announcements like that properly... But oh well, the most important thing is that I expressed myself pretty clear and exhaustive. (pardon my blunt honesty 🤣) So here it goes, below I copy-paste the text - the brief explanation of what my epic creation is. And most importantly, the news that it’s already on its way! 😉

I am an indie artist working on my first-ever graphic novel called “Time & Again”. The first 3 chapters out of 8 are already complete, and this month they’re gonna be available for everybody to read and purchase online! I am so excited to share it with you all, and I hope you enjoy it!

I’ve been working on it since the end of 2020. It sparked from just one random experimental chapter, and during all these years this project of mine has grown and evolved into quite a voluminous and very serious undertaking, especially considering that it’s pretty much a “one woman’s work”. And now it’s not gonna be an exaggeration to say that I live and breathe “Time & Again”; it makes me feel accomplished as an artist ❤. To me, this story is a sort of an art manifest, a self-challenge, a thoughtful message that I want to deliver to the readers through the graphic novel medium.

“Time & Again” tells a story of two contract killers, Lothar and Jeanny, how they lost and found each other over time, and what obstacles they faced on the way to their life goals and new realizations. In my graphic novel, narration is not always linear, and the nature of the story is somewhat experimental - so is its visual form. It has action, and romance, and slow musings, and surreal things, and even an element of horror in it.

It’s also important to note that, despite its art style on a more “cartoony” side and presence of numerous fun and comedic moments, it’s aimed at mature audience. It is going to touch difficult topics such as loss of a beloved person, sense of guilt, absence of willpower to move forward in life, and other themes. I consider it to be a thoughtful, philosophical and psychological story first of all. Reader’s discretion is highly advised.

I created 2 new special tags for this grand project to use by you and me in social networks: #TimeAndAgainbyDWF and #LotharAndJeanny, to make it easier for you to search for everything related to my graphic novel in the vast perils of the internet. Spread the word, share the happy news with the others, and prepare yourself for the grand adventure that is about to unfold any time now!

I estimate this will be an ongoing project for me for the next few years, and I plan to release the next chapters as soon as they are ready, and the links to complete chapters will soon be provided in my next posts in here. You can also track down the progress with it on my Facebook art page and other social accounts, of course, so don’t hesitate to subscribe if you’re interested; it is greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much for your time and attention! I really value your interest in my story and your support! 🌹❤

#TimeAndAgainbyDWF #LotharAndJeanny #graphic novel #indie comics #coming soon #artists on tumblr #dashawfrost #announcement #cartoon style

0 notes

thereallygoodblogshow · 5 years

Text

MA Fashion and Textile Practices Major Project Path - 22nd March

So in respect to Kandinsky and what we had been looking at, I thought I would need to look into what colour means to us. My work so far is of stark contrasts using black and white because it is impactful and reflects my personality - not that I am a colourless person but I like a strong aesthetic and I feel that black and white shows that. I feel that if I add colour into what I do it will have to have some purpose, or represent something that means something to me.

Of course colour is incredibly important to all of us, not only does colour create certain emotions within us but colours can symbolise different things to different cultures. If we asked what does the colour red mean to a variety of people, it would mean different things depending on where in the world those people were. Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist likened colours to certain traits of human personality. Influenced by the work of the Greek philosopher Hippocrates - who observed that many people had similar characteristics - he determined that the human personality was split into four temperaments associated to colour;

COOL BLUE: showing no bias, objective, detached, analytical.

EARTH GREEN: still, tranquil, calming, soothing.

SUNSHINE YELLOW: cheerful, uplifting, spirited, enthusiastic.

FIERY RED: positive, decisive, bold, assertive.

Of course not everyone can be easily slotted into each of these categories, but Jung believed that while we all possess these colour energies they are evident in varying amounts depending on what situation we are in. Apparently we have one dominant colour energy and to determine this we fall along the following two axes of behavior or preference;

Introversion - Extroversion ( X axis) Thinking - Feeling/Decision-making (Y axis)

Money, T. (n.d). Jung at heart – what’s your personality colour?. [Illustration]. Retrieved from https://www.totallymoney.com/blog/jung-at-heart-whats-your-personality-colour/.

The above illustration shows how we can work out our own dominant colour energy as well as showing the positive, and also what could be perceived as negative qualities of a personality of that colour. I would say mine is definitely Yellow but with lesser traits of Green and Red, and on occasion Blue, maybe my family and friends would disagree! It is interesting to know that this illustration and varying versions of it appear on many business websites, not surprisingly this method is often used when determining employee compatibility and team dynamics. Not only can businesses determine more about a person through this method, we can find out more about ourselves and use these traits to our advantage in both our working and personal lives.

So, according to Jung colour reflects aspects of our Psyche. But externally colour symbolises different things to different people. We of course use colour in all aspects of our lives, some colours are to warn us, some to make us feel calm and relaxed, some to make us feel happy, but why do we associate these colours to certain emotions and actions? What is the symbolism of colour?

Depending on our culture or society colour can have varying degrees of importance, for instance on the Art Therapy Blog (n.d) it states that in the United States at least three of the Native American cultures hold the same three colours sacred: black, white and yellow. Each of them has a fourth colour in addition to these that defines each nation;

Navajo Nation –> turquoise Apache Nation –> green Iowa Nation –> red

Carey, H. (2015). Color In Navajo Life And Beliefs. [Illustration]. Retrieved from https://navajopeople.org/blog/the-navajo-four-sacred-colors/.

The above illustration shows the meaning the Navajo Nation’s four colours with each colour representing certain aspects of their culture as well as points on a compass. The Navajo homeland is represented in the centre where four sacred mountains meet, so each of the colours also represents a sacred mountain. So to the Navajo colour not only represents their physical home but also tells the story of how it was created.

In other cultures these colours can mean something else entirely and so unique to them, such as in China and India, the colour red symbolises good luck, but in Russia and China it means revolution and communism. Red in the United Kingdom is on our Royal Mail post boxes and our flag, so symbolises patriotism, whilst in Spain it represents power and passion. The Mayan’s on the other hand used it as a colour for North.

Taking into consideration the meaning and use of colour between cultures product branding has to be very clever in its use of colour to appeal to its maximum audience. We all know which colour Walkers cheese and onion crisp packets are, right? Blue in the UK, but in Holland they’re yellow - this actually making the most sense if you think about the flavour. Personally I think cheese and onion should be green and salt and vinegar should be blue as I associate those colours more to those flavours than the current Walkers offering.

Up until the mid 90′s they were indeed the other way around - although denied by Walkers - when Golden Wonder the market leader at the time did, and still do have their cheese and onion flavour in green packets and their salt and vinegar in blue. It is believed that Walkers had actually invented the flavour some eight years previously and wanted to differentiate between their offering and Golden Wonder’s so decided to switch around the colours and have remained so ever since. This divided public opinion so much about what colour packaging crisp flavours should be that Walkers had to release a statement to customers convinced that the colours used to be other way round denying that they had ever been different.

Smith, M. (n.d). Crisp packet colour schemes. [Illustration]. Retrieved from https://yougov.co.uk/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2016/10/28/walkers-crisp-packet-colours-are-wrong-way-round-s

A particularly interesting point regarding the crisp packet debate was discussed in an article in The Mail Online (McDermott, 2013) where Charles Spence, a professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University had conducted a study on colours relating to taste and found the wrapper colours for Salt and Vinegar, and Cheese and Onion crisps can affect the product’s taste. He said of such (n.d);

“Many subjects will taste the colour of the crisp packet, not the crisp itself. Our brains excel in picking up associations and using them as shortcuts. When the colour makes us expect something to taste a certain way, we’ll taste what we expect. Having packets which are different to the norm causes unnecessary confusion.”

I find this quite surprising as I would never think that a colour of a crisp packet would actually make the crisps taste differently, but as Spence found the brain fools us into perceiving taste just by observing certain colours. Could that be the subjects minds were working in a similar way to that of someone with Synesthesia but to a lesser degree? Or possibly that the power of colour is so strong that we are deeply effected by it on many levels.

Article: McDermott, N. (2013, March 14). Cheese and onion or salt and vinegar? How the colour of your crisp packet can affect how they taste. Mail Online. Retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2293465/A-cheese-onion-crisis-How-colour-crisp-packet-affect-taste.html

Websites: Smith, M. (n.d). The curse of Golden Wonder: Walkers finds public still stuck in the olden days of crisp colours. Retrieved from https://yougov.co.uk/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2016/10/28/walkers-crisp-packet-colours-are-wrong-way-round-s.

Art Therapy. (n.d). Color Meanings & Symbolism. Retrieved from http://www.arttherapyblog.com/online/color-meanings-symbolism/#.XL3YeehKiUm.

Carey, H. (2015). The Navajo Four Sacred Colors. Retrieved from https://navajopeople.org/blog/the-navajo-four-sacred-colors/

IIL. (n.d). Communicating in Color: The Four Color Energies. Retrieved from https://www.pminj.org/14-smp/files/ckirby-ho.pdf.

0 notes

ilonavic · 7 years

Text

25 Q/A Personality Tag

A dear friend of mine asked me to do this tag myself after I wrote this a while ago for my lovely friends here on Tumblr, thanks to the post by @annarieta regarding this tag, it gave me a little courage to do it. (I actually think there are many scary questions, I don’t like the idea of revealing it to just about anybody.) RULES: Tag people you want to get to know better.

1. Are you introverted or extroverted? I’m very introverted. I can go weeks on my own, without needing company or social stimulation.

2. Are you ruled by emotions or logic? I reason from a point of logic, but ultimately make decisions based of what I feel will make everyone the happiest.

3. What is your happiest memory? Like many others have said already, which was a bit surprising to read, I don’t recall many outstanding happy memories. Like @annarieta said, it’s the small things mostly. But I remember happy car rides with my best friend where we sang (screamed) to music, and traveling to the Vatican City with my classmates. Even if the company wasn’t necessarily good all the time, that place really made me happy. It was so beautiful.

4. What is your saddest memory? Nowadays, every winter, I go into a state of hibernation really. It’s very dark here during the winter, we have about 5 hours of sunlight everyday. It’s cold, it’s dark and murky. It makes me very depressed. But um. The day I lost my best friend is a terrible memory. We were friends for 8 years and I’ve missed her very much for 3 years since.

5. In what kind of world would you rather live in? I’d love to live in an Elven world. I love the architecture, I love the purple/blue/mystic gloom of the places. The nature, rivers are very beautiful. Where people cherished art, music, writing, love, beauty etc, and no one cared a wit for politics, cruelty or had any desire to forbid people from being different or happy.

6. What is your favorite video game? The Witcher, Skyrim and BioShock are my babies.

7. What is your biggest fear for yourself? Being hated by people.

8. What is your biggest wish for yourself? To be a happy little hermit =) In a beautiful place where I can write stories, paint and be surrounded by 20 dogs.

9. What fictional character do you relate to the most? Queen Freya from The Huntsman (she’s my avatar for a reason guuuuuuys). Wait, let me explain, haha. She’s portrayed as a complex evil character. I don’t consider myself to be evil, nor do I consider myself to be purely good either. I can relate to her character process. Alike her, I was very trusting and happy when I was little, I was truly a little sunshine. But like with so many of us, life happens, and then life happens again, and I became... well, a different person really. Like her, I often feel misunderstood and isolated. But I also cherish loyalty above all, and shun love away from me (I also freaking love ice and snow). I think love is beautiful when I see it with other people, but I could never love like that myself, somewhere it’s hardwired in my brain in a twisted way that love is a weakness and can be used to manipulate and harm me. Heartache and emotional suffering is something I'm terrified of (you know, when you can physically feel pain in your chest), and I can’t handle it anymore. So I don’t feel romantic desire towards people anymore, I think I’ve... removed it?

10. If you could become anything, without any education or demands, what would you choose as your profession? Author or an actress.

11. Do you have any siblings? Two brothers and one sister. I’m the second youngest.

12. Have you ever wanted to injure someone? When I was bullied, I wanted to injure the people who hurt me all the time, but I never actually did it.

13. Have you ever wanted to help someone, but didn’t? Yes, but I always try to do the best I can to help someone, even if I don’t know the person. It doesn’t matter, I’ll happily embarrass myself to help someone in need.

14. What makes you angry? Bullies, homophobes, racists, sexists, rapists, murderers, especially animal abusers can fuck off right to hell.

15. What makes you happy? My precious jewel, doggy.<3 Also, traveling and airplanes is a joy. Museums, exploring new places, yeah. Fun fun.

16. Would you rather beat up a small child once - or get beaten up by an angry man every single day for the rest of your life? I don’t want to beat up anybody, so bring me the man. Maybe I’d get really psychologically twisted and Stockholm Syndrome would set in so I’d start to like it lol.

17. What places would you visit today if you could? Ireland! Scotland! England! Just because @lithiumgrayangel showed me how beautiful Sevilla is, I wanna visit Sevilla one day. But of course, beautiful Italy (Rome is stunning), Venice again, Russia (possibly Moscow), FRANCE! Finland, Norway and Iceland are beautiful too. Also Warsaw, UK and US. And Budapest. And New Zeeland, Canada, Australia... Gosh I wanna go everywhere, I can’t pick one!

18. Do you want children? Why? If not, why not? To be honest, it will depend on what situation I am in. Did I, against all odds, found a person who wants children? Then yes, in a stable household and in happy relationship, I’d consider having one or two, no more. But... Right now, that future is looking very bleak. And if I end up with someone who don’t want children, then I won’t have children. Just get a dog instead, they’re less fussy.

19. Did you have a happy childhood? It’s a bit complicated. When I was young, I did have a happy childhood, but my father was also abusive back then. He calmed down once I became a teenager, and then the bullying started, and when the bullying stopped, my dad became sick. And my mother has basically been hysterical and wacky my entire life so. But um, to be honest. I had friends, a roof over my head, food on the table. I got nothing to complain about.

20. Have you ever done drugs? If you have, would you do it again? I’ve been offered, but I’ve never been interested and nor will I be. I know a couple of people who just smokes pipe and marijuana in front of me? I think it’s odd but. I try not to judge, and it’s not my business.

21. Would you rather become a child again, possessing all the knowledge you have today, or become middle-aged, with 45 000 000 € on your bank account? I’d become a child again, start my life over, and be twice as intelligent. Could be like a scientist or something.

22. If you could become any existing famous person in the world - who would you be and why? I admire Lana del Rey a lot, but I wouldn’t want to be any celebrity. Unless I can become someone really powerful and change the world. Like Donald Trump and resign as the president so someone more capable can take over.

23. Are your parents married or divorced? They’re divorced, but sadly live together still. It’s a stupid decision, but I reckon my father wouldn’t last a day on his own, and my mother must be addicted to misery.

24. Where do you see yourself in the future? An author, hopefully. Making a positive change, helping people, having meaningful friends in my life, living in a beautiful place surrounded by nature and animals. :)

25. If you’d like, a question of your own here. Mine is directed to my fellow Witcher lovers; Who and Why?

For friendly purposes, Regis or Cirilla? I like Ciri, and I can understand why people would choose her, she seems like she would be a lovely friend. But ultimately, I’d have so much to discuss with Regis. I feel like, without being self-absorbed or... delusional in any way, I have some things in common with him. We’re too loyal, we fight for people who don’t cherish our love or advice and we both like discussing philosophical topics with loooooooong sentences (as you’ve probably noticed by now). I’d feel so good in his company, he’s a lovely lovely man.

For romantic purposes, Dettlaff or Avallac’h? My darling Avallac’h, I know there are so many people who misunderstands him, confuses his intelligence for arrogance. People call him horrible things. To be honest, I don’t have too much against Dettlaff though, I like him, and I love his complex nature. But of course, I’d never pick anyone over Avallac’h. He’s brilliant, and I would love to discover a million new worlds with him. (ps. marry me have my babies)

As your co-worker, Caranthir or Geralt? Caranthir would be a brilliant colleague, though Geralt is probably more lovable, Caranthir is intelligent. He’d help me with my tasks and I’d sit there gazing into his eyes and not hearing a word he’s saying. ♥‿♥ (true story, I often drift away when people talk to me)

As your boss, Eredin or Ge’els? I don’t know, he feels more attainable than Ge’els do. Ge’els is just da boss, he’d rule over me, I’d always feel incredible stupid and inferior around him. But Eredin is kinda wacky, but I love him, but he’s a silly goose so I’d just try to befriend him to eventually marry him so we could rule the galaxy together.

As your best friend, Yennefer or Shani? Yennefer, my oh my, I’ve been in love with her since the first time I saw her. She’s INTELLIGENT AND INTELLIGENCE IS SEXY ASF. Shani, you cool too but. Meh, I think her character is a bit boring. There’s not much interesting about her that makes her stand out? She’s not really complex either? She’s just... idk... pretty and stuff. Redhead and stuff. (sorry @vaporeox dont kill me)

As your ally, Vernon Roche or Anna Henrietta? Nah nah, always Roche, I love that man immensely. I’d marry him too. I’d marry everyone.

As your worst enemy, Triss or Dandelion? I don’t really like Triss that much. What she did to Yennefer has ruined her in my eyes.

Tagging: I’ve already tagged people for this tag, but I would like to tag some of my lovely followers who haven’t been tagged in this, tho I can’t possibly tag all of you, I’m sorry about that: @blackeasteagle @everydayzer0es @spooky-cowfish @dovahkiin-deathbat @shadanakara @i-am-the-sword-in-the-darkness @o-moonyue-o @heroesneverdiie @blohandrum @rosiesuzuya and anyone else who wants to do it - you can write you were tagged by me. ❤

#tag #personality #mememememememeeme #i write too damn much

9 notes · View notes

meowsaidmayaanime · 6 years

Text

What I'm Watching July 2016 as of 7/30

7/30 Kaleido Star

This was surprisingly good. A friend got me into this anime when she was moving out and trying to get rid of stuff she had to make the move easier. Kaleido Star is a children's anime about a Japanese girl named Sora who goes to LA to join a world renowned circus/acrobatics group housed at Kaleidostage. With her dream of becoming a Kaleidostage star, she goes through hardships, makes friends, and changes the people around her and herself for the better. It's an incredibly heartwarming story.

Even though it is a children's show, it doesn't feel like one. (the DVD boxes rate it as PG, but myanimelist rates it as PG13? Yeah no, this is definitely PG). The show doesn't consist of stand alone's rather each episode builds off of each other. Occasionally there will be a side story, but a large portion of the show dedicates back to back episodes about the obstacles that appear. It also doesn't try to force life lessons in each episode or give you random stories that have nothing to do with the plot. If anything its more for the older children because it tells a story, and a good one.

It has two season with 25 episodes in each, which makes it surprisingly short for a kids show. It's very good, and a good one that any adult would be able to watch along with their children. (in that its not unbearable). Admittedly it took a while for me to really get into it. I watched half of the first season then set it aside for a few months (also for the reason that the DVD was stuck in my dead laptop for a while...), but once I picked it up again and reached the climax of season one, I couldn't stop watching it and finished both season within the next few days.

My only main critique (aside form the dub) is that they do not really show you much of the performances, and what they do show ends up being stills rather than fluid animation. I understand if they had a limited budget, but I would have liked to have seen the acts and maneuvers that we spend so much time watching the characters practice for, (so much time). It sort of feels like a let down to me when all this effort and trial and emotion and character grows comes from training for specific maneuvers and yet we as the audience don't see much more than still of... Regardless its a great show, just that I wish it had more budget to spend on the actual performances. It would have made this show even better than it already is.

If you like anime intended for young audiences, or even sports anime, or series about overcoming obstacles and character development, I would recommend this one. Especially since it's nature of being a kids show doesn't let it wallow in dark topics for long. Just whatever you do, don't watch the English dub, it is absolutely terrible.

7/25 Parasite: The Maxim

This was a really interesting anime, that turned out to be surprisingly philosophical. It's about teenager Shinichi who wakes up in the middle of the night to this very creepy worm like creature burrowing itself into his arm and moving quickly towards his head. He manages to stop it by wrapping the cord of his earbuds around his upper arm. Soon the creature turns out to be a parasite which has taken full control of his right arm and has its own separate intelligence. Shinichi learns that there are other parasites that were successful of taking over the heads of humans, and kill other humans to feed. The entire time I was watching it I could not stop thinking about Tokyo Ghoul. While in Tokyo Ghoul the ghouls are born from other ghouls and have human emotions, these parasites came out of nowhere suddenly and are incapable of human feelings and values, acting and thinking only in extreme rational survivalistic ways. There are numerous other comparisons to make, but I don't want to spoil anything in this post for either anime. I may make a separate post devoted specifically to those two though.

Either way I enjoyed this anime a lot. Although unlike with Kaneki from Tokyo Ghoul where I was able to relate to and sympathize with him throughout the entire series. I found that, after a specific event, I was steadily losing my ability to relate with Shinichi. The reason why makes sense, and the reason why this happened follows logical means which is what the show was about. However despite their attempts to make Shinichi more relatable, or a more sympathetic character, it just never worked for me. And because of that the show gradually started to lose me personally as a viewer. I don't know if anyone else shares that opinion, or if they think it was an intentional aspect that makes the anime. It doesn't make the anime bad by any means, it just makes it more of a thinker rather than a feeler if that makes any sense.

I still enjoyed this anime and would still recommend it despite the fact that it may not be on my personal likes. If you like Tokyo Ghoul I would say to check this one out. Or if you like philosophical and psychological anime this is a good one to watch.

7/21 Tanaka-Kun Wa Itsumo Kedaruge (Tanaka-Kun is always Listless)

This is an adorable somewhat plot less slice of life. It follows the daily life Tanaka, a very listless highschooler, and his friend Ohta who takes care of him while at school. I say it's somewhat plot less because while there is no story arch, the episodes do follow a set time span and use information gathered from previous episodes. But all in all its a story of trying to find out just how listless Tanaka can be. The series ended halfway through the school year, and while I would like to see more episodes, because the show is funny and adorable, I don't think there is much of a reason to make a second season. All in all, it's an adorable anime that would be perfect for winding down after a more intense one.

I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys laid back slice of life~

7/19 Haikyuu!! TOP PICK FOR THIS MONTH

I have boarded the sports anime train, and I don't think I'm ever getting off. This is the fifth sports anime I'm watching and I think it may be my favourite. It's funny too because I only recently started watching sports anime when I watched Free! last December.

This anime is fabulous! I know I say that a lot, but it is so true! Haikyuu!! is about Hinata who joins his high school Volley ball team. The rest of the show is about the developing relationships between the team, the development of their characters and skills, and their relationships between the teams they play against as they try to make it to the Nationals.

I love so much about this anime, every character is different, has their own reasons for playing, their own personalities, their own skills, and their own developmental journey. The characters are amazing!! On top of all that the animation is great, they animate the games incredibly well, and whenever someone does something that's particularly fast or strong they do a fabulous job of showing it through the art style and movements. Ah, I could watch this show for days, well, more days than I already have. (Click the image to view the gif, cause for some reason it won't automatically play...)

Look at the smooth animation!!

Speaking of the art style, It's different than whats common in anime, feeling a little more like a manga, but that's what makes it so great. The style allows them to make fabulous faces/expressions and movements. and Oh man the faces are great, I LOVE an anime that's able to use such a variety of expressions on so many different characters. Look at these faces!

Its such a feel good anime, its so light-hearted, and bright, and funny, and intense! There are only two season out right now, but the third season is to air this fall! I'm so excited!! so, So, SO excited!!! AAAHHHHHH~

This is a must watch. It doesn't matter what genre of anime you like, everyone should give this one a chance.

7/14 Sound! Euphonium

This is really beautiful. It's a slice of life following the main character Kumiko as she makes new friends and joins the high school concert band. The animation, visuals and music were amazing! Much like Your Lie in April, all the motions (from what I could tell, I've never played in a concert band but do have years of classical training (violin) under my belt) were correct. They had detailed finger motions, movements of the players while playing (rather than just standing still while the music is going, I'm looking at you 90% of the other anime who don't do any animation, or do waaaay off animation when a character plays an instrument). The story is well done too, and a completely natural slice of life. I was going to go on about how they ended the season at 13 episodes with so many questions left over, that is until I just now checked that a season 2 will be airing this fall 2016. Which I am excited about. At the same time, I do wish that instead of breaking it up into two half seasons, that they had gone for one full (22-26 episode) season. I feel as though a lot of things were left out and perhaps a little rushed during this season. Also I believe that the 'extra' episode they give you at the end of the season could have been worked into the previous episodes and served to further round out the characters. Especially since we did not get to see much of them during the latter half of the season. (Click to view the rest of my opinion, which includes spoilers. Once you get to the page enter 'givemethespoiler' to view it)

Either way, this is a really good slice of life. And I recommend it to others who love slice of life and/or great music. It caught me off guard quite a few times, and I can't wait to see more of the relationship between Kumiko and Reina!! And Natsuki, and Atsuka, and Shuuichi, and Taki-Sensei, yeah this anime definitely should have been a full season... Unfortunately I can't even see with the original source material if the anime is properly following it because this was adapted from a light novel series not translated into English...

7/10 Kamisama Kiss

AAAAAAAAA. I love this anime!!! It's been so long since iv'e found such a great comedy romance, and it's the kind of anime I used to watch a lot of back in the day. It has gods, a really good premise, two seasons (with the third coming later this year!!) and its just great! It starts off when a girl named Nanami, left with no home, suddenly becomes a land god~ She gains a rather interesting familiar ( who not ony has the same voice actor as Kyouya senpai, but also the same personality~!) and shows their adventures of Nanami's life as she learns to be a god as well as the deepening relationship between her and her familiar.

I havn't been so excited for an anime in quite a while, at least not like this. In fact the last time I felt like this was when I was reading the Fruits Basket and Ouran Hist School Host Club manga. If you like either of those you will certainly love this! I can't wait for the next season!! I'm too hyped up right now that all I can do is gush about this show.

Ok, ok, to talk seriously about it, it feels a lot like a harem. Female characters other than Nanami are few and rarely seen. In fact I was dissapointed by the sudden addition of another male character to be constantly around her in the second season. As feminine as Tomoe is (oh he's so cute), we need more X chromosomes to add to the mix. There were also one or two lines to the effects of 'but your a girl' which really bothered me. It may just be a cultural thing and was overlooked, but it still bothered me quite a bit. Especially considering that Nanami is very capable in terms of her character. Despite the fact that I now realize that the story, while in a completely different environment, is one that has been told and told before. It's by no means new, but it is good.There's a reason why people keep coming back to it, because it's one that people love. And one that I am fond of, when it is put to good use~

It's not a show for everyone but if you want a good shoujo comedy romance you will love this!!

7/8 Inari Kon Kon

An anime about a girl who saves a goddesses familiar and in return has her wish granted. However, the wish doesn't turn out and end up causing quite a few issues. This anime is adorable, and features a look into the world of Japanese deities (which I also have a weakness for in terms of anime). Though its not a particularly noteworthy show. I like how the show handles the interactions between characters, and gives them real personalities. It's like a semi-natural drama, natural humans with natural reactions, and I'm very appreciative of that. Further, the struggles that each character faces are also natural struggles. They talk about jealousy of others, and the fear of approaching others to form meaningful relationships.

I wish I had been able to see more into the world of the gods, and really more of the anime itself for that matter. I feel like they left what could have been a huge factor, Inari's brother, too far out of the picture and did not build up the climax enough. It was only 10 episodes, and the plot was resolved so there is no chance of more content. Basically it was cute, but not something I would particularly recommend...

7/7 Kumamiko

This show is absolutely adorable. I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately, but it is absolutely true. It's a slice of like about a miko waaay out in the boonies whose village's heritage involves bears, and whose guardian is in fact, a bear! She wants to go to high school in the city, but is absolutely unprepared for any life style other than the middle of no where life she lives. She is scared of crowds and of modern day appliances. That being said, we follow her daily life around the village and at the shrine, as well as watch her steadily try to adapt herself to be able to 'handle' being in the city.

Its a rather wholesome light comedy, filled with realistic characters and situations. Which, if you've been able to tell by now, is what I want out of my slice of life. I want my slice of life to be just that! Realistic and almost as though it was taken directly from a real experience, with real people, real reactions, and nothing that is absolutely outrageous. (If I want outrageous I would go for a pure comedy rather than an anime that is mostly slice of life.)

If you love slice of life, this is definitely the anime for you!

7/3 Re:Life

Holy crap this anime turned out vastly better than I ever expected it to. The premise is that 27 year old Kaizaki Arata is unable to get a job after he quite his first job after only 3 months of employment. Now he has become slightly recluse and very much dispirited from being constantly turned away at interviews because of this and is unable to support himself. Until an agent at this company developing the technology to make a persons appearance young again with the offer of paying for Kaizaki's living expenses for one year while he goes back to high school using the drug in order to turn him into a productive member of society. After reading that I was intrigued but also expecting a total 'boob-fest'. Instead the show turned out to be very real, down to earth and focuses on many social issues and the development of relationships from classmates, to coworkers, to friends, to even (a little) romance. It's absolutely fascinating and doesn't have the stereotypical characteristics of a high school anime. The characters are wholesome and well rounded, following their journey of self discovery and growth. This series is also the first series on Crunchyroll to be fully released all at once. So while it is technically a 2016 summer anime, the full 13 episodes were released July 1st. Which I think is really cool. I'm sure there will be another season considering this season (from what I heard) only barely scratched the tip of the manga. It did not reach the end of the '1 year as a high school student' instead this season covers only half of the school year. But despite that, the ending of the season was not rushed and came to a wonderful (temporary) close. Because it was JUST released, no one quite knows when the second season will be released or if Re:Life was confirmed for one, but hopefully we will get to see more soon.

This is an anime I would definitely recommend anyone give a chance. Simply because it is very well done. If you like character development/self-discovery, school or slice of life anime, you will love this one. It is not fast paced and does not have fan service (i'm glad), so don't go into this expecting any of that!

10/10 would watch again. Here's the trailer.

0 notes

heliosfinance · 7 years

Text

Inverting the Money Problem

In the controversial movie, The Social Network, which supposedly portrayed Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook journey, Sean Parker’s character famously quipped –

“A million dollars isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A billion dollars.”

It’s probably the most favourite problem that majority of the individuals in the world are trying figure out i.e., how to get rich?

So let’s investigate this problem by using Charlie Munger’s most cherished mental model i.e., inverting the problems to solve them.

One of the ways to invert the question of “How to Get Rich?” is to ask, “Is getting rich worth it?”

Before you decide to skip this article thinking that it’s another one of those “money can’t buy happiness” rant, just stick with me for few more minutes and I promise that you won’t regret it.

In fact, this is a good opportunity to wear our curiosity hats and look at the hardships that tag along with large sums of money. Now given the fact that the author, yours truly, isn’t super rich (money wise at least) and likely never will be, is it justified for him to comment on the problems of the rich?

In my defence, all I have to say is that I never let my lack of first-hand experience with a topic stop me from speculating on it.

Maybe, like the proverbial fox and his sour grapes, I am deluding myself with a story that I never wanted what I will never be able to get. Or maybe I belong to the camp of those cash-poor intellectual types who want to prove to the world that rich people secretly live a miserable life.

I am not ruling out any of these possibilities where my subconscious is playing a game.

Yet, it’s plausible that I am trying to squint your eyes a bit to help you discover a different perspective – a view from the other side of the fence where the grass seems to be greener and wealthier.

This article is inspired by a very interesting discussion thread on Quora. The participants in this thread include some well known, successful and rich people including folks like Paul Buchheit, the creator of Gmail. So it’s safe to assume that it’s not a pure thought experiment imagined by an armchair philosopher.

Although the Quora thread had a lot of abstract and philosophical arguments, I have distilled out the ones which appealed the most to the rational side of my brain.

Put simply, the question to explore here is this – How does an incremental money above a certain amount can actually subtract from your happiness through the additional hassle it creates?

Not every item that I am going to list here is a problem for every rich person, but some, even many, of these are possibilities. And let me remind you again that these are not my personal beliefs and I don’t necessarily agree with all of them, but they made me smile while thinking about them. Consider them my musings on the topic of unintended consequences of extreme wealth.

On a serious note, if you ever plan to amass wealth and fame, you should at least know what’s in store for you.

The first category of challenge of being rich is related to the social interactions i.e., your equation with people around you.

Your Right to Crib is Revoked

Now that you’re rich (and people know that you’re rich), you are not allowed to complain about anything. Ever.

Since you’ve just achieved the financial nirvana, you’re no longer allowed to have any human needs or frustrations in the public eye.

Yet, you are still a human being. Aren’t you? But most people aren’t going to treat you like one.

This may not really be that big a problem because, when you’re rich, you probably won’t care much as to what people think about you.

But here’s the catch.

When you find yourself struggling with a nasty problem, which obviously can’t be solved by throwing money at (remember you’re rich), and you’re desperately seeking help from your family and friends – your folks won’t believe that you’re helpless.

You’re pretty much on your own.

Unrealistic Expectations

Your relationship with your friends and family will change. It may not necessarily turn sour but it will surely get harder to deal with. Not because of money but because of change in expectations.

Since you’re the superman now and have large resources at your disposal, it’s expected out of you to rescue everyone.

You may be expected, not by all but by some family and friends, to dole out interest-free – give it and forget it – loans. And it doesn’t stop there. You aren’t allowed to get away by giving modest gifts on special occasions.

“C’mon man! You’re a millionaire. Don’t be cheap. Shell out some moolah for an expensive gift.”

Hidden Intentions

Wealth makes you more discoverable unless you put a lot of efforts to lay low. Which means it attracts attention from all sorts of people – genuine and not so genuine.

Genuine people may want to learn from your wisdom, experience and skill but there would be many whose sole interest would be to shake loose some money from your pockets.

Point is that most people now want something out of you, and it can be harder to figure out whether someone is being nice to you because they like you, or they are being nice to you because of your money. This is especially true of strangers who know more about your wealth than about you as a human being.

A typical solution for this problem is to create a screen to ensure that only genuine people get access to you. But this screen will invariably filter out some good people also. Which means you’ll still be interacting with a mix of people, it’s just that the scale of this problem will be bigger because you’re rich.

A side effect of this strategy is that it can often cause wealthy people to cut themselves off from the larger society, out of fear that they will be exploited by selfish motives. As a result, the richness and variety in your social circle may become very limited.

Whoever said, “It’s lonely at the top,” probably was referring to this effect.

The next category of challenge of being super rich is related to your relationship with yourself i.e., the psychological effects of getting rich.

Amplification Effect

Wealth removes constraints, which means becoming wealthy has the potential to mess with you. But it depends on what type of person you are. In general, it makes people more of whatever they already were.

For example, if someone has a serious alcohol or other drug addiction, wealth could be fatal for him. On the other hand, if a person is generous, polite, and resourceful, money will amplify those qualities in his or her behaviour.

David Foster Wallace said, “Happy people are often still happy when they become millionaires. Unhappy people are often still unhappy when they become millionaires.”

Freedom Brings Dilemma

Money can give you the freedom to focus on the things that truly matter to you. But that comes with the assumption that you already know what truly matters to you.

Most people work hard and money keeps them focused on earning more, doing the career-ladder thing and working towards their goals, but when they finally attain that money-goal, it gives birth to weird issues.

The void created by financial freedom could be a difficult one to fill. Which is why many supposedly rich people continue to work hard at earning more money because it keeps them busy.

The most profound effect that becoming financially successful can have on someone is the task of answering the question – “I wonder what am I supposed to do next?”

Ironically, the ability to pursue activities that you find meaningful and bring you happiness does not depend on getting rich. Albeit insufficiency of funds calls for some resourcefulness on your part to continue pursuing your passion.

Many people subscribe to the belief along the lines of Charlie Sheen’s in the movie Wall Street, when he’s asked what he’s going to do when he makes his millions and he says, “I’m going to get a motorcycle and ride across China.” Rolf Potts, author of Vagabonding, points out that you could clean toilets in the US and save enough money to ride a motorcycle across China.

Today, you don’t need a million dollars to travel the world.

The Paradox of Desire

Now, this could appear as an entirely unanticipated downside of getting rich.

Being rich is better than not being rich, but it’s not nearly as good as you imagine it is.

All of the things you want to buy one day, are only valuable to you because you cannot afford them yet (or have to work really hard to acquire them). Maybe you have your eyes set on the new Ferrari but once you know you can easily afford it, it just doesn’t mean as much to you anymore.

It’s basic human nature that the things which are just out of reach seem desirable. The moment an object of desire becomes easily available to you, its charm loses grip on you. This is especially true for things which are your wants, not needs.

Realising that your dreams aren’t always what they were cracked up to be can bring in severe disappointment. Following which a boredom could quickly set in.

Diminishing Marginal Utility

Human mind is not good at evaluating things in absolute. It needs a benchmark or something to compare with to assess the value of something. Using this insight let’s see what The Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility says –

For each additional unit of a good the added satisfaction, you receive from consuming the good, decreases.

Yes, the first month you drive the Audi or eat in an expensive restaurant, you really enjoy it. But then you quickly get used to it. And then you are looking towards the next thing, the next level up. The problem is that you have bumped up your expectations, and everything below that level doesn’t entice you anymore.

Calvin and The Law of Diminishing Returns: Source: Bill Watterson Ben Cosnocha, in his deeply thoughtful article The Goldilocks Theory of Being Rich, writes –

[As super rich] You’ll fly private jets, yes. You’ll eat nice food all the time, you’ll have aides and servants who will save you time. Problem is, we quickly adapt to these material comforts—what psychologists call the “hedonic treadmill.” The private jet doesn’t feel so special the 20th time you’re on it.

A research was done on two sets of people. First group consisted of those who experienced a personal tragedy like losing a loved one or even becoming physically handicapped (losing one or more limbs) which diminished their ability to function normally. The second group of people consisted of those who suddenly became rich.

The research revealed that in both the groups, people returned to their base level of happiness, one year after the fortunate/unfortunate events.

Jason Zweig, in his wonderful book Your Money and Your Brain, summarized all the above points brilliantly. He writes –

Becoming a lottery winner takes only an instant; being one lasts the rest of your life. People who actually win the lottery are often shocked by the aftermath of their lucky draw. There are plenty of thrills from suddenly making a fortune, just as the winners expected. But there are less obvious and less predictable consequences, too. The phone rings off the hook with calls from crooks and desperately friendly acquaintances. Ensconced in your new mansion, you no longer see your old neighbors as often; instead, you are besieged by long-lost relatives who should have stayed lost. Everyone you ever rubbed the wrong way files a lawsuit against you. Quit your job, and you miss your friends and go crazy with boredom; keep it, and your co-workers all seem to hate you or hit you up for money. It becomes hard to tell who your real friends are, so you spend more time alone. At home, you bicker constantly with your spouse over what to do with the money.

Conclusion

I read somewhere, “Money doesn’t necessarily wipe out all your troubles. It just changes the kind of problems that life presents you. The only people who are completely trouble free are buried in the cemetery.”

If one is not happy now, chances are that he won’t be happy even when he is rich. I am sure there are many super rich people who are happy and maintain a healthy inner peace.

I suspect that it’s nice to be super rich but maybe not for the reasons many of us think.

Kevin Kelly, who is known as the most interesting man in the world, in his interview with Tim Ferriss, reminded –

Great wealth, extreme wealth, is definitely overrated. There’s nothing that you can really do with it that you can’t do with a lot of less money. The things that you want to do, the things that will make you content, the things that will satisfy you, the things that will bring you meaning … is usually better than having money.

…if you have a lot of time or a lot of money, it’s always better to have a lot of time to do something. If you have a choice between having a lot of friends or a lot of money, you definitely want to have a lot of friends.

…the technological progress that we’re having is actually diminishing the role of money. And I want to be clear that I’m talking about money beyond the amount that you need to survive. So in a certain sense, most people see money as a means to get these other things, but there are other routes to these other things that are deeper and more constant and more durable and more powerful. Money is a very small, one-dimensional thing, that if you focus on that, it kind of comes and goes. And if you … whatever it is that you’re trying to attain, you go to it more directly through other means, you’ll probably wind up with a more powerful experience or whatever it is that you’re after. And it’ll be deeper, more renewable, than coming at it with money.

Let me repeat, the intention in this post is not to pass judgement but to look at a situation from a different vantage point. And my goal for compiling these thoughts was more with an intention of exploration than preaching.

If you have any interesting dimensions to add to this line of thought, feel free to leave your thought in the Comments section of this post.

Also Read – Is getting rich worth it?

The post Inverting the Money Problem appeared first on Safal Niveshak.

Inverting the Money Problem published first on http://ift.tt/2ljLF4B

0 notes

bepresent10 · 7 years

Text

Everything began with Eckhart

As mentioned at the end of the previous post Eckhart led me back to my original and primary calling which is the solid nurturing ground for each secondary, temporary or partial goal I can ever set for myself. My calling (as the calling of everybody and everything in existence) is just to be freely and fully what I am – and express it towards others.

To be the “I am” and know that this is an eternal experience of continuous expansion.

When I say Eckhart I am not referring to his person but to the universal teaching he is allowing to flow through him, giving a form to it. This is the teaching everybody has access to without his or anybody else’s books simply through the pure experience of the ultimate truth of who or what we are. The circumstance that obscures this innate access in each individual is the way of sleepwalking through life completely lost in judgments and interpretations, conditioned and encouraged by society especially in the West, entirely cut off from the pure sensation of being and living in a body.

Can you stop interpreting and evaluating for even just a moment just to purely live what is right now?

If you can, you will know and experience that sensing - each sensation regardless of the content and of the possible concepts the mind could wrap around it - is a sensation (it is sensational!) indeed in the sense that it is a messenger of the miracle that life is.

So Eckhart got me back on track since this track was familiar to me.

I always knew that there were traces of connection to the divine or let’s just say to an extended dimension of human experience in me – I knew it from early childhood on without a doubt. Given my Christian-Catholic upbringing I was trying to recollect these traces carefully putting them together like the yellow stones for my path by studying the Bible and works of theologues, priests and vicars and mainly through listening to my dad speaking words of amazing insight and wisdom.

The secondary school - Dóra

Connection with God – or with my higher Self or ultimate nature – became from an interest to a need in the years of the secondary school. For years I was captured in a relationship of emotional dependency to a friend of mine who after a while started reacting to my actions and vibrations - unsaid but sensible claiming of attention - with open and sometimes abusive rejection. Since I regarded her judgement of me as the most important measure of my self-worth at those times, I went through phases of intense grief and suffering sinking into the feeling (illusion) of being unloved, ununderstood and only worth to be pushed away, globally. I was blind to all love streaming towards me from all directions: from other people and from all phenomena of the world. Instead I was craving the evidence I regarded at the time as the only relevant, the only valid proof of my “loveableness”: her love and her appreciation for me. In other words – as I realized later but still during the period we were classmates and shared a dormitory along with six other girls: I was in love with her. And it had nothing to do with sexuality related to visual or physically based attraction. It confused me for quite a while though since I experienced intense bodily sensations interacting with her mainly verbally, even in her physical absence while conversing in online chat or through text messages.

With time I just figured how I function and discovered the direct link between the awareness of an overwhelming emotional bond, physical sensations and sensuality.

There was a very special, deep understanding between us – we knew we are exceptional for each other and could not explain why. There was this quality of exclusiveness in our private communion; we created a closed inner circle of two and felt like we are speaking a secret language no one can decode – by using common Hungarian words. We were thriving in the intimacy of our secret society separate from everybody else, diving really deep, discussing topics like God, Church, literature, artistic performances, music, group dynamics in our class - hours long in the middle of the night. We were perfectly tuned into each other instinctively knowing one another’s thoughts and feelings.

What scared her away from me initially I think was the parallel she drew between our relation and the one she experienced before me with her kind of “ex-boyfriend” as she was 13. She saw our relationship as reminiscent of her former one in respect to the high grade of mutual admiration and attachment. I think none of us could really make sense at the time of this overpowering emotional intensity constantly vibrating between us. Especially not in the context of us being of the same sex and both knowing ourselves as hetero-sexuals.

It made me doubt and re-evaluate my overall sexual identity and through years I came to the conclusion that conventional sexual labels do not define my identity since I am predominantly emotional. My sexuality and sensuality are subordinated to my emotionality. The urge to express the deep bond I feel by touching and being physically close to somebody is directly proportional to the level of intimacy in the communion with this person.

Nevertheless after Dóra only men came who triggered these feelings for long term in me. Besides there is an additional quality to the energetic exchange between representatives of the two sexual polarities. I guess, when it comes to physical interaction I still prefer men, although it is hard to tell without any experience of the sort with women – so far I just never felt the inclination to gather such, because I did not get involved in intimate communion of the kind with women in the post-Dóra period.

All in all between the age of 15 and 19 I had lots of things to sort out. I felt guilty and hurt most of the time. Guilty of my physical sensations I – considering social standards – adjudicated as inappropriate. Guilty of my surfacing clinginess and neediness fuelled by the abandonment by the one I loved the most.

I started to question my sexuality as the first boyfriend came into my life (I was 16 and half) and I recognized that he evoked the same sensations in me Dóra did (so I concluded in retrospect that I was in love with her too). The difference was that in the relationship with him I got conscious of the female aspect of my personality. I enjoyed it immensely as more light fell on my neglected female qualities (both physical and emotional) in our contrast.

After he left me the grief after him replaced the grief after Dóra. As a consequence Dóra and I made peace and our friendship began to recover. I felt I have to share with her my perception of having been in love with her for a certain period. We discussed it one night in the bathroom of the student home and it was one of the most purifying and relieving conversations I have ever had. She listened sincerely with full attention and answered honestly. The circumstance helped that we were approximately on level in self-awareness. After years of doubt and self-condemnation the first time I felt completely OK. Completely embraced, understood and accepted. I was forgiven since I realized that the only one judging me was neither Dóra, nor God nor anybody else, but only I myself. Dóra is one of those very special friends of mine who can just hold with a caring detachement whatever I am and how ever I feel, without being worried about me and trying to fix me. Because she sees pass my temporary shortcomings, she sees my completeness, my ultimate perfection. In other words she relies on her spiritual sight.

In our personal history though it came to a heavy conflict again towards the end of the 4th year. I cannot recall poignant details I just remember that she started acting in a way I was convinced was not authentic of her and did not reflect her true personality. She engaged in superficial friendships with people I knew she did not have much in common with and went out drinking frequently. Just because I did not (and still do not) have any natural affinity to alcohol especially not for the purpose of socializing I was disappointed by her behaviour and could not accept and respect that her individual path contains elements leading to other places than mine. I felt personally betrayed by her choices. We left high school being estranged from each other and did not get in touch for years.

Throughout secondary school mostly related to Dóra but also to my professional development I was confronted with all sorts of inner conflicts and dilemmas. My sense of self-worth was shaken I thought by external circumstances, by the lack of personal or professional approval of others. I loved the community of the class and of the whole school but I still had the feeling that I do not fit in. I was incapable of showing interest for anything or anybody I did not feel genuine interest for – I was incapable of putting on a mask trying to blend just to be accepted in a wider range. I was hoping to get a better understanding of human existence by reading philosophical novels, the Bible, psychological books, and works of a famous Hungarian vicar, who was a pastoral-psychologist himself. Through these reads I found a connection to the divine indeed and was led back to the state of peace and clarity. I kept a prayer diary where I was addressing God every day with my questions and expressed my gratitude for everything that happened to me, regardless what it was.

Even in the midst of swirling confusion I always knew one thing: happiness does not depend on any external factor. Happiness is the only and ultimate reality which only gets obscured by layers of fear-based thoughts. We have to recognize joy, happiness, unlimited freedom, expansion and love as our essential being and then we have a choice how to project it outwards. Then our actions will result effortlessly from being. We have to realize that we are the source of everything we want to see, feel and experience in the manifested world - and so everything happening to us is a mere reflection of our inner focus.

I always knew it and every true teaching I encountered just echoed and amplified this original knowing. I just did not know how to put it in practice, how to live and create from this place of self-realization.