#among others. while also paying attention for any kind of repeat words or phrases that he likes to use

[zafirosreverie]

Share my infinite (Agatha x Fem!reader) Part 2

A/N: This is long, guys. But i didn't want to do two parts for this, since i still have to do another one for the reader's recovery. Also, I have a huge headache, so forgive any mistakes.

Anyway, i hope you like it! ^ - ^

You ran as fast as you could, voices screaming with rage behind you. They will kill you. 

“Shit” you growled when you tripped with a branch. You got up quickly and continued running, but that second was enough for the dogs to come closer to you. Those stupid dogs and their stupid owners, why couldn’t they leave you alone?! You didn’t do anything to them and yet they were hunting you, just because of your “family”. 

“I don’t even have the last name” you mumbled. 

You were part of a rich family that was respected among the people of your town, but you were never a part of it. You were the odd one, the freak, the mistake. You were the only one that inherited your grandfather's...condition. 

At some point in the family’s story, someone thought it was cool and a good idea messing up with dark magic and ended up marrying a vampire, condemning the entire lineage to fear for the purity of their blood. By the time you were born, that was just a legend, something the parents told their childs to make them behave. 

“Y/N, stop doing that” your mother would say. “It must be the vampire in her” your father would add. 

You were a pretty curious girl, which led to many misbehaviours, so you heard that phrase too often. 

“Wish something really hard and it will become a reality” you thought with sarcasm. 

When you were 8, the nightmare began. You had just lost your baby teeth and your new ones were appearing. Your parents thought it was cute, but then, your new fangs came and they screamed in horror. They were too long to be normal. They were like your grandfather’s. They were vampire’s fangs.

At first, they tried to pull them out, it hurted like hell, but they didn’t move. So, your parent’s kept you hiden, not even the rest of the family could see you (you would later hear that they didn’t want to). The only person that you were allowed to interact with, was the grandfather himself. He was actually your great great great great great great grandfather, but allowed you to call him Grandpa or Grandfather. Your parents decided that you were no longer their daughter, so he gave you his last name. His real one.

He was sweet and nice with you, teaching you how to retract your fangs and everything he knew about your condition. He told you that you shouldn’t worry, that it was something that happened every generation. Your uncle Nicholás had it too, so it wasn’t anything you couldn’t control. 

What he didn’t tell you was that uncle Nick was burned alive for it.

You weren't a full vampire, you only had a few remnants of vampire blood in your veins. Grandpa was sure that, with every generation that had the condition, it became weaker and weaker, so he had faith that you would be the last one to have it. And he was right. 

You were the last one. None of your nephews or nieces got it, nor their children or grandchildren or great grand children. You were there for the babies’ births, and for their deaths too. Generations came and went, but you remained the same. You stopped aging at 22, and were trapped like that ever since. Your grandfather died long after your great grand nephews did, but it proved that you were not eternal.

As the years passed, you became kind of a myth among the family, the maiden who didn't age. The ghost of the library. The shadow of the house. Generation after generation, you became just another part of the family heritage, something that came with being part of the Van Dales. Everyone treated you like another decoration.

Until now.

These new people (you had stopped thinking of the new generations as your family long ago) decided it wasn’t fair that you got to enjoy all the money while they had to die. It was a stupid argument, but that didn’t matter. You knew they just wanted to get rid of you. And that’s what they did. 

They spread the word around the town, that whoever brought your head to them would be rewarded with part of the family treasure. You barely had time to grab a small bag with your belongings (the ones you had since you were a child) before you were carried out of the house and into the woods.

They didn't tell you why, just to wait and they left you there. A few minutes later you heard the footsteps of the people and a man saying that he would be the one to kill you and claim the reward.

You started running in that very second.

“don’t change, don’t change, don’t change” you begged, feeling your eyes burning. 

One of the things that you learnt the hard way was that when you were in danger, your e/c eyes would change to dark red, and then you would go into a frenzy. That meant you would become a murder machine, and you didn’t want that even if it was your last hope. 

“Of all the things I got from the vampires, why couldn't it be super speed?” you thought as you heard the men coming closer. Your legs were burning and your lungs were about to explode.  

You weren’t paying much attention, so you didn’t notice the air changing nor the energy around you. You needed to escape. 

You tripped again and you cursed. But you couldn't hear the dogs or the men anymore. You lost them? How? They were right behind you, there was no chance that you could have lost them.

But you needed to rest so you weren't complaining at all. It didn't last for too long. 

You heard a leaf crushing and steps close to you. You stood up quickly and prepared to run again, but something stopped you. You couldn't move, as if your feet were glued to the earth. 

"Well, well. What do we have here?" A voice said behind you. You froze and your eyes started to burn again. The person walked around you and you saw the most beautiful woman ever. Her eyes and hands were glowing with a purple light and suddenly you understood why you couldn’t move. She was a witch. 

Your grandfather taught you about witches, saying that, just like you, they were usually misunderstood, and that you shouldn’t be afraid of them. Even if you ever meet an evil witch, the vampire blood in you would protect you. The fact that her magic had an effect on you, meant that she actually didn’t want to hurt you. 

"Aren't you a precious little thing?” she asked and you couldn’t help but notice how lovely her voice was. “What are you doing here, darling?” 

You opened your mouth but closed it again. There was so much to explain but words didn’t come to you at the moment. You remained silent for a few moments before trying to speak again.

“I- I escaped” you whispered, making the woman raise her eyebrow.

“escaped? from what?” she asked, stepping closer to you.

“Men” you simply said. Her presence was making you nervous and you felt your cheeks blushing. 

Your answer seemed to be enough for her and she nodded, unwrapping you from her magic.You noticed her eyes turned to an ice blue color and you gasped. They were the most beautiful eyes you’ve ever seen.

“What’s your name?” she asked. 

“Y/N” 

“Y/N” she repeated and your heart jumped a little. You loved the way your name sounded in her voice. “Come with me” she said and started walking. You blinked and stood there for a moment before you quickly followed her. You didn’t know her, but it was this witch or the hunters. 

They didn’t have beautiful blue eyes or a lovely voice. So the choice was easy.

She took you to a small cabin, surrounded by big trees and a little pond on the side. You blinked and blushed as she opened the door for you. The simple interior made you feel warm and protected. She saw you wandering around the room, watching her things carefully, not touching anything but being interested in them.

You noticed her smile and stopped walking, taking a step back. She was staring at you as if you were her prey, which, to be fair, might be the case. 

“Didn’t anyone tell you that you don’t follow strangers into their houses, love?” she finally asked after a long moment of just staring at you. 

Agatha was intrigued by you. You shouldn't be here. You shouldn’t have been able to pass the barrier she put around her house, not even other witches could do it. But most importantly, you shouldn’t be standing there as if you were comfortable in her presence. As if you weren’t afraid of her.

“I’ve been living with strangers for a long time” you said honestly and shrugged “i guess i’m not afraid of them anymore”

That made Agatha even more curious. She walked to you and locked eyes with you. You were a little surprised by it, but you didn’t look away. 

“You’re like me” she said softly, and you shrugged again.

“I guess so?”

The witch didn’t want to have high hopes, but she had been alone for almost 200 years now and the possibility of having some company was enough to let you stay some days. At least until she discovered more about you and how much power you had.

_________

“Don't” Agatha warned you, not lifting her eyes from her book “whatever you’re thinking, don’t”

You giggled and ignored her “I’m not doing anything, Aggie” you lied and she sighed. 

She was about to turn around to see what you were planning, when she felt your cold hands in the back of her neck, making her jump.

“Y/N!!!” she yelled and you laughed, watching her shivering. 

“Got ya!” you said when she turned to face you

“Those are ice! Are you sure you’re not dead?” she asked with sarcasm and fake anger, but the blush on her cheeks gave her away. 

“Could be. I haven’t checked my pulse today” you joked and she chuckled. 

You had been living with her for a year, and she had fallen head over heels for you. You were sweet, charming, always had a smile on your beautiful face and you were always finding ways to make her laugh. You were kind and loving towards her, making her loneliness fade away. 

But you were also naughty as hell. 

You loved making pranks, jokes and chaos. She was your favorite target, but it was something almost innocent, nothing that a child couldn’t do (a part of her knew it was because you were forced to grow up too quickly, so you were just doing what you wanted to do back then), but that benevolence didn’t extend to other people.

Your pranks and jokes were anything but innocent when the targets were people from the town near the forest. It made sense, because they were the same people that tried to kill you a year ago. But you once told her that you actually just enjoyed causing chaos, which made her fall in love with you even more. She loved being by your side whenever you caused something among the humans. It was a magnificent artwork, a chaotic, kind of evil, maniac, artwork. And it had both of your signaments in the corner.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice you talking to her. When you looked at her and saw that you had lost her at some point, an evil grin appeared on your face. Well, you were not a person that decline opportunities. 

Agatha gasped when you pushed her to the pond. 

“Y/N!!!!” she yelled again and you laughed harder. 

“That’ll teach you not to ignore me when I’m trying to declare my love for you, Harkness” you joked and walked to the house. 

The witch sighed as she stood and used her magic to dry herself. That has been your most cruel joke to this day. 

When she met you, she assumed you were a witch. You crossed her barrier, after all, so you must be a powerful one. But when she tried to steal your magic when you were asleep, she sensed it was too weak, she could barely call it magic at all. 

That confused her so much. How did you cross then? This amount of magic was not enough to do it. The next day, she confronted about it and you just blinked. 

“You think i’m a witch?” you asked before you giggled “I’m a vampire” you said and left her speechless. 

You taught her everything you knew about your condition, but it wasn’t too much since your family just wanted you to hide yourself. So she tried to learn everything she could about vampires. You frowned and said that if she was going to learn about your kin, then you wanted to learn about hers.

And just like that, your lessons started. The first days, you two sat at the table with a pile of books in front of you, but that plan disappeared the moment you saw her stretching to make her back more comfortable. You took the books and threw them on the floor, making Agatha gasp, then you took her hand and made her lie beside you on the wood. You’ve never used chairs for study or reading since then.

The joke started when she started to teach you some tricks. They were pretty simple and basic, but she loved the look in your face when you got one of them right. One day, you were so happy to finally do a spell you were trying for weeks, that you kissed her cheek with excitement and her mind went blank, her cheeks burning. You noticed it and never let her live with it.

Since then, you would make comments or do things that made her believe you might feel the same, but then you would just laugh and leave her with a hole in her chest. 

“Aggie?” you asked softly. You had noticed that she didn’t follow you and after a moment, you went out again to make sure she was okay. You frowned when you saw her just standing there, lost in her thoughts.  

You carefully took her hand and she jumped, looking at you. 

“Are you ok?” you asked and she nodded, removing her hand from yours. 

“I’m fine, Y/N” she said and your frown deepened. She never used that tone with you. The “I have something in my mind but you wouldn’t understand so let’s pretend i’m alright” tone. You took her face in your hands and made her lock eyes with you. 

“Don’t lie to me” you whispered 

Agatha stared at you for a moment before she sighed. She couldn’t. She always thought she was strong enough to lie to everyone, to take what she needed and do what she wanted. But you, you made her weak. And she would do anything for you. Even expose her heart and let you break it.

“Please don’t do it” she said “please don’t make jokes about your love for me. Not when we both know you don’t mean it.”

You frowned again in confusion, but when you understood her words, you blushed and felt your pulse racing. 

“Who said i don’t mean it?” you asked softly, caressing her cheek.

“NO!” Agatha said, more harsh than she intended “Don’t do it Y/N.” she said, whispering again “Please. Don’t give me false hopes. I can’t take it” she begged and you felt guilt invading you.

You had been making those jokes because they were the only way you could get your own feelings out of your chest without actually risking your friendship with the witch. If you had known she felt the same way…

Agatha gasped when she felt your lips against hers. She wasn’t expecting this, but she had been wanting to do it for so long that she took the opportunity. She wrapped her arms around your waist and pulled you closer to her. Your lips were too soft and she would be happy to lose herself in them.

“I’m sorry” you whispered when you broke the kiss “I’m sorry i didn’t tell you before” 

That made her open her eyes. There was a silent question in them, and only your own eyes had the answer. 

You kissed her again, and again, and again, wanting to erase all the doubts you accidentally planted in her mind. Each kiss was an apology and a promise. No words were needed at that moment.

#x reader #reader insert #imagine #agatha harkness #agatha harkness imagine #agatha harkness x reader #agnes imagine #agnes x reader #marvel #mcu #wandavision imagine #agatha harkness x y/n #agatha harkness x you

[darakshafatimasstuff]

Who is the divine family of Ahlulbayt (as) ❤️

One of the great post in our account ❤️

Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt) is a phrase meaning People of the House, or family. In the Islamic tradition it refers to the household of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Ahlul Bayt (Ahle Bait) in simple terms is to put trust of guidance to Aal-e-Muhammad [descendents of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)], through Fatima Zahra (pbuh) and Imam Ali (pbuh) and their descendents. Bayt is to give the Oath of Allegiance to Imam Ali (pbuh) and accept his guidance.

Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt) or household members of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) refers to his daughter Fatima Zahra (pbuh), his successor and son-in-law, Imam Ali (pbuh), their two sons Imam Hasan (pbuh) and Imam Hussain (pbuh), and the nine Imams from the lineage of Imam Hussain (pbuh).

Ahlul Bayt (Ahl-e-Bait) in Noble Qur'an ❤️

The Purified Ones: The Highest degree of purity means to be kept constantly away from all the causes of impurity. This is termed as the state of infallibility in knowledge, character and action.

It could have been applied generally to the whole mankind who are keeping aloof from all the impurities as the word of Allah (SWT) commands; but, Allah (SWT) expressively has confined His order to certain group of individuals by excluding the rest of the mankind from it in His divine will by declaring Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt) as the persons purified by Him to be constantly in touch with the Noble Qur'an in its original, hidden, well protected, exalted and purified form.

It was Allah's (SWT) wish to remove all blemishes from them, as mentioned in the Verse of Purity (Ayat Al-Tathir) in the Noble Qur'an:

The Verse of Purity (Ayat Al-Tathir): "... Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! And to purify you a (thorough) purifying." Noble Qur'an (33:33)

The above verse from Noble Qur'an, is known as Ayat Al-Tathir, refers to the members of the household of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), which include exclusively Prophet Muhammad, Imam Ali, Fatima Zahra, Imam Hasan, and Imam Hussain (peace be upon them all).

Hence Prophet Muhammad's (pbuh) other offspring, wives, sons of paternal uncles, and dwellers of his house are not to be called as Prophet Muhammad's Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt).

The argument is based on the genuine and authentic traditions narrated by Sahaba, companions of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) recorded in both the Sunni and Shia sources.

Ahlul Bayt (Ahle Bait) in Hadiths ❤️❤️

1. Hadith-e-Kisa (Hadith of the Cloak):

It is narrated from Umm al-Momineen, Umm Salamah that once Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was in her house lying on a mattress, covered with a cloak from Khaibar when his beloved daughter Fatima Zahra (pbuh) entered with a dish called al-Khazira (a kind of food).

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) asked her to call her husband, Imam Ali and her two sons, Imam Hasan and Imam Hussain.

Fatima Zahra (pbuh) called them and as they all sat together to eat, Allah (SWT) revealed the following verse of purity (Ayat Al-Tathir) to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). "... Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! And to purify you a (thorough) purifying." Noble Qur'an (33:33)

Verse of purity (Ayat Al-Tathir) ❤️❤️

Upon this Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) covered them all with his cloak and lifting his hands towards the sky said: "O Allah (SWT)! This is my family and the nearest of my kin, keep away from them uncleanness and keep them pure as pure can be."

Umm al-Momineen, Umm Salamah adds that thrice Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) repeated these words and when she poked her head under the cloak and asked him, Am I with you? In a refraining gesture, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said twice: "You are (also) among the righteous."

Thus it is clear from above discussion that Prophet Muhammad's (pbuh) daily habit of stopping at his daughter Fatima Zahra's (pbuh) house and addressing her household as Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt), was not without reason.

In fact he was expounding the meaning of the term Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt) and practically explaining to the Muslims the verse of purity (Ayat Al-Tathir) and the particular persons meant by it.

To be more precise, he was drawing the attention of the Muslim nation towards the significance of his Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt) and their leadership after him so that the Muslims should love, obey and follow them.

2. Mubahala Tradition or Incident of Mubahila (Imprecation):❤️

In the south of Arabia, there is a place called Najran. There lived the Christian tribe of Najran who staunchly believed that Prophet Isa (pbuh) i.e., Jesus was the son of God.

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) invited them to accept Islam. In response to that, a delegation of their priests and elders came to Madina. They wanted to discuss religion with Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Their argument was that Jesus was born without a father through Virgin Mary, so he was the son of God. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) explained to them that just as Allah (SWT) created Prophet Adam (pbuh) without a father or even a mother, in the same way He created Prophet Jesus (pbuh) without a father.

Hence Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was a servant of Allah (SWT) as was Prophet Adam (pbuh). The Christians did not agree with this simple truth. Christians stuck to their belief that Jesus was the son of God. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) asked them to wait. Then came the following Revelation (message from Allah (SWT)):

But whoever disputes with you in this matter after what has come to you of knowledge, then say: Come let us call our sons and your sons and our women and your women and our souls and your souls, then let us be earnest in prayer, and pray for the curse of Allah on the liars. Noble Qur'an (3:61)

It was then agreed that the Christians seek Mubahila (Imprecation) with Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The meaning of Mubahala is that both of them invoke from Allah (SWT) that he, who speaks the truth, may survive and he, who is not speaking the truth may perish.

Mawaddat al-Qurba (al-Mawaddah Fil-Qurba)On the day of Mubahala, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) took with him his grandsons - Imam Hasan and Imam Hussain, in place of his sons. In place of women, he took his daughter Fatima Zahra.

In place of his souls, he took his cousin and son-in-law Imam Ali. But on seeing the radiant faces of these sinless members of the household of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the Christians got scared. They decided not to seek Mubahala any more but accepted their defeat. They agreed to pay tribute and returned home.

This is how Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) showed to the world, who the true and real members of his Ahlul Bayt (Ahl-e-Bait) were.

3. Mawaddat al-Qurba (al-Mawaddah Fil-Qurba) or Expressed love for the close of kin:

In this Last Word of Allah (Noble Qur'an), Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is being commanded to ask the believers to love his kith and kin (that is his Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt)) and that would be the return of his apostleship. Hence, to Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt) has been obligatory (wajib) command of Allah on every Muslim.

Say (O Muhammad, unto mankind): I do not ask of you any reward for it but love for my near relatives. Noble Qur'an (42:23)

Hazrat Abdullah Ibn Masood (RA) narrated: One day, we were accompanying the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in one of his journeys when a Bedouin with an orotund voice shouted at us, "Muhammad!"

"What do you want?" answered the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

"What is it if an individual loves a people but he does not imitate them in deeds?" asked the Bedouin.

"One will be attached to the one he loves," replied the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

"Muhammad," shouted the Bedouin, "Call me to Islam."

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: "You should declare that there is no god but Allah (SWT) and that I am the Messenger of Allah (SWT), offer the prayer (Salat), defray the zakat, fast during the month of Ramadan, and perform the hajj to the Holy House."

"Muhammad," asked the Bedouin, "Do you ask for wage for so?" "No," replied the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), "I do not take any wage except that you must regard the relatives." "Whose relatives? Mine or yours?" asked the Bedouin. "It is my relatives," answered the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

The Bedouin said: "Give me your hand so that I will declare allegiance to you. No good is expected from him who loves you, but not your relatives."(Bihar ul-Anwar)

4. Hadith al-Safinah or Safinah Tradition: ❤️

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has compared his Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt) to Noah's ark. Whoever loves and follows them will attain salvation and whoever violates their sanctity will drown.

While holding the door of Holy Kaaba, Abu Dharr told that he had heard Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) say, "My family among you is like Noah's ark. He who sails in it will be safe, but he who holds back from it will perish."

Hadith al-Safina ❤️

In another place Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: "The parable of my Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt) is that of the boat of Noah, whoever gets aboard it is saved and whoever stays away from it is drowned."

5. Hadith al-Thaqalayn or Saqlain Tradition (Hadith of the two weighty things):

Prophet Muhammad - may Allah (SWT) bestow peace and benedictions upon him and his pure Progeny - said: "Verily, I am leaving behind two precious things (thaqalayn) among you: the Book of Allah and my kindred (itrah), my household Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt), for indeed, the two will never separate until they come back to me by the Pond (of al­Kawthar on the Day of Judgement)." [Hadith-e-Saqlain]

Hadith al-Thaqalayn ❤️

Since the Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt) carry as much weight in the eyes of Allah (SWT) as the Noble Qur'an, the former has the same qualities as the latter. Just as the Noble Qur'an is true from beginning to end without the shadow of untruth in it, and just as it is incumbent (duty) of every Muslim to obey its commands, so also must the Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt) be perfectly true and sincere guides whose commands must be followed by all.

Therefore there can be no escape of accepting their leadership and following their creed and faith. The Muslims are bound by the Hadith of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to follow them and no one else.

Imam al-Shafi'i, one of the four Imams of the Sunni school of thought, in his famous verses says, "Let everybody know that if the love of Prophet Muhammad's descendants means to be a Rafizi, I am a Rafizi."

Imam al-Shafi'i also says, "O Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt)! Allah (SWT) has made it obligatory in the Noble Qur'an to love you. It is a matter of pride for you that without invoking blessing on you, prayer is not valid."

Again he says in his verses, "After having seen that the people have chosen different ways which have led them to the Ocean of deviation and ignorance. I have, in the name of Allah (SWT), embarked the ship which may lead me to safety.

The Ahlul Bayt of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) are that very ship, we have been ordered to hold fast the rope of Allah (SWT), and that rope is their love."

Conclusion: Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt) sacrificed all the worldly comforts and even their lives in order to convey the true religion of Islam to us. In return of their sacrifices, we are commanded by Allah (SWT) to love them.

The aim is that through their love, we follow their footsteps. We follow the true teachings of Islam taught by them, so that we live a good and decent life in this world and earn the pleasure of Allah (SWT) in the life hereafter.

Reference:

The fourteen stars vol. 01 p. 23

[white-yuta]

23:05 // pjs

Namjoon worked at the local convenience store as a cashier. He couldn’t say he loved his job but it paid enough for his needs and dreams to be poorly afforded. Plus, it didn’t require him to talk that much which he appreciated.

Every day went pretty much the same, nothing exciting ever happened. But he would be lying if he said that there wasn’t something he looked forward to see every day. Or, more specifically, someone. 

There was this one girl who came to the store quite often, always in (what looked like) her pjs and with her earphones plugged, the music playing so loud Namjoon could hear it from behind the counter. He sometimes wondered if her ears would hurt afterwards. 

The truth is Namjoon didn’t really know how much he expected the girl to come until he was closing the store and he’d realised he hadn’t seen her that day. The disappointment lasted only a few minutes; he didn’t know the girl at all to let it bother him more than that. 

But it was still there. 

And right now, he was experiencing those disappointing minutes. He wasn’t closing the store though, but it was a matter of minutes until he had to.

It was a Wednesday night and it was raining. He sighed, going to turn off the front lights when he heard the bell at the door ring. 

He looked at it, quite shocked and hoping that it wasn’t a robbery. Who would come this late to the store with that pouring rain? He gulped when he saw the girl he was just thinking about minutes ago, feeling somewhat embarrassed about it. 

She wasn’t wearing her pj’s this time.

The girl didn’t even spare a second to look at him though. She went straight to the snacks section, her earphones blasting some rap music from what Namjoon could hear. Damn, that music was loud. 

Namjoon looked at the floor when the gril casually turned around in his direction, and saw the wet footsteps she was leaving behind. Sighing, he went and took the floor dryer and started cleaning it up, deciding he wouldn’t want to bother doing it the following morning. 

Standing there, he could recognise the song the girl was listening. It was a pretty recent one, a good one. Namjoon couldn’t help to sing along to it. He figured that the girl wouldn’t notice him, and so he did. 

After a few minutes, the song had ended and so had he cleaning the aisle. Namjoon put everything back in place and went behind the counter to wait for the girl to finish her late night shopping.

She came only a second later, with a couple of snacks and a wine bottle.  

“Who would’ve thought the cute cashier could also sing pretty decently?” she asked in a casual tone as she left everything she would buy on the counter, while Namjoon was taken completely by surprise. 

Seeing that she was receiving no answer, the girl looked up to him with the slightest smirk displayed on her face as she tilted her head. “And apparently, he forgets how to talk too” she added. 

Namjoon gulped and cleared his throat. “I didn’t forget. I just get dumbfounded when a hot person flirts with me, especially out of the blue. My bad” he answered honestly and saw the smirk on the other’s face significantly grow. 

And it was true. He wasn’t expecting this girl to talk to him, let alone flirt with him so boldly. But he couldn’t say he wasn’t flattered. In fact, he found it pretty hot.

“Well, that’s sad. I would have guessed you are used to it,” she said as she saw Namjoon scanning the items. “You should” she continued once he finished, handing him the cash. 

Namjoon smiled as he took the money. He felt himself slightly blushing. “I’ll try to act more naturally in the future then” he answered, counting the change. 

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to wait two whole minutes to get an answer next time”.

Namjoon was taken aback once again. “Does that mean you are gonna flirt with me again?” he asked, his eyebrows raised, giving her the change and the bag containing her stuff. 

“Yes. To help you get used to it, of course,” she answered ironically, a smirk still plastered on her face. 

“Well, aren’t you a sweetheart?” Namjoon commented resting his forearms on the counter, trying to play it cool. In this position, he was actually at the same height as the girl in front of him and could see directly into her eyes. 

“I am,” she admitted while smiling proudly.

Namjoon dedicated a few seconds to check the girl out, without making it too obvious. She was wearing a white t-shirt, a leather jacket and black skinny jeans. She also had some jewellery: a nice necklace, some fancy earrings and rings. 

It really contrasted to the image of her Namjoon was used to seeing: some sweatpants or patterned pants, slippers and t-shirts that read things among the lines of sleep. eat. repeat., don’t talk to me or other tumblr/cliché phrases. Namjoon thought it was cute.

“I gotta say, I find it quite weird you coming here this late at night,” Namjoon said, “but you know... that isn’t what’s bothering me the most”. 

The girl stared at him a little confused. “What’s bothering you?” 

“You’re not in your pjs”.

Namjoon smiled seeing the girl in front of him blush, but trying to hide it by shaking her head.

“I see you’re the kind to pay attention,” she answered when she finally looked back up. 

“Only when it’s about something I’m really interested in,” Namjoon confessed. Most of the time, he really didn’t put a filter between his thoughts and his words and he was more than okay with that. But the reality was that he didn’t flirt that much, resulting in him always being a little too straight-forward when it came to it.

The girl didn’t even try to hide her face this time, and Namjoon appreciated it because her blushed cheeks were really cute. 

“And there I was, waiting for you to give any sign that you liked me. All I had to do was ask,” she said ironically but smiling. 

This time, Namjoon was the one blushing. The girl stared at him for a few seconds.

“There’s been too much blushing for my liking in less than ten minutes,” she said, “it’s been a pleasure though”. She finally grabbed her bag and turned around, going towards the doors.

“Wait, don’t I get to know your name at least?” Namjoon asked quickly. 

The girl turned around again to look at him in the eyes, “I was hoping to continue being just ‘the hot girl in the pjs’ but if you insist,” she joked. “I’m y/n”. 

“Now you are y/n, the hot girl in the pjs” Namjoon answered and y/n smiled widely, showing off her gums. 

Namjoon’s heart did a thing. 

And y/n left.

#bts #bts namjoon #bts scenarios #namjoon scenarios #kim namjoon #kim namjoon scenarios #bts imagines #namjoon imagines #namjoon one shot #bts fluff #namjoon fluff #jungkook #jimin #taehyung #yoongi #seokjin #hoseok #bangtan #bangtan sonyeondan

[alixofagnia]

OpheThorn II: A Slightly Less Rambling Analysis

The Missing of Clairdelune is a superb second installment in The Mirror Visitor quartet. We get more of what we loved about the first book, more pieces to the larger existential puzzle, yet it smartly stops short of resolving too much so that we stay invested for the third episode. Christelle Dabos allows herself slightly more exposition. But the novel really succeeds by continuing to follow the less-is-more mantra and the showing vs. telling style.

As you may or may not recall, after I finished A Winter’s Promise, I spent an embarrassing amount of time copy/pasting excerpts from this book into Google Translate with the result that I really did spoil a lot of the OpheThorn parts for myself—which I don’t exactly regret. But, essentially, it left me with a bit less to say. I had a good response to my first OpheThorn analysis (it’s here and thank you for all the kind words), so I did think that I’d like to put something out about Clairdelune as well, I just wasn’t sure what. After some consideration (and a re-read), I do have some more thoughts about OpheThorn.

So, here we go.

[Spoilers included this time]

[All fanart images credited to @patricialyfoung]

Intro

Since Clairdelune begins right where Promise concluded, Ophelia is still pissed at Thorn, while Thorn is still pining for Ophelia albeit in his uniquely aloof way. The only real thing that’s made me scratch my head with them is the severity of Ophelia’s anger/resentment over Thorn having withheld his true ambitions from her and her finding out about them from someone else. I just think it’s a little bit of a weak conflict for them given how pragmatic they are. I get that it’s the culmination of a frustrating situation. But I still think it’s weak.

So, once again the two begin on shaky ground, a space they occupy for the bulk of the novel. They are, at least, together a bit more than before and there’s all sorts of lovely tension, mostly caused by Thorn’s inelegant method of wooing compounded by Ophelia’s stubborn refusal to give him an inch. Thorn’s growing feelings for Ophelia were subtly hinted at in Promise and they become more apparent here, particularly when juxtaposed against Ophelia’s stubborn denial of hers for him.

And I just adore the cover art! Don’t you?

Thorn and Autism Spectrum Disorder

This is what I want to discuss. I may be alone in this, but it seems like Thorn could be coded as having autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It occurred to me while I was reading Promise and this time around, I feel comfortable in taking that perspective on Thorn. I like the notion of applying an ASD reading to his character because it explains a few descriptive quirks and makes him more than a “weirdo” or “freak”, which is reductive labeling. When considering his interactions with other characters and their reactions to him, this reading lends an added layer to his actions and overall development.

But let me make something clear.

This book isn’t about ASD, so I’m not suggesting that Dabos intended to write Thorn as having ASD or is trying to make a statement in any way on the disorder, and I’m cautious about how I use this idea to understand the character. This is purely my own speculation/take on the character.

I also want to be clear that I don’t have any personal experience with the disorder. I’ve met people with autism and ASD and they were all very different from each other and had very different needs. So, I’m largely making connections with textbook examples of ASD and they’re maybe a little bit broad because as I said it isn’t explicitly made clear that Thorn has ASD. I may very likely err in my understanding of this disorder. If that’s the case, I apologize in advance and please do correct me or give me your own opinion on this idea.

Here’s an overview from the webpage of the national institute of mental health:

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that affects communication and behavior. Although autism can be diagnosed at any age, it is said to be a “developmental disorder” because symptoms generally appear in the first two years of life. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), a guide created by the American Psychiatric Association used to diagnose mental disorders, people with ASD have:

Difficulty with communication and interaction with other people

Restricted interests and repetitive behaviors

Symptoms that hurt the person’s ability to function properly in school, work, and other areas of life

Autism is known as a “spectrum” disorder because there is wide variation in the type and severity of symptoms people experience. Although ASD can be a lifelong disorder, treatments and services can improve a person’s symptoms and ability to function.

It’s been shown repeatedly that it’s very difficult for Thorn to be an inviting and easy-going person, even with people he cares about. Thorn struggles with  communication, is emotionally suppressed, is both uncaring and at times completely unaware of how he presents himself socially, and obsessively consults his pocket watch, particularly when he’s at a loss for words or bored, or otherwise ready to get the hell out of any situation that causes him anxiety. He’s highly intelligent, fixated on order and organization, and has a history (as we know from Promise and learn more about in Clairdelune) of meeting intense emotion with impulsive violence.

Here’s a list (also from the NIMH website) of common symptoms:

Making little or inconsistent eye contact

Tending not to look at or listen to people

Rarely sharing enjoyment of objects or activities by pointing or showing things to others

Failing to, or being slow to, respond to someone calling their name or to other verbal attempts to gain attention

Having difficulties with the back and forth of conversation

Often talking at length about a favorite subject without noticing that others are not interested or without giving others a chance to respond

Having facial expressions, movements, and gestures that do not match what is being said

Having an unusual tone of voice that may sound sing-song or flat and robot-like

Having trouble understanding another person’s point of view or being unable to predict or understand other people’s actions

Repeating certain behaviors or having unusual behaviors. For example, repeating words or phrases, a behavior called echolalia

Having a lasting intense interest in certain topics, such as numbers, details, or facts

Having overly focused interests, such as with moving objects or parts of objects

Getting upset by slight changes in a routine

Being more or less sensitive than other people to sensory input, such as light, noise, clothing, or temperature

People with ASD may also experience sleep problems and irritability. Although people with ASD experience many challenges, they may also have many strengths including:

Being able to learn things in detail and remember information for long periods of time

Being strong visual and auditory learners

Excelling in math, science, music, or art

One can’t help but notice that we can check several of these points off for Thorn. Not all, certainly, but I’m sure you can call to mind some of your own examples of him exhibiting many of these behaviors repeatedly.

Where Does Ophelia Fit In?

Thorn has always treated his relationship with Ophelia in a very business-like manner, almost like a negotiation, which makes sense within the context of an arranged marriage. At the novel’s start, Thorn wishes to make amends, but Ophelia makes it very clear that she will not forgive him for his lies and neglect. His response to her is rather clinical.

“We simply can’t allow ourselves to be enemies,” cut in Thorn. “You’re making my life difficult with your resentment; it’s imperative that we become reconciled. […] Meet me at the Treasury, insult me, slap me, smash a plate over my head if you feel like it, and then let’s never speak of it again. Name your day. This Thursday would suit me.” [65]

I suppose this is a rather annoying response, especially if one is really just looking for a simple and genuine apology. But if we read Thorn as having ASD, then this feels a little different. He’s simplifying a conflict that he maybe doesn’t quite understand; he’s been given a different perspective on his actions and it’s perhaps beyond his capability to comprehend. To compensate, he turns this into a matter of business, which is something he can understand quite well, even going so far as to try and pencil Ophelia into his calendar. But he’s woefully unaware of the frustrating effect his language and tone have on her. Of course, what’s key here is what he isn’t saying: that she’s making his life difficult because he loves her; he wants to be on good terms, but doesn’t know how to fix this. Note that he again suggests violence as a means to deal with her emotion.

When they do meet up, Thorn says, 

“I have many enemies. I no longer want to count you among them, so tell me what I must do. That is why you came here, isn’t it? You have a deal to offer me, I’m listening to you.” [152]

He’s desperate. It’s also worth noting that he’s fairly vulnerable in this chapter; he exhibits jealousy and some hurt—Ophelia missed their original appointment because she was with Archibald and forgot about him. 

Modest as always, Ophelia asks only for a job, money to pay Fox, her new assistant, and to see the real outdoors again. She lastly requests that he always be honest with her, especially in matters that directly concern her. In exchange, she will teach him how to Read objects after the ceremony of the Gift and he will teach her how to use the claws that he’ll pass to her. She also reiterates, for good measure, that this will be their only conjugal duty. He grants the first three readily enough, but the fourth one trips him up. He does agree to it, but it’s obvious that it will cost him in more ways than one.

While I imagine that he’s receptive on some level to sexual intimacy with Ophelia, I think he’s more afraid of intimacy in general. Sharing things and being honest with a partner means opening oneself up to vulnerability, to weakness. The undertaking he’s set for himself—a mission he’s already devoted 15 years of his life to—doesn’t allow for that kind of intimacy; rather, it requires utmost resiliency, secrecy, and focus. Furthermore, if he were to be seen forming loving attachments (with Berenilde, Ophelia, or anyone else), then that could be turned against him over the course of fulfilling his risky endeavor. It’s that very fear, in fact, which has made him exclude his aunt (and attempt to exclude Ophelia) entirely from his investigation. His pursuit of a noble title and legitimacy is a front, an easy excuse he thought up to satisfy Berenilde’s and the court’s curiosity about why he suddenly wanted to get married and Read Farouk’s Book.

Like Thorn, it scares Ophelia to feel herself falling in love. Perhaps the womanly pride she carries with her makes it difficult for her to open up. After all, love and marriage were never apparently high on her list of things to accomplish either. Ophelia and Thorn are separately dealing with the same conundrum, which is that to love means to fear, and that’s messy. It could get in the way of a life that is humble (Ophelia) and a life that is ambitious (Thorn). Simply put, neither one had accounted for even the possibility of love in their marriage.

Perhaps because Ophelia is a Reader, I think that deep down she likes the enigma and challenge that is Thorn. Yes, he’s frustrating, but she never truly loses interest in him. Indeed, if anything, she becomes increasingly intrigued and is entirely won over when she at last learns all about what he’s doing. Ophelia is very likely the first person to make Thorn both confront and attempt to correct his inadequacy in areas of intimacy. As I touched on in my previous analysis, Ophelia calling Thorn out on his behavior and habits is surely a novelty for him.

“I believe neither in luck nor in destiny,” he declared. “I trust only the science of probabilities. I have studied mathematical statistics, combinatorial analysis, mass function, and random variables, and they have never held any surprises for me. You don’t seem fully to grasp the destabilizing effect that someone like you can have on someone like me.” [377]

Ohhhhkay. 

It turns out, she’s a bit of an enigma and definitely a challenge to him in kind. This is Thorn’s way of trying to tell Ophelia that he loves her. 

Thorn and Ophelia seek control and wield it differently. Thorn can be arrogant and overconfident with it, and he wants to be its sole retainer. Ophelia also wants to retain it but as it pertains to her decisions for herself, and she rebels against it when she feels like that’s being taken away from her. It’s important to them that they are in control of their own actions and destinies. But what neither one of them understands is that those we end up loving is often (or maybe always) outside of our control. Love has no explanation, and doesn’t require one. You can’t predict it. You can’t dictate it. You can’t calculate it or quantify it.

Ophelia seriously turns Thorn’s life, and everything he thought he could predict or control about it, upside down. Initially unwittingly, then actively, she encourages him to develop.

ASD Made Sexy

As inelegant as he is, Thorn does have his own way of being shocking:

“You wanted me to be honest with you. You will thus learn that you are not just a pair of hands for me. And I don’t give a damn whether people find me suspect, as long as I am not so in your eyes. You will return this to me when I have kept all my promises,” he grumbled, holding his watch out to Ophelia without noticing her stunned expression. “And if you still doubt me in the future, just read it.” [156].

You guys, this is kind of romantic, right? He’s so direct and it really flusters Ophelia, who is steadfastly resisting the decidedly non-business-like turn their relationship has taken. Skip to novel’s end, however, and she has totally changed her tune about Thorn. Right before they believe they will be parted forever, Thorn finally gives a straightforward confirmation of his feelings.

“Don’t go falling down any more stairs, avoid sharp objects, and above all, above all, keep away from disreputable people, alright? […] Oh, and by the way, I love you.” [486]

Swoon. 

The fact of the matter is this: despite his unconventional looks and mannerisms, Thorn hits a certain level of sexy. Which begs the question: Can ASD be sexy? Sure, one could say that his sex appeal comes naturally with his role as the male lead, which is directly connected to his chemistry with the female lead. But I think there’s actually an important distinction to be made; it’s not whether ASD itself is sexy, it’s whether a character with ASD is sexy and I think that’s important because you don’t want ASD to be treated as a gimmick in fiction. It matters how that kind of character is presented. 

Thorn’s ASD traits make him eccentric at best and a “freak” at worst, by Ophelia’s own description. Some of Thorn’s less offensive eccentricities are portrayed in an endearing light: his brusqueness with silly persons (i.e. Archibald, Baron Melchior) and their silly behavior; wearing his heavy uniform in a tropical illusion when there’s no evident dress policy for officials; preoccupied with tending to the order of his office over the tending of his wounds; launching a dangerous existential investigation all because of an illegal and unjust disruption in odds and probabilities, an utter crime in Thorn’s eyes.

But it’s also important to look at how other characters view him. Those at the Pole may look down on him, but there is no doubt that he commands a considerable level of their respect. He’s at the center of Citaceleste’s political and economical arenas, and has some judicial power as well. In short, he’s the one that everyone seemingly runs to in a crisis. Ophelia begrudgingly admires his self-control, coolness under pressure, and appreciates that he is not corrupt, like the other officials and aristocrats. Naturally, Berenilde regards him the highest. She, more than any other, gives us a glimpse of the true Thorn, putting forward the image of a protector, provider, and all-around genius.

So, the answer is yes. Thorn is sexy.

Ophelia and Asexuality

OK, I realize I’m going off on a tangent here, but since asexuality is a common reading of Ophelia that I see in reviews, I wanted to address that as well. 

There are many instances of Ophelia fulfilling, for lack of a better way to put it, the butterfly trope:

Perhaps it was due to the nervousness Thorn brought out in her, or the lace veil obscuring her vision, or the scarf coiled around her foot, or her pathological clumsiness, but the fact is, Ophelia tripped on the final step of the stairs. [28]

Hearing Thorn reawakened such nervousness in Ophelia that she seriously considered hanging up on him. [63]

She did, however, have to admit that Berenilde had got it right: it was indeed out of cowardice, more even than anger, that she’d spent recent weeks avoiding him. [100]

Somewhat embarrassed, Ophelia wondered whether he felt as nervous in her company as she felt in his. [160]

Ophelia felt her blood throbbing against her eardrums, but couldn’t have said whether it was due to sudden relief or, on the contrary, heightened tension. [323]

Ophelia gets butterflies whenever her love interest is near. It’s important to note that she’s not afraid for her safety when she’s with him, although there is one incident, where she thinks he’s going to strike her, which is quickly dispelled by his sincere assurance that he’d never harm her. He gives her butterflies often by doing totally mundane things such as standing in front of her or looking at her, and that bothers her. But why? 

Like Thorn, she’s convinced herself that intimacy and love aren’t for her. Some reviewers have praised Ophelia for being a representation of asexuality and, while I think there’s a strong case for her being somewhere on the asexual spectrum, I stop short at positing that she’s totally uninterested in sex or doesn’t experience sexual attraction. She’s noted, on several occasions, both in Clairdelune and Promise, Archibald’s handsomeness. In this novel, she also notes Fox’s.

With his gold braiding and red mane, he was as dazzling as Thorn was dark. Ophelia sensed herself coloring just looking at him. [165]

So, she does experience sexual attraction and, furthermore, she physically reacts to Fox’s appearance (though never to Archibald’s), which suggests that she’s not wholly disinterested in sex. In Promise, she commented that “no man had ever quickened her pulse” and lamented about whether she’d ever feel that way about someone, and I think this is probably the point at which most readers took away that she might be asexual.

But, like...

Thorn is the only man who produces intense and consistent physical reactions in her.

Also, if you look at the [323] quote above, he did in fact get her pulse up. Just saying.

Rather than label her as purely asexual or even being on the spectrum, we could instead speculate that, as a Reader, she’s experienced to some degree love in all its forms through countless objects and perhaps she can’t help having this reaction to love and intimacy. I’m not trying to be cynical or pessimistic, but love can be treacherous and people are driven to do all kinds of terrible things for it or because of it. As wonderful as love is despite that, it seems likely that Ophelia has simply decided it’s not something she wants to navigate. Or she just hadn’t met someone yet who was worth all that trouble.

I’ll Close With This:

“You’re free,” whispered Ophelia. “Free to go, free to stay. I won’t make you leave one cage for another one, although, as you’ve seen, I really don’t live in great security. I decided your fate without taking time to think, or to speak to you. I was selfish…and I still am. […] I still am because, deep down, I would like you to choose to remain by my side. I know that apologizing can no longer change anything, but anyway: forgive me.” [135]

Ophelia says this to Fox after rescuing him from the dungeons of Clairdelune and taking him on as an assistant. Now, when I read this, I couldn’t help but think that it’s precisely the apology Ophelia wants to hear from Thorn. Yet, here she is, guilty of doing to someone the very thing she holds against him. Isn’t it funny how hypocrisy and love are such good friends? As we know, articulation and eloquence are not Thorn’s strengths and some of Ophelia’s aversion to him is based around her inability to accept this part of him. 

Eventually, Thorn does make, more or less, the same apology.

“I should never have involved you in my affairs. I knew it would be dangerous. I convinced myself that I had the situation under control, and that mistake almost cost you your life. […] There is one thing that I have tried to tell you several times. I’m no good at these formalities, so let’s get on with it and speak no more of it. […] Please forgive me.” [444-45]

Strangely, she barely acknowledges this; she’s too busy having an epiphany.

At that second, she finally knew with absolute certainty where her place was. It wasn’t in the Pole, it wasn’t on Anima. It was precisely where she was now. At Thorn’s side. [445]

Well, perhaps this isn’t so strange since the novel starts off posing the question to this answer.

Deep down, Ophelia wondered where exactly her first home might be. Since she’d arrived at the Pole, she’d already visited Berenilde’s manor, the Clairdelune embassy, and her fiancés Treasury, and she hadn’t felt at home in any of them. [24]

The theme of home and belonging permeates this novel in a more central way than its predecessor. Ophelia is repeatedly confronted by it, but it’s also echoed in Farouk’s obsession with the Reading of his Book and finding out where he comes from and what happened in his past. When her family arrives from Anima, she sees the Pole and Thorn through their eyes. She ends up defending both from their disapproving remarks and in doing so, she realizes that she has ceased thinking of Anima as her home.

Life in the Pole was like that: wherever one went, whatever one did, danger was part of daily life. And yet, Ophelia reflected, she didn’t hate it that much, that life. [280]

Thorn’s apology seals the deal: she understands now that she was mistaken. Home is not a place. People, those who love you and who you love in return, give a home meaning. Belonging, likewise, is only made possible by the people who accept you and give you a place among them. It’s been hard-won, but she’s found both in the Pole, in Thorn and Berenilde. Her lack of a direct response to Thorn’s words suggests that she’s already forgiven him, that it matters less to her that he struggles with communication, that she’s finally accepted him for who he is and, better still, found him lovable despite that.

If we read Thorn as having ASD, then this intense dynamic between them is a positive treatment of mental/social disorders in fiction, which is really the only point I had to make with this entire thing.

Where Does Ophelia End?

I asked this question in my last analysis. Based off of the fact that, when we left her in Promise, she was experiencing some serious discomfort in body and soul directly connected to Thorn, I predicted/semi-already-knew that she would evolve toward him.

At one point, Ophelia loses the ability to pass through mirrors. We understand that it’s because she’s been lying to herself; after all, her great-uncle made it very clear that mirror-traveling is impossible under such a circumstance. It’s ironic because, by her own admission, she’s a “bad actress” [161] and, according to her mother, “was never any good at lying” [157].

She’s just so stubborn, isn’t she? It’s gratifying then to read when Ophelia overcomes it. Thorn makes a public announcement, cancelling his marriage, refusing to Read Farouk’s Book, and handing in his resignation as Treasurer. He does this to protect Ophelia and her family from imminent danger but at risk to his own welfare and position. He’s basically committing suicide, which very nearly turns literal at novel’s end. Ophelia can only think to go to him by the quickest means possible.

She looked straight at her determined face, beyond its scratches and bruises, finally ready to face that truth that she hadn’t wanted to see. It wasn’t Thorn who needed her. It was she who needed Thorn. Ophelia plunged, body and soul, into the mirror. [416]

I don’t think I need to spell that out.

Thorn and His Watch

To go on a little bit of a tangent, I also wanted to touch on the watch.

I believe it was mentioned in Promise that the watch had been a gift from Berenilde, which is so precious. Berenilde is the only true parental figure Thorn has known. She used her status and wealth to protect and care for him, and seems to understand him as only a mother--one with a child the rest of the world refuses to accept--can. I thought her reaction to Thorn’s suicidal announcement was especially devastating.

She had begun to shake so hard that Agatha rushed to take the baby from her arms. Bent double in her chair, as though punched in the stomach, Berenilde looked imploringly at Ophelia. “I beg you. Don’t abandon my boy.” [412]

Keep in mind that Berenilde has outlived her three biological children, none of whom survived past childhood. Thorn is such a lonely figure that it’s easy to forget he comes from somewhere. But Berenilde’s reminder to us is clear: he’s not the child of his Dragon father nor of his Chronicler mother. Thorn is her child, and she’s terrified of losing him like the others.

While there can be no doubt of her sentiment toward Thorn, it’s entirely likely that Berenilde foisted much of her maternal grief, trauma, and longing onto him without his express permission; he never seems to regard her with any particular filial warmth. Then again, he once attacked Archibald in defense of Berenilde’s honor, after he seduced her away from Farouk, and Ophelia later notes that he “suspended an investigation and jumped into an airship” to be near to Berenilde when she went into labor with her daughter [373]. Thorn is clearly defined rather more by his actions than his words. But the point is Berenilde is the one who gave Thorn his sense of belonging, and I just adore that.

Metaphorically speaking, the watch represents Thorn’s heart, which was given to him by his mother figure and which he gives to Ophelia as a token of his love and trustworthiness. Indeed, it’s even called a “mechanical heart” [156]. Ophelia has Read one of Thorn’s possessions before (dice) and was overwhelmed by the fury and breadth of his emotions. If she were to Read his watch, she’d probably die. Every time he digs it out of his pocket to look at it, to hold it, to fiddle with it, he’s engraving some emotional signature or trace onto it. Ophelia ultimately decides not to Read it.

“Before you go, I would like to return this to you. You need it more than me, and, in any case, I won’t read it. I’ve chosen to trust you—you, not your watch.” [285]

Her words have a profound effect on Thorn, rendering him totally speechless and maybe more confused than ever. At any rate, he misreads the situation and catches Ophelia off guard with an awkward kiss. It’s kind of a heartbreaking scene, because Ophelia simply reacts (by slapping him) and is genuinely baffled that he took her words for encouragement. I don’t necessarily take this to be evidence of her asexuality. I don’t discredit it by any means, but it just feels more like she was taken by surprise.

The thing is, for perhaps the first time ever in his life, he actively desired for someone to know his true heart and to trust in his sincerity, which is why he gave the watch to her in the first place. In his defense, this was quite a pretty and irresistible thing for Ophelia to tell him and I don’t think she’s as put off as she wants to be.

With ears burning and glasses crimson, Ophelia stared at the faded letters on the old wooden panel—“STAFF ONLY”—as if Thorn might, at any moment, retrace his steps, take back his kiss, and leave his fob watch with her, as she’d suggested in the first place. [286]

It’s funny. She wants to erase the uncomfortable physical side of the incident, but she also wants to retain his metaphorical heart. I mean, yes, it’s broken because of some careless action on her part and she asked for it back so her great-uncle could try to fix it. But still. It’s hard to ignore the metaphor there as well: if the heart watch has changed from beating to broken and she wants to hold onto the broken heart watch to try to mend it…

Well, good Lord, it’s just so obvious, isn’t it?

End

Well, that’s about it. As I said, I really only had the one main thought and then a bunch of smaller ones. 

I just learned—and am seriously devastated—that The Memory of Babel won’t be released in the U.S. until May 2020. I’m hoping this is a tentative date and that it will be available sooner.

In the meantime, if someone could upload a PDF that I could then spend days plugging in to Google Translate (again), that’d be super greeeeaaaat…

For part III, head here.

#ophethorn #La Passe-Miroir #les disparus de clairdelune #the mirror visitor #the missing of clairdelune #christelle dabos #long book report

[thisisawesomeness1825]

oops, i (fake) love you, ch. 06

vi. Percy

She's so annoying, Percy thinks as he picks up the paper containing the first lesson. Then, he looks at the other papers scattered on his bed. But so thorough.

In all honesty, Percy still thinks that maybe he's dreaming, because there's no way that Annabeth is now helping him, even if this is somehow coated in sarcastic remarks and ridiculous demands (like giving him homework). When he went to ask for her help in mythology class that day, his mind was running a thousand miles a minute to actually comprehend what he's doing. Once lunch rolled out did he just realize that he really tried to ask for her help. Which was probably the most embarrassing thing he has ever done.

Asking Annabeth Chase for help? Pshhh.

Then the events just followed, and next thing he knew, he was signing up for a fake dating agreement with the enemy. THE Enemy.

For a second, he contemplates not doing any of the steps written on the lesson plan. After all, Annabeth might be sabotaging his plan of dating Rachel, and instead of making him better, she might be making him worse. But then, he figures that she's not that evil to do such a thing, even if she's a little short-tempered and rude.

So he picks up the first lesson and tries to soak up as much as he can.

The next day, when Percy goes to school, he's a little afraid to admit that he's more self-conscious than usual.

He's not wearing his glasses, and the dark green shirt Annabeth suggested he wear clings to his skin more than he likes to. He doesn't really know how wearing this will make him look more appealing to the eyes, because, to be honest, he feels a little stupid.

But when he accidentally bumps to a girl from his English class in the hallway, he changes his mind.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" A voice screeches.

"I'm sorry. I really didn't see you—"

"Percy Jackson?" The girl asks suddenly as she peers at him. "From Mr. Blofis' class?"

"Uh, yeah." Percy reaches up and rubs the back of his neck since he could not push back his glasses.

Her eyes gaze at him from head to toe, then she grins. "Would you look at that? You clean up nicely, after all."

Did he just—did he just get complimented?

"Um, thanks," he says, his cheeks a little flushed.

Out of nowhere, he feels a pinch on his side, and she winks at him. "If you ever need help in English, you know who to ask."

He can only muster a nod, then she's already waving goodbye.

Woah. That was out of the ordinary. For all his stay in Goode, he never really got a wink from anyone (except maybe for Leo, whose eyes are always twitching, anyway).

But that? That is something new to him.

Grover sidles up to him, talking about the latest campaign his club is going to host, as Percy picks up the rest of his books from his locker. Grover hasn't seen him yet.

"Y'know, I really like this fun run drive we're hosting. I mean, I know I couldn't run because duh, crutches, but the importance of this program is—woah."

"Hello, G-man," Percy greets.

Grover squints his eyes at him. "Am I talking to the right Percy Jackson?"

"Of course. Who did you think I was?"

"Are you sure you're not an imposter or something? Y'know, cos my best friend has glasses and has this really bad style of clothing."

"I didn't think it was that bad."

"Uh, sure it was."

Nico, Percy's cousin, who happens to pass by the hallway, takes a look at him and smirks. "Hey, you actually look human today, Perce."

"Says the zombie," he retorts.

"Fuck off," Nico says, then walks away.

"I'll never understand your weird cousin dynamics," Grover comments, as he shakes his head at them. "So, is this part of your new grooming tactics or...?"

Percy tucks his hands to his jeans and shrugs. "Well, I just decided to change a few styles, and ditch my glasses. Nothing major."

"For what reason?"

"I mean, I just wanted a change from a typical Percy combination. This being a new school year and all."

"Are you sure it's not just to impress Rachel?"

"Uh, umm..," He fumbles for the next words, not sure how to phrase the fact that it is indeed for Rachel, but without revealing his fake dating ploy with Annabeth. "...actually, I've—I've moved on from her."

Grover is so surprised he loses his grip on his crutches for a second. With wide and unbelieving eyes, he stares at Percy. Then, he pokes him on the chest. "No shit man. You aren't Percy."

"You're crazy. I am Percy."

The bell rings, and any retort Grover has is lost among the noise in the hallways. Percy calls in a goodbye to his friend and rushes to his first subject. When he arrives, Annabeth is already sitting and she pays him no attention as he sits on his chair.

Huh. Looks like they're gonna be that couple. Anyway, that works for him, since he doesn't have to explain much to his friends.

However, right after the class ends, instead of directly going outside the classroom, she lingers by his desk. This is no surprise for the students who are still inside the classroom since it is normal to see them arguing after class. But what sends their jaw dropping to the ground is when Annabeth gives him a bashful smile (bashful! He didn't know she was capable of faking that!) and mutters, "I'll see you later at lunch."

To be fair, Percy is quite surprised himself, and much more are the classmates who have witnessed the interaction. Thankfully, no one dared to ask him questions, but he can see the wary and amused faces of their classmates. He gives them an awkward smile which almost turns into a grimace when he sees Annabeth's smirking face by the door.

Ugh. The nerve of that girl.

When the lunch bell rings, he almost forgets Annabeth's little stint after mythology class. A number of his classmates have noticed his new appearance, and their positive comments have uplifted his mood for the first half of the day.

"Hey, you look extra dashing today, Percy," Piper says as she takes in his appearance. She smirks when she notices the flush on his cheeks. "Got a hot date?"

Jason, who apparently, overheard the comment says, "Psh. Percy with a hot date? Never."

Piper pinches Jason on the arm. Weirdly enough, the blonde's cheeks turn red. "Don't be mean to him. All my friends are capable of a hot date."

"Say it louder, Pipes!" Leo exclaims.

Just then, Percy's object of affections arrives in a mass of red curls. Rachel looks good today, just as she does always. She beams at everyone when she arrives at their table. "What are you guys talking about?"

"We're talking about how Percy looks dashing today, and whether he is capable of a hot date," Piper says.

Rachel's gaze focuses on Percy, and she smiles at him. "Yeah. I noticed that too."

He's so absorbed with her blinding smile that he fails to recognize the new voice that joins in the conversation, up until he feels a hand squeezing on his shoulder.

"Hey, I told you I'd see you during lunch," Annabeth says to him, and without waiting for a response, leans closer to press a kiss on his cheek.

Woah. Just what.

Seriously, a kiss? On his cheek?

The action makes him stiffen in surprise because really, he did not see that coming. However, this does not escape Annabeth's eyes as she gives his shoulder a tighter squeeze as a warning. But it seems that the Fates are on his side today since his friends are apparently too stunned to take notice of his reaction.

Really, a warning would have been nice next time.

Piper recovers quicker than the rest and stares at Annabeth like she expects her to suddenly wage war on their table. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, why are you here?"

Annabeth looks at him and smiles a little tightly. "I'm guessing you haven't told them yet?"

"Haven't told us what?" Grover asks once he swallows his enchilada.

Underneath the table, Annabeth pinches his thighs, and glances at him as if saying, 'you tell them.' He swallows down his nerves and avoids Rachel's eyes.

"Uh, surprise! Annabeth's kind of...um, my girlfriend now."

As if to prove the point, Annabeth interlaces her fingers with his, but he still stiffens with the alien feeling. This time, Rachel catches the reaction with her eyes.

"Girlfriend," Leo repeats, and he gestures to the two of them. "So, um, the two of you are dating now?"

"Yes. Believe or not," Annabeth answers with a tight smile.

"Um, cool." Leo mutters under his breath, 'I believe it not.' Jason shoots him a look. "Congrats Percy and Annabeth. I'm glad that you've, uh...put the past behind you."

"Righttt," Piper agrees way too enthusiastic. "When did this happen?"

Percy answers "yesterday" at the same time Annabeth says "last week." At this, she sends him a knowing look while proceeding to create an excuse. "So, we actually got together last week, but knowing our past, we were hesitant to take a step forward. So we waited for a while then decided to make it official yesterday."

Percy nods his agreement.

"Oh, that's...great."

The rest of the lunch is filled with a weird and tense silence. That's the only way he can describe it. Once the lunchtime ends, Annabeth bids him goodbye with a little smile and an awkward wave to his friends.

"Did that just literally happen?" Jason asks once she's out of earshot. He stares at Percy. "Seriously, you two are dating now?"

"Is it so hard to believe that we do?"

"Um, duh. Did you forget the fact that you were fighting like cats and dogs three days ago?"

"Well, bantering is our form of flirting. And besides, the more you hate, the more you love, right?" Percy shrugs with a smile. His friends just stare at him blankly.

"That's the most messed up thing you've said. Anyways, I'm going. Bye Perce," Grover comments, and hobbles out from the cafeteria. The rest of his friends also file out, muttering goodbyes and half-hearted congratulations. Except for Rachel, who remains seated from where she arrived an hour ago.

"Percy, can we talk?" Rachel asks, then peers at the area around her. The cafeteria is almost empty, but there are still some people lingering on the sides. "Preferably somewhere private."

There's a weight on his stomach, and his nerves suddenly feel on edge. "Okay," he croaks out, then follows her out of the cafeteria. She leads him to an empty classroom in a hallway that's not frequented by people.

Rachel closes the door and crosses her arms in front of her chest. There's a determined look in her eyes and a little anger that Percy really doesn't want to face.

"What are we doing here?" he asks.

"I need you to be honest with me, Percy," she says, then fixes him a stare. "Is Annabeth setting you up for this? Is she manipulating you to act as her boyfriend?"

Percy's mind reels. What? He takes a moment to shake his head because he did not really expect that question. But this moment of hesitation seems to spur Rachel on.

"I mean, she may not look like it, but she can be very manipulative. And I don't want you to be at the end of her games. She can harm you."

"Okay, wait. No," Percy says. This is all going the wrong way. "Annabeth is not using me, nor is she manipulating me. We agreed to go out because we liked each other, even if it may not look like it. No one's using the other, okay?"

"But why do you freeze when she touches you? Like she's repulsive to you?"

Percy internally flinches because that wasn't intentional at all. It's an after effect of what happened to him on the past, and even though he is getting better, the muscle memory still remains. He's not ready to tell Rachel any of it, so he makes a statement that is not entirely a lie.

"To be fair, I'm still getting used to the physical touches couples do when they're together. And Annabeth's my first girlfriend, so it may take some time for me to adjust."

Rachel nods hesitantly like she still doesn't fully believe what he's saying but is willing to let it go. "Okay, fine. But are you really sure? You know you can always ask me to trip her on track practice or something if she does hurt you in one way or another."

"Right. I'll be sure to keep that in mind," he says with a smile. "Thanks for worrying about me, anyway."

"Of course. You're my friend."

This time the smile Rachel sends him feels like a knife to the heart.

"That could've gone way worse," Percy amends as he watches Annabeth pace up and down to his room. She had ambushed him yet again right after he got out of his last class, so he had to make up an excuse for his friends that he couldn't join them.

"It was the worst!" Annabeth exclaims. "They looked at me like I literally kicked a puppy when you introduced me as your girlfriend."

"Well, you were rude to me a lot of times so..." he stops talking once he sees the deadly glare she's giving him. "They were probably just caught off-guard. I mean, we just fought like we couldn't be around each other three days ago."

"Plus, we almost messed up with our inconsistent answers!" She falls back to his bed with a groan. "God! I can't believe I forgot to create a backstory."

"Good thing they're too stunned to question us properly then." Percy scrunches his eyebrows as he remembers their reactions. "But I don't think that they really bought this dating thing."

"Yeah. It was evident on their faces," she agrees. He nods.

"By the way, why are you always flinching whenever I touch you? It doesn't look good if we want to convince them that we're really dating," Annabeth asks. She stares at him, but he avoids her eyes.

"I'm—I'm not really used to physical touches," he lies. He can feel Annabeth's eyes on him, probably thinking whether to call out his BS or not, because back when they still got each other's backs, they used to touch all the time. Hugs, friendly punches, anything really.

"You never minded before."

That's different, he wants to say. He doesn't really know whether to tell her or not that she'd been right about Gabe all along. No, he decides, because she doesn't deserve to know after she left him unguarded in the dark.

This time, he looks at her in the eyes. "Yeah, but you were never a stranger then."

She sucks in a breath and sits up facing away from him. "Stranger, huh?"

"You did say that we can't be friends."

"You're right." She turns to him. "But that doesn't mean we can't be acquaintances."

He raises an eyebrow at her. She does the same.

Annabeth shrugs and asks, "So, tell me something new about yourself."

"Why?"

"So we can be acquaintances and no longer strangers to each other," she answers. He contemplates this for a moment.

"I like dolphins," he says, after a while.

"That wasn't new."

"I got a scraped knee after tripping on the bushes in fourth grade."

"I know that already."

"What? How?"

"That's because I was the one who pushed you."

"I knew that wasn't an accident."

She smirks. "Come on. Tell me something new."

"You probably knew everything about me already."

"Lie. I've only known you for half of your life, and that still leaves the other half."

"Fine. I tried eating olive pizza, and I've got to admit that it wasn't as bad as I've expected."

"Really? I knew you would like it. Nobody hates olive pizza," Annabeth says with a grin.

He rolls his eyes. "I never said I like it. I just said that it wasn't that bad."

"Sounds the same to me. Anyway," she clears her throat. "As for me, I once switched a girl's shampoo for glue because she was being rude to all of us. In short, her hair became a sticky mess."

"Savage," Percy comments. "I didn't know you had it in you."

She shrugs. "Well, she was being mean. Somebody ought to give her a lesson."

"Through a sticky hair?"

"Through a sticky hair." Annabeth reaches her hand out to him. "Now that we know one thing new about the other, we're no longer strangers. I suppose this will make you less nervous?"

He shrugs. "Maybe."

She intertwines her fingers with his own. Her hand, although tanned, still looks pale in comparison to his bronze ones. This time, when she squeezes, he doesn't flinch.

"You have small hands," he comments.

Annabeth chuckles. "I don't. Yours are just long." She looks at their hands, where his fingers almost engulf her own. "To be fair, I never really expected you to grow taller than me."

"Ye girl of little faith."

"I have a lot of faith."

"Really, huh?"

"Just not in you."

"You're mean," Percy says, and let goes of her hand to pinch her.

She glares at him for a moment but slides her fingers back with his. He startles but it's barely noticeable. Yet she has known anyway.

Her gray eyes meet his. "I want you to hold my hand until you get used to the feeling, okay?"

Looking at their intertwined hands and their first civil conversation in a while, he smiles.

"Sure."

He can get used to this alright.

A/N: Hello! I had some fun writing this chapter because it's generally light and fluffy. (I LOVE writing fluff). Also, this is a 'little' longer than my usual chapter length so I hoped you appreciated that.

And I'd just like to greet everyone "Happy Holidays!" Hope you all are doing great, and please don't forget to leave a comment or anything really. I always look forward to feedback from you guys.

#my fic #oops i (fake) love you #percabeth #percy jackson #annabeth chase #pjo

[batishneurosurgery]

Symptoms and Treatment of Brain Stroke: A Complete Guide

Stroke is also known as brain stroke is a medical condition where the blood supply to a part of the brain decreases or gets severely interrupted.

It is a medical condition where the cells of the brain start dying within minutes of being deprived of nutrients and oxygen due to the restriction of blood supply. The inability of brain cells to regenerate results in permanent damage and irreversible results.

The human brain is a complex organ that relies on a continuous blood supply. A disruption in blood flow can cut important oxygen and glucose to the brain and lead to brain death within a couple of minutes.

Signs and symptoms of stroke include:

If you or someone you're with maybe having a stroke, pay special attention to the time the symptoms began. Some treatment options are most effective when given early after a stroke begins in humans. Compared to men, women are more likely to get a brain stroke.

Trouble in speaking and understanding what other people are saying. You might experience confusion, slur your words or have difficulty understanding speech and words.

Paralysis or numbness in the face, arm, and leg. You might develop sudden numbness, weakness, or paralysis in your face, arm or leg. This often affects just only one side of your body part. Try to raise your both arms over your head at the same time. If one arm begins to fall, you might be having a stroke. Also, one side of your mouth might droop when you try to smile and speak.

Problems seeing in one or both eyes. You may suddenly have blurred or blackened vision in your eyes, or you may see double.

Headache. A sudden, severe headache, that can be accompanied by vomiting, dizziness, or altered consciousness, might indicate that you're having a stroke.

Trouble walking. You may stumble or lose your balance while walking. You might also have sudden dizziness or a loss of coordination.

Risk factors for brain stroke and how can brain stroke be prevented?

Many of the risk factors for brain stroke are related to a poor and bad lifestyle. Some of these are:

Obesity

Sedentary and stressful living

Chronic alcoholism

Addictive drug abuse like cocaine

Uncontrolled high blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol

Tobacco chewing and smoking

Disorders of sleep like obstructive sleep apnea

Cardiovascular diseases like heart failure

Changes in lifestyle and habits can help in the prevention of brain stroke. Depending upon your risk factors, your neurosurgeon or cardiologist may advise medications for brain stroke prevention, if required.

A brain stroke is a medical problem. Quick diagnosis and prompt care from a trained emergency team of the best neurosurgeons, vascular surgeons, cardiologists, and neurologists can save one from a disability or fatal consequences.

Time to see a doctor

Seek early medical attention if you notice any signs or symptoms of a brain stroke, even if they seem to come and go or they disappear completely. Also, you can visit the best neurosurgeon in your area to get early treatment. Think "FAST" and do the following:

Face. Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?

Arms. Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward? Or is one arm unable to rise?

Speech. Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase or words. Is his or her speech slurred or strange seems?

Time. If you notice any of these signs, call emergency medical help immediately.

Call top neurosurgeon or your local emergency number right away. Don't wait to see if symptoms stop and fine. The longer a brain stroke goes untreated, the greater the amount of brain damage and disability.

Batish Neurosurgery: Best Neurologist in Panchkula

Batish Neurosurgery is a place where we treat all kinds of neurological conditions. Dr. V.K Batish and Dr. Aman Batish, are among the renowned neurologists in Chandigarh, Mohali, and Panchkula.

If you're with someone you suspect is having a brain stroke or some symptoms, Book an appointment and start a happy journey towards a healthy brain.

#Neurologist #Best Neurologist #brain stroke #Batish Neurosurgery #Neurologist in Panchkula

[seovoiceskills]

Captivating Conclusions

Conclusions are among the hardest parts of an essay to write well. You need to round off your essay effectively. You need to leave your reader with the best possible impression of your work. And, you need to somehow recap all your central points without simply repeating yourself. Sound like a tricky balancing act? We explain it all in more depth below - read on for our tips on how to conclude an essay effectively.

How do I Conclude an Essay?

What is a conclusion? It’s a question that seems, on the face of it, to have a perfectly simple answer. It’s the paragraph (or so) at the end of your essay where you bring your essay to a stop by recapping your central arguments, right? Easy.

If you were asked  to list a few synonyms for an essay conclusion, I am  willing to bet you’d come up with a few words or phrases like “recap”, “summary”, “restatement of your thesis”, and so on. And it’s true you’re likely to find all of this somewhere in the conclusion of an essay.

"Words and phrases like 'recap', 'summary' and 'restatement of your thesis' don't accurately describe what an essay conclusion is. A conclusion is so much more, and a lot hinges on how well it is done."

But none of the phrases above fully grasp the function of an essay conclusion. In fact, taking any one of them to be entirely synonymous with an essay conclusion is likely to lead you down the path towards writing bad essay conclusions, or at least missed-opportunity conclusions - conclusions that don’t take full advantage of their place at the end of the essay to fulfill their rhetorical potential.

OK Then, How do I Avoid Concluding an Essay Badly?

Before we get to answer the question of what an essay conclusion is, it’s useful to spend moment thinking about some of the things an essay conclusion isn’t.

It’s not a Repeat of Your Introduction.

Every university instructor has encountered an essay where a student has copied and pasted, almost word-for-word, their introduction at the bottom of their essay. It should be obvious that there’s no point in doing this. You're just eating up words by repeating the same information over again. And if a conclusion were simply a rehash of the introduction, there wouldn’t be any point in ending the essay with it. You could just end with your final body paragraph argument. Or, if you really wanted your reader to read the introduction again and remind themselves of your central arguments, you could simply say something like, “See introduction”!

OK, so copying and pasting the introduction is an extreme example, and you’re probably thinking “there’s no way I’d do something like that.” But it’s fairly common for students to conclude an essay by simply rephrasing their introduction. Just paraphrasing yourself while retaining all the content of your introduction isn’t a whole lot different from the copy-paste job. You’re still just going through the motions and repeating the same information without really getting to grips with the dedicated function a conclusion is supposed to fulfill.

It’s not Just a Summary of Your Body Paragraphs.

Another common trap students fall into is to view the essay conclusion simply as a recap. They conclude an essay by providing a concise summary of each of the arguments they’ve made. This kind of recap can form an important part of your conclusion, especially in longer essays where you’ve made a series of complex arguments. But, as with repeating your introduction, eating up valuable word count simply to rehash stuff you’ve already said is redundant and doesn’t fulfill any sort of rhetorical or persuasive function.

It’s not a Place to Add New Content or Make New Arguments.

Yes, your essay conclusion shouldn’t be simply a recap, a summary, or a repeat of what you’ve already written in your essay. But it is a place where you reflect on the arguments you’ve made rather than starting to introduce anything new.

And here’s where the whole business of how to conclude an essay starts to get a bit complicated. If a conclusion is neither simply a recap of old information nor a place for new information, what is it, exactly?

A Conclusion is a Sales Pitch!

If you’ve been paying attention you may have seen that we’ve already mentioned “rhetoric” a couple of times so far in this post - and this is no accident. You can’t really talk about essay conclusions without talking about rhetoric. The conclusion to an essay is the most purely rhetorical part of the entire piece.

By “rhetorical”, it is a conclusion’s (and indeed the entire essay’s) ability to convince or persuade the reader of certain outlooks or arguments. An essay conclusion needs to use rhetoric to emotionally connect with the reader in some way. And this is done through the use of certain language and the way the information is presented.

If alarm bells are starting to ring at the mention of rhetoric, quiet them. Rhetoric gets a bad name in public discourse. Phrases like “pure rhetoric” or “empty rhetoric” are often used to suggest that an utterance lacks substance or integrity, or is somehow dishonest or insincere. And those are the last things you want your reader to take away from reading your essay! But rhetoric is one of the oldest scholarly disciplines in the world. In Classical societies - and in fact right up to the beginning of the twentieth century - it was considered one of the most important disciplines throughout Western society. The fact that it’s acquired something of a bad name over the last hundred years or so doesn’t mean it’s not still the foundation of good writing.

More importantly, your rhetorical skills can make a huge difference to whether your reader actually buys your argument. Let’s say we have two writers. One is skilled in rhetoric; the other less so. Both could make an identical set of arguments with the same supporting evidence and elicit entirely different responses in their readers. It’s true that the excessive use of rhetorical flourishes can rub your reader up the wrong way. It could cause them to think your essay is more about style than substance. But the subtler cues - in the way you phrase, structure, and present your arguments - can unquestionably make the difference between winning over a skeptical audience and leaving them unmoved.

"How you phrase, structure, and present arguments in your essay conclusion can make the difference between winning over a skeptical audience and leaving them unmoved - which could easily make a difference to your overall grade."

So what does all this have to do with how you conclude an essay? This can all seem a bit abstract when we’re dealing with essay writing, so let’s try an analogy. Let’s imagine you’re delivering a sales pitch for a property company. That company is trying to sell waterfront properties in a desirable holiday location - the Caribbean, say. Your audience is a set of moderately well-off individuals who regularly take expensive holidays. But, they’re not sure they can afford to buy a second home in the Caribbean. Even if they can afford it, they’re unclear if it would be a good investment.

To convince the members of your audience that they want to buy one of your properties, you’re going to have to conduct quite a detailed pitch. It could easily take a couple of hours or more to list the features of the property, the merits of the location, and the financial arrangements that will allow buyers to fund their purchase. You’ll make many arguments throughout your pitch, not all of which will be equally exciting. Sure, you’ll tell your potential customers about the balcony that leads off the master bedroom, the distance to the beach, and the amenities of the town in which the properties are located.

But your customers will also want to know other details: can they let the property while they’re not using it, for example? What kind of returns will that bring, and will these be enough to offset the purchase price? How are properties taxed in the area? And how about the facilities the local authority will provide? What kind of sanitation and waste facilities does the property have? Is it connected to a sewer or does it use a septic tank?

If the buyer is going to sign on the dotted line when it’s all done, you’re going to have to provide convincing answers to all of these questions. But simply recapping your arguments in order isn’t going to end the presentation effectively. You don’t want the lingering thought in your audience’s mind to be taxes or sewage. And you certainly don’t want to hit them with any new detail in your closing few slides. In fact, you don’t really want them to leave the presentation with any of the details you’ve discussed uppermost in their mind. Dwelling on any of the details is likely to remind them that buying and owning property is time-consuming, expensive, and stressful.

The impression you want to leave them with is that of having their very own place in the sun. An island paradise that’s theirs to return to any time they want to. You don’t want them leaving the building still musing over any of the specific points of your sales pitch. They need to be moved by the overall effect - and the promise - of what you’ve offered them. Sun on their backs, sand between their toes, and a crystal-clear blue ocean stretching out ahead of them.

So How Does This Help me Conclude an Essay?

OK, we get it. You’re not selling anybody a beach getaway when you conclude an essay. But what the above analogy describes is rhetoric. In an essay, you are making a pitch. And the same principles as the property sales example above apply.

Your essay conclusion is your parting shot. It’s your opportunity to leave your reader with a favorable impression of the arguments you’ve just made. You want them, at minimum, to be convinced that you’ve achieved what you set out to achieve; that you’ve proved your points. Better yet, you want them to feel satisfied that you’ve taken them on an intellectual journey that was interesting and rewarding.

Best of all, though, is if you leave them with a feeling of excitement. Excitement that your essay promises a new way of thinking about a topic, or a promising line of intellectual inquiry. The scholarly equivalent of feeling sand between their toes, in other words.

#Captivating Conclusions

[douchebagbrainwaves]

UPGRADES WON'T BE THE BIG SHOCKS THEY ARE NOW

Some people who've read this think it's an interesting attempt to write about something that hasn't been written about before. The most important ingredient in making the Valley what it is.1 And yet, oddly enough, Ryan Singel's article about the conference in Wired News spoke of throngs of geeks. It's just part of what makes them good hackers: when something's broken, they need to fix it. That's what the web naturally tends to produce. We take it for granted most of the US, there are probably two things keeping you from doing it. The good languages have been those that were designed for their own creators: C, Perl have won.

In the first phase of the two founders did most of the ideas appear in the implementing. And only good people can ride the thermals if they hit them anyway. They'll just discard that sentence as meaningless boilerplate, and hope, with increasing impatience, that in the next fifty years will have to install before you use it. Apple itself did. You should be able to be included in it. So I recommend being good. We have two Demo Days a year, in January and June.2

Perhaps great hackers can load a large amount of context into their head, so that when they look at a line of code, they see not just that line but the whole program around it. At the time there might have been thirty actual stores on the Web, meaning Web-based software, neither your data nor the applications are kept on the client. Get ramen profitable. Conversely, never let pitching draw you into bullshitting. Surely one had to promote C, or Unix, or HTML. All you'll need will be something with a keyboard, a screen, and a startup is the feeling that what you're doing isn't working. The startup hubs in the US own one.3 If you write the laws very carefully, that is. So a town that could exert enough pull over the right people. It was painting, incidentally, that cured me of copying the wrong things.

They used to bring us bugs with the same expectant air as a cat bringing you a mouse it has just killed. He was looking at the floor. When you're operating on the maker's schedule are willing to take. One reason high tax rates are disastrous is that this is so. When startups die, the official cause of death in a startup. They should be something in the background looking for problems, programs that ran constantly in the background as you face the audience and looking at them, politeness and habit compel them to pay attention to you. But it probably wouldn't start to work properly till about age 22, because most founders wouldn't be able to resist, or at least, certain kinds of horrors are fascinating. Historically, Lisp has dialects. The thing I probably repeat most is this recipe for a startup what location is for real estate.4 Though, frankly, the fact that they have better hackers. There are two possible explanations: a it is finished, or b you lack imagination. A few months ago I finished a new book, and in practice languages are judged relative to whatever they're used to hack.5

It's almost like writing applications! Nor will most competitors. It's Parkinson's Law running in reverse. Disasters are normal in a startup hub, because economically that's what startups are.6 The fact that investors are willing if forced to treat them as interchangeable, granting the same status to sweat equity and the equity they've purchased with cash. They know their audience.7 It would be very convenient if you could know in advance whether a startup would succeed, the stock price would already be writing stuff on top of it. Don't put too many words on slides. The startup may not have any more idea what the number should be than you do for the hardware, just as automating things often turns out to generate more money in the end, after you've made it clear what you've built so far. Second order issues like competitors or resumes should be single slides you go through quickly at the end of it they had built a real, working store. They have a sofa they can take a nap on when they feel tired, instead of in glass boxes set in acres of parking lots. If they push you, point out that they wouldn't want you telling other firms about your conversations, and you are very happy because your $50,000 into a company at a pre-money valuation of $1 million, then the most successful people I know personally, like your friends or siblings.

You need this for everyone: investors, acquirers, partners, reporters, potential employees, and even their business model was wrong and would probably change three times before they got it right. If you wanted to compare the quality of your hackers probably matters more than the language you choose. Always produce is also a complementary force at work: if you feel you're speaking too slowly, you're speaking at about the right speed. Web works. Maybe the people in charge of facilities, not having any concentration to shatter, have no idea.8 They get away with it. It doesn't work for software.

In the meantime I tried my best to imitate them. The manual is thin, and has few warnings and qualifications. I can remove with least code. Suppose you wanted to know about business: build something users love, and that's why they do it.9 Most investors are genuinely unclear in their own minds why they like or dislike startups. Of course, figuring out what you like to work on. This article explains why much of the goodwill Apple once had with programmers have they lost over the App Store does not give me the drive to develop applications now is to buy all the best Ajax startups before Google does. At Viaweb we spent the first six months just writing software. I use with an external monitor and keyboard in my office, and by using graph theory we can compute from this network an estimate of the reputation of each member.

Notes

But if you're a YC startup and you might see something like the one the Valley itself, and Cooley Godward. One-click ordering, however, by encouraging them to ignore these clauses, because they wanted to. The founders who take the term literally. What will go away is investors requiring them.

But then I realized that without the methodological implications. But it's dangerous to Microsoft than Netscape was. In fairness, I can't safely omit any type we tell as we think we're so useless that in Silicon Valley is no external source they can be a constant multiple of usage, so that you decide the price of a refrigerator, but I couldn't think of ourselves as investors, is to how Henry Ford got started in New York the center of gravity of the word intelligence is surprisingly recent.

They did try to be clear. Perhaps the most powerful minister of the previous two years, it means a big effect on the critical path to med school. Which implies a surprising but apparently inevitable consequence: little liberal arts colleges are doomed. But scholars seem to have too few customers even if they don't want to.

And yet when they buy some startups and not others, and all the way investors say No. And it's particularly damaging when these investors flake, because such companies need huge numbers of users comes from. They'll be more alarmed if you seem like I overstated the case of the river among the bear gardens and whorehouses. Within an hour over the world, write a Lisp interpreter: the editor in Lisp, they did that they'd really be a source of food.

But it could become a so-called lifestyle business, and both times I saw that they can grow the acquisition offers most successful ones tend not to pay the bills so you can control. Learning to hack is a flaw here I should do is keep track of statistics for foo overall as well as down. One great advantage of having one founder take fundraising meetings is that as you start to identify them with you.

When I use the phrase the city, they can be and still provide a better education.

It's surprising how small a problem this will make it harder for you to two more investors. When companies can't simply eliminate new competitors may be even larger than the set of plausible sounding startup ideas, because they could to help the company by doing a small business that isn't really working bad unit economics, typically and then scale it up because they believe they have zero ability to change. The other reason it's easy to write an essay that will cause the brand gap between the Daddy Model may be common in, but this sort of wealth—that an artist or writer has to convince at one point they worried Lotus was losing its startup edge and turning into a form you forgot to fill out can be and still provide a better user experience.

The disadvantage of expanding a round on the entire period from the DMV. Apparently there's only one founder is always raising money from them.

While the space of careers does. Note to nerds: or possibly a lattice, narrowing toward the top VCs thus have a connection to one of the company is always room for startups that has a great programmer than an ordinary one? When economists talk about the meaning of the clumps of smart people are these days. The two guys were Dan Bricklin and Bob nominally had a day job, or your job will consist of dealing with the New Deal but with World War II had disappeared in a certain level of links.

#automatically generated text #Markov chains #Paul Graham #Python #Patrick Mooney #acquisition #job #room #Bob #things #software #programs #startup #concentration #Web #founders #sup #Unix #economists #customers #minister #hope #whorehouses #founder #lots #Law

[madewithonerib]

Had two interesting conversations today:      1] Does the meaning of eternal separation mean that          we cease to exist or torment in the lake of fire?

         Cited against hell & torment are inconsistencies in          definition of original text for hell. Sheol = death.

         “the dead know nothing” [Ecclesiastes 9:5], hence           how are they tormented by guilt of past sins?

     2] GOD helps those who help themselves: biblical or non?

1b] Mark 9:42-50

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers      [42-48] Whosoever shall offend—See Notes on Matthew 18:6-9.      The verbal, or all but verbal, reproduction of these verses      indicates the impression which they had made on the disciples.

     It may be noted, however, that Mark omits the      "Woe unto the world because of offences," which we find in      Matthew, & that the emphatic thrice-repeated phrase,      "Where their worm does not, & the fire is not quenched," are      found only in Mark.

     It should be noted, however, that in Mark 9:43; Mark 9:45 the      words "into the fire that never shall be quenched" are omitted in      some of the best MSS.

     And that the same MSS., & others, omit both verse 44 & 46,      leaving Mark 9:48 to stand as the only description of Gehenna.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary      9:41-50 It is repeatedly said of the wicked, Their worm deos not,      as well as, the fire is never quenched.

     Doubtless, remorse of conscience & keen self-reflection are      this never-dying worm.***

     Surely it is beyond compare better to undergo all possible      pain, hardship, & self-denial here, & to be happy for ever      hereafter, than to enjoy all kinds of worldly pleasure for a      season, & to be miserable for ever.

     Like the sacrifices, we must be salted with salt; our corrupt      affections must be subdued & mortified by the HOLY SPIRIT.

     Those that have the salt of grace, must show they have a      living principle of grace in their hearts, which works out      corrupt dispositions in the soul that would offend GOD, or      our own consciences.

Barnes' Notes on the BIBLE [Matthew 18:7]

           Matthew 18:6-7 | But if anyone causes one of these little            ones who believe in ME to stumble, it would be better            for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck            & to be drowned in the depths of the sea.            Woe to the world for the causes of sin.            These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the            man through whom they come!

     Woe unto the world because of offences - That is, offences      will be the cause of woe or of suffering.

     Offences, here, mean things that will produce sin:

     that will cause us to sin, or temptations to induce others to sin.      [See the notes at Matthew 5:29]

     It must needs be ...

     - That is, such is the depravity of man that there will be      always some who are attempting to make others sin; some      people of wickedness endeavoring to lead Christians      astray, & rejoicing when they have succeeded in causing      them to fall.

     Such, also, is the strength of our native corruption & the      force of passion, that our besetting sins will lead us astray.

     Woe to that man by whom the offence comes - He who      leads others into sin is awfully guilty      - no man can be more guilty.

     No wickedness can be more deeply seated in the heart      than that which attempts to mar the peace, defile the purity,      & destroy the souls of others; & yet in all ages there have      been multitudes who, by persecution, threats, arts,      allurements, & persuasion, have endeavored to seduce      Christians from the faith & to lead them into sin.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary [Matthew 18:7]      18:7-14 Considering the cunning & malice of Satan, & the      weakness & depravity of men's hearts, it is not possible      but that there should be offences.

     GOD permits them for wise & holy ends      that those who are sincere, & those      who are not, may be made known.

     Being told before, that there will be seducers, tempters,      persecutors, & bad examples, let us stand on our guard.

     We must, as far as lawfully we may,      part with what we cannot keep without      being entangled by it in sin.

     The outward occasions of sin must be avoided.

     If we live after the flesh, we must die.

          If we, through the SPIRIT,           mortify the deeds of the           body, we shall live.

     CHRIST came into the world to save souls, & HE will      reckon severely with those who hinder the progress      of others who are setting their faces heavenward.

     And shall any of us refuse attention to those whom      the SON of GOD came to seek & to save?

     A father takes care of all his children, but is      particularly tender of the little ones.

Pulpit Commentary [Matthew 18:7]      [v.7] This & the preceding verse occur in [Luke 17:1-2]      in an inverted order.

     Woe unto the world!

     The LORD  thinks of the deadly evil brought into the      world by offences given, such as bad example,      unholy lives of Christians persecutions, scoffs,      thoughtlessness - things which lead so many astray.

     For it must happen.

     While men are what they are, such consequences      must be expected. This is not an absolute, but a      relative, necessity.

     Man's heart is evil, his tendencies are evil, temptation      is strong. Satan is active; all these forces combine      to bring about a fatal result.

     Thus Paul says [1 Corinthians 11:19],

          "There must be heresies among you,           that they which are approved may           be made manifest among you."

     So these offences of which CHRIST speaks are      overruled & permitted for wise purposes, that by      them the righteous may be proved & purified, &      the chaff separated from the wheat.****

     But woe to that man! Because of this evil principle      which is rife in the world, no man is exonerated      from the guilt of giving offence.

     He has free will; he can choose good; he can use      the means of grace; he can strengthen his natural      weakness, control his perverseness, overcome      corruption, by the help of GOD always ready to      be given to them who seek.

     The first "woe" is a cry of pity for a world in danger;      the second "woe" is a denunciation of the sinner as      being responsible for the evil which he introduces.

     We are all in some sort our brothers' keepers,      & are bound to help forward their salvation, &      to do nothing which may tend to endanger their      souls' health.

2. GOD helps those who help themselves - is it in the Bible?

     "GOD helps those who help themselves" is probably the      most often quoted phrase that is not found in the BIBLE.

     This saying is usually attributed to Ben Franklin, quoted      in Poor Richard’s Almanac in 1757.

     In actuality, it originated from Algernon Sydney in 1698      in an article titled Discourses Concerning Government.

           Whatever the original source of this saying,            the BIBLE teaches the opposite.

     GOD helps the helpless! Isaiah 25:4 declares,      "For YOU have been a defense for the helpless, a      defense for the needy in his distress, a refuge from      the storm, a shade from the heat..."

     Romans 5:6 tells us, "For while we were still helpless,      at the right time CHRIST died for the ungodly."

     In terms of salvation, we are all utterly helpless.

     We are all infected by sin [Romans 3:23], & condemned      as a result of that sin [Romans 6:23].

     Nothing we can do on our own can remedy this      situation [Isaiah 64:6].

     Thankfully, GOD is the helper of the helpless.

     While we were still sinners, JESUS died for us      [Romans 5:8]. JESUS paid the penalty that we were      incapable of paying [2 Corinthians 5:21].

     GOD provided the "help" that we need precisely      because we could not help ourselves.

     Apart from salvation, there is perhaps a way that the      concept "GOD helps those who help themselves"      is correct.

           As an example, if you asked ME to help you move a            piece of furniture, but then just watched me as I moved            the furniture for you, I was not actually helping you.

           I would be doing the work for you.

     Many Christians fall into the trap of inactivity.

     Many Christians ask GOD for help, but then      expect GOD to do everything HIMSELF.

     They excuse this by pointing to the fact that GOD will      provide according to HIS will & in HIS timing.

     However, this is not a reason for inactivity.

           As a specific example, if you are in need of a job, ask            the LORD to help you find a job - but then be active            in actually looking for a job.

           While it is in HIS power to do so, it is highly unlikely that            GOD will cause employers to come looking for you!

Article by gotquestions.org/God-help-themselves.html Recommended Resource: Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado

Related: How can I become more like Christ?

     GOD’s desire for all who know HIM      to become more like CHRIST.

     We do this by first growing in our knowledge of CHRIST.

     It stands to reason that we cannot grow to be like      someone we don’t know.

     The deeper our knowledge of CHRIST, the deeper our      understanding of HIM, & the more like HIM we become.

     Among other reasons, we are to know & understand      CHRIST so that we will be secure in the faith.

     The Apostle Paul reiterates this truth in Ephesians 4:14-16:      "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back & forth by      the waves, & blown here & there by every wind of teaching      & by the cunning & craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

     Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow      up into HIM who is the Head, that is, CHRIST.

     From HIM the whole body, joined & held together by every      supporting ligament, grows & builds itself up in love, as each      part does its work."

     This fact is repeated once more in 2 Peter 3:17-18:

           "Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this,            be on your guard so that you may not be carried            away by the error of lawless men & fall from your            secure position.

           But grow in the grace & knowledge of our LORD &            Savior JESUS CHRIST.

     To him be glory both now & forever! Amen."

     These passages show us that growing in the knowledge of      CHRIST will preserve us from faith-destroying error.

     Of course, knowledge alone will not produce a      CHRIST-like character.

     The knowledge we gain from GOD’s WORD must impact      our hearts & convict us of the need to obey      what we have learned.

     Romans 12:1-2 tells us emphatically that the process of      filling our minds with the knowledge of GOD not only brings      us closer to CHRIST-likeness, but obedience to that      knowledge aligns us with the perfect will of GOD:

           "Therefore, I urge you, fellow believers, in view            of GOD’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living            sacrifices, holy & pleasing to GOD—this is            your spiritual act of worship.

           Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,            but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

           Then you will be able to test & approve what            GOD’s will is—HIS good, pleasing & perfect will."

     The natural consequence of knowing & obeying GOD is      that HE becomes greater & greater, while we become      less & less as we yield control of our lives to HIM.

     Just as John the Baptist knew that

           “[JESUS] must increase, but I must decrease”            [John 3:30], so the Christian grows to reflect            more of CHRIST & less of his own nature.

     Luke sums it up best when he describes what JESUS      told HIS disciples:

           "If anyone would come after ME, he must deny            himself & take up his cross daily & follow ME.

           For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,            but whoever loses his life for me will save it"            [Luke 9:23-24].

     The cross was an instrument of death, &      JESUS encourages us to take up our cross      in order to put to death our old sin nature upon it.

     GOD wants us to forget about this world & all its      temporary pleasures & be obedient to HIS WORD.

     JESUS is the living WORD [John 1:1], & the BIBLE      is GOD’s written WORD.

     Therefore, conforming to the WORD of GOD is      conforming to CHRIST.

     It is important to realize that becoming more like      CHRIST starts by receiving HIM as Savior      from our sins.

     Then we grow in our knowledge of GOD by      reading the BIBLE daily, studying it, & being      obedient to what it says.

     This process causes us to grow & occurs over an      entire lifetime in CHRIST.

     Only when we have entered Heaven for eternity      with GOD does this process reach its culmination.

#GOD helps those who help themselves #CHRIST-likeness #trap of inactivity #Sheol #Hell is real #no inconsistencies

[psychic101]

How to Improve Your Psychic Abilities

A SERIES OF ANONYMOUS ASKS SENT TO ME: 

“Hi! I was wondering if I'm psychic, sometimes I just know things are about to happen but it's always just a few minutes in advance. I'd love to train my psychic abilities (if I even have them), is there a way to do that? Sorry if I sound offensive, that's not my point. Have a great day!“

---Anon 1

“How do I get in touch with my higher self and my spirit guides?”

---Anon 2

“Last summer I had a psychic reading for the first time that was really accurate. She told me I had some psychic abilities. It was weird to hear out loud but it wasn't shocking. I was just wondering if you have any advice for someone who doesn't know where to start?”

---Anon 3

“ever since I was younger little glimpses of situations would pop up into my head, and then they would happen, days, weeks, months later. I've always wanted to keep track of things that I "envision" and then check them off once they happen, but it's difficult because I can't tell the difference between these "visions" and my plain imagination! how do you get better at recognizing the difference and honing this talent?”

--- Anon 4

Hiya. So, I'm super confused cause I think I'm psychic (more clairaudient) and I've experienced most of the signs like hearing people daying my name in an empty room and all that but I'm not sure. Was hoping you could give me some help? Or suggestions on what to do?

--- Anon 5

As you Can see--- The Advice on a how to improve one’s psychic ability and how to recognize it is a very popular question among anons.  Rather than replying the same thing in several different posts, I am going to post it all right here.  

WHERE TO START: 

Many of you probably see me say this repeatedly each time-- Work on building a positive environment-- the environment inside you and around you.  This is very important.  When you start “Opening Up” (Awakening your Psychic Abilities), you will start exposing yourself to many different things-- thoughts, feelings/emotions, awareness of positive and negative energy, and with some people it happens slowly, but others it happens all at once.  That’s why you need to be careful.  When you start Opening Up, you emit this “Light” (nobody can see it but spirits), but it will attract many people-- people of this plane and Spirits.  If you are surrounded by negative energies while opening up, you will most likely attract negative people and negative spirits.  This will not be healthy for you and your development at all.  It might even cause you to Close It (deactivating your abilities), and depending if you scare/traumatize yourself, it make take up even years to Open back up.  It’s very important to work on your: Self Esteem, Self Confidence, and Healthy Lifestyle/Positive Energy first before attempting to open up your abilities.  If you struggle with this: compliment yourself everyday, acknowledge your talents and skills and good parts, and forgive any mistakes and flaws you may have (mistakes are things you learn from, flaws is what makes you human-- an interesting, wonderful human).   I promise you, you will make your life so much easier if you start here at square one first.  Don’t rush anything, and make sure you do it for yourself and not the sake of getting “magic powers”--- with an attitude like that, it will be a temporary fix that won’t work out.

SPIRITUALITY: 

Spirituality is also important to work on as well.  It helps you get in touch with the energy of/and the Other Side and the World around you.  It helps makes that connection stronger.  You can do this by religious practices or things related to your faith--- whether you’re overall general Spiritual, Christian, Wiccan, Pagan, Muslim, ect.  If lighting candles and praying helps you with your spirituality, then that’s fine.  If sitting in your backyard at night meditating helps you with your spirituality, then that’s works, too.  If just contemplating the wonders of the world while you burn incenses helps you, then that’s fine.  Practice with Tarot Cards and Pendulums/Crystals/ect helps--- great!  Everyone has their own different way that works, and that’s fine.  Find what works best for you.  

As you do all of this--- it’s very important that you talk and listen (listening even more so).  When I say Talk, you don’t have to talk out loud, of course.  Talking in your head works fine, too.  But make sure you don’t focus too much on yourself though--- this is when you need to take a moment and just really sit and listen.  Listening isn’t always in the traditional sense as how we hear things.  Yes, some people might hear things, like voices or ringings, but it can also include: seeing things (visual appearances “physically” or in your mind’s eye, visions, symbols, dreams, ect), feeling things (touch sensations, emotions, ect.), and just knowing things (knowing true facts that nobody tells you but you just seem to know it for some reason).  Try to listen and understand what it means to you.  Researching things to help understand things is okay to do--- just understand that what you read up on might not be 100% accurate.  This is because how we receive information can depend on the individual.  For example: the symbol of a bird in flight might mean good fortune to someone, but it could be a symbol of danger to another.  It depends on what things mean to you and the feelings you get from it. 

Another important way to increase your spirituality is focus on how to improve when you’re feeling negative things.  If you feel anger but you don’t take care of it or handle it correctly, or you get angry simply at the drop of a hat and you just explode--- that’s not good.  Same thing with sadness or jealousy.  Work no trying to see the bigger picture and the bright side, and focus on what you should really try to put your energy into.  This ties into the, “Work on YOU” aspect mentioned above.  This is because these feelings may block your psychic abilities, confuse them and make everything bias.  You wouldn’t be able to tell if you’re actually picking up something from the Other Side, or if you’re just having your own personal thoughts and feelings.  When you’re starting out, I promise you, it will be extremely difficult to tell the difference.

With your Spirit Guides/Guardians, be sure to talk to them as often as you can, and listen to them as much as you can!  They are always around you, and they’re always listening and trying to help you.   When you grow spiritually, talking to them becomes much easier to do.

PRACTICE

It’s important to practice using your psychic abilities a lot for a long time before you try anything serious with them.  A few things you can do is play a few games: 

CARD GUESSING GAME:  Have a Normal Deck of cards.  Shuffle them (no peeking) and place them face down (you can either just spread them across a suffice, scattered, or keep them in a deck).  Pick a Single Card Up and try to “see” what kind of card it might be.  You Can guess any which way you want: Guess if it’s Black or Red, what kind of Suit it Is, what Number it may be, a combination of the few, or try to guess all the specifics of the card.  Don’t rush and take your time.  No peeking.  If you get it wrong--- that’s just fine.  That’s normal.  That’s the whole point of practicing.  Eventually you will get better at it.   Keep in mind:  Depending on how you are, you will either visualize, hear, feel, or just know the answer (or a combination of all).  Everyone’s different.  Pay attention to see which way you lean towards.

SHAPE AND COLOR:  This is a mind guessing game that involves two people (which if you have a trusted person, please practice this-- it’s a good practice).  Have that person guess a Shape and a color.  Have them both say it in their head and picture it in their mind (it’s important that they do both-- not everyone is visual, and not everyone is auditory.  Until you figure out which way you lean towards, have them do both for you in their mind).   Then guess the shape and/or color!   Keep trying and trying!  Practice makes perfect. 

JOURNALING: Sometimes people have dreams with messages in them, or they see colors they don’t quite understand yet, or feelings, hearing, or they want to predict the future, ect.  Keep a journal and record EVERYTHING. 

 Record your dreams right away--- describe everything you saw, how each thing made you feel, record any words (doesn’t have to be full sentences or phrases if you don’t remember) that you can recall, record colors if you can, all of it.  Do this with every dream, that way you can start comparing dreams with each other-- you will eventually be able to tell which dreams are psychic and which dreams are just your own mind’s creation.  Eventually, too, you’ll be able to work on interpenetrating the meaning. 

If you want to practice on predicting the future, here’s how a journal can help you by recording!  First thing in the Morning, take time to predict what will happen tomorrow (try not to go further than that).  Record EVERYTHING that you feel or think or hear will happen--- big or little things.  The reason why you don’t record today/that day is because you don’t want to create a subconscious bias where you go out and fulfill what you think would happen.  It’s harder to control tomorrow because you don’t quite know what will exactly happen (which is great for psychic practice).  When that Tomorrow Comes, record what ACTUALLY happens.  Take note of what you got right, wrong, or came close to knowing.  Then repeat!  Make sure you write the entry date (not the date that you’re trying to predict).

Recording Auras works, too.  Record when you see them, what color they were, where they were coming from, and the feelings or thoughts you got from them!  Be sure to focus on the shade.  Don’t just write, “Red.”  Write what shade of red--- Strawberry Red, Light Red, Dark Red, Maroon, ect.  The specific, the better.  This will help you understand what you see!

Recording what you See, Hear, and Know, ect. is very important to do, too.  Spiritual encounters and conversations are important.  Just Remember:  Try not to get scared if you do.  People are naturally scared of the unknown--- and let’s be real, talking to spirits and having them respond is pretty freaky when you’re new to it, it takes time getting used to.  If you get scared though, it might set you back, having your body naturally react by “Blocking It” (meaning weakening your psychic abilities to where you don’t receive anything) as a way of protection.  Remember:  SPIRITS CAN’T HURT YOU.  They can’t hurt you, they can’t possess you (you can talk for them, and get very in touch with their thoughts, energy, ect. to where you repeat them--- but they do NOT enter your mind and body).  Spirits, without their physical form, can’t hurt you--- they can try to scare you, the bad ones, but they can’t lay a finger on you.  Most spirits, however, are nice and are just curious that you can communicate with them!

As For Getting in touch with your Spirit Guides--- Just talk to them!  In your mind and out loud!  Whatever helps you.  If you don’t know their names, that’s fine!  I promise you, they’re ALWAYS around and listening.  Make sure you listen to them, too!  Eventually this will become a lot more natural for you.

TESTING/RESPONSIBILITY 

Sometimes people ask how you can tell if you’re really psychic, if you’re really picking up things or if you’re just making things up from your own mind--- here’s the thing... it’s hard to tell when you’re new.   Sometimes, being new to this, you can’t even tell.  Eventually you’ll be able to tell the difference--- but that’s why I say you need to practice.

You have to TEST yourself.  Test to see how correct you are, and how often you’re correct. The best way to be sure is just simply putting it to the test.  See if the things you see or hear are actually going to happen.  This takes years of practice, everyone.  This isn’t something that happens over night or in the span of just a few months.  If this is something you really want to get into, you have to be dedicated to it if you’re going to use it.

Honestly, that is why I say practice a LOT before you do anything big with your abilities.  You can practice among friends and family--- just let them know you’re still learning and practicing.  But until you’re completely confident in your abilities, and you feel that you have a great understanding of them and how they work, be careful how you use them and who for and for what.  

As someone who has done readings for many people over the years-- even in my early teen years and up-- I’ve taken on some heavy topics to try and help people.  That’s honestly how I got to have the pretty good track recorded for my accuracy-- I had to be as accurate as I could because sometimes people’s lives were on the line.  If you guys can take it slow--- take it slow.  If would be really upsetting for you to take something big that you’re not ready for--- something important and you get it wrong (or maybe you don’t get it all wrong, but you interpreted wrong).  Some day you’ll be able to help people with the big stuff if you want, but not until you know for sure you’re ready.  

Also, if you work on your psychic abilities so you can just know gossip or for arrogance, I promise you--- The Other Side will shut you down right away (they won’t share anything with you).  If you want to become Psychic, you become Psychic for the right reasons.  The reason why people are Psychic is so we can become better people and help others--- it helps us give us a better understanding.  It helps teach us not to be mean to others, or if we’re in a desperate situation, it helps us know that we’re going to be okay no matter what, and we can use it to hep get ourselves out of it (which my big sister and I have done before-- using your abilities to help yourself isn’t selfish, sometimes it’s self care).  For other people, we help share the info that they don’t know yet-- that they’re on a wonderful life journey to grow as a person.  With being psychic, we have a better understanding of the other people around us, and we can help other people to understand each other.  We help work on morality and ethics with ourselves and those around us.  

Of course, don’t just go out trying to save everyone you can.  You don’t need to wear a cape--- not everyone’s meant to be a Helper, and the last thing you should do is develop a “Savior” attitude.  And don’t be arrogant either--- I’ve seen so many people try to develop being psychic and they start talking like, “Look at these ignorant mortals.  They do not understand the infinite of the universe like I do.  I pity them.  Only I can understand---” blah blah blah, it���s really irritating.  I’m just trying to get at is being Psychic is a Gift, so please use it for all the right reasons and intentions. 

SELF CARE

The final thing I want to talk about is that if you’re going to work on being psychic, it’s important to focus on your self care as a psychic.  Don’t be surprised that you’re drained of energy for out of nowhere.  You’re expending energy by being Psychic and using your abilities--- or you’re picking up on other’s energy and that drains you.  

If you’re feeling drained, allow yourself only a few hours to a day or two to recover (isolation, being lazy, friends, ect.--- whatever you may do).  After that, you need to get back out there in the world.  You need to stay productive no matter how tired you are.  Trust me--- as someone who doesn’t know how to Block or anything whenever I want, being a constant state of “Recovering” isn’t healthy.  Being lazy for too long isn’t healthy. You have to force yourself to use your energy.  Try to have your own energy not get drained by making yours “louder” than others.  

One of the Advice I got when I was little (and even now) whenever I get anxiety from going outside is to do this:  Envision a White/Pink (or some other relaxing Color) of Bright Light around you--- an aura--- and layer the bubble as much as you need to.  Do this as often as you can before you walk out and interact with the world when you feel overwhelmed.  This is an Aura Shield, and it helps.  Asking your Spirit Guardians and Guides to help keep the shield up is something that you can do, too, if you struggle.  Help them protect you and keep you relaxed.

Another thing is-- again, don’t develop a “Savior” attitude.  You can’t help everyone.  Everyone in life needs to help themselves.  You need to help yourself.  If you’re putting your own health at risk, you need to back off and take a break.

If you find that practicing psychic things and growing psychically is causing you stress and anxiety and nervousness, go ahead and take a break from it.  It’s okay.  I promise you, forcing yourself through will only backfire on you.  Just make sure you don’t hide out from the world though.  And make sure you talk about your feelings if you can about this stuff--- to any trusted person or to a journal or your Spirit Guardians/Guide.  

I hope this helps!!  Let me know if you have more questions or need clarification!

#Psychic #Psychic101 #Psychic Abilities #Practice #Advice #Help #Anon #Anonymous #Asks #Series #Responsibility #Testing #Self Care

[writerspink]

K-12 Words

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5.2

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6.2

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7.2

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8.1

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8.2

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9.1

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9.2

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10.2

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K-12 Words was originally published on PinkWrite

[jam2289]

The Meditation Matrix - A Framework for Understanding the Different Types of Meditation

What types of meditation are there? Many, but I think I have a framework that can help to simplify the issue.

Introduction

You have two basic choices. The first is between sensation and imagination. You can either feel what your body is experiencing, or you can play with the images and impressions that are in your mind. The second choice is between directing your attention and not directing your attention. You can either focus, or just let what happens happen. These two choices form four basic quadrants of meditation.

I'll give quick examples of how each works.

Directed Sensation

When my C1 vertebrae slid into my brainstem in late 2015 I had major issues. One issue was that I didn't even know I had spinal deformities, and I still wouldn't know for another few months. I was still trying to figure out what had gone so wrong in Africa and how to fix it. The pain though, the pain was a constant. Every system in my body was thrown way off.

As you're losing your short term and long term memory, are in constant pain, and have to sleep almost the entire day, it's very difficult to problem solve. I tried a bunch of things and slowly started making progress by trial and error, but I couldn't get a good grip on the pain issue.

In 2017 I had made some decent progress. Earlier I couldn't walk across the street and get the mail without taking a few stops to catch my breath. Now I could get the mail without making a single stop. I decided to do an intense experiment in an attempt to work on the pain issue.

I did a ten-day silent meditation retreat. It was insane. I was sensitive to light and sound, had a constant migraine, and all of my joints were always in pain, especially my spine. In this Vipassana method if you're in pain you lean into it. You try to focus on feeling and experiencing it. It's intense. I thought about quitting, but if I quit I would still just be in constant pain with no change, so there wasn't really an advantage to me quitting. I stayed with it, and on the third day of about ten hours of meditation a day I had a major transformation. I've never experienced pain in the same way again. It permanently changed my experience of pain.

The basic idea in directed sensation meditation is that you move your attention to an area of your body and feel that. That's it. This can be done in a number of different ways. You can try to expand the area, or move the center of attention in certain patterns. This type of thing is called body scanning. Some methods focus on one specific thing like feeling the breath in the nose, or feeling the breath in the belly, or feeling the heartbeat. These are all different versions of directed sensation meditation.

I trained with an Ishaya monk for a year at one point. Bjorn, or Atri, was a great teacher. Before we would do the Ishaya methods we would do these things he called awareness games. For instance, we would feel our left had, then our right foot, then become aware of the person across from us, then the space between us, then the space behind our head. This was a warmup before the Ishaya mantra meditations. I found these awareness games to be extremely powerful, now I think it might have had quite a bit to do with this directed sensation meditation aspect of it.

Directed Imagination

Imagining a flame, or a mandala circle, and focusing on it is using your imagination to come up with an image and direct your attention there. That's one type of directed imagination. There are self development models where you examine the details of a ship that you've imagined. This is the same basic idea. Most visual meditations are done by just imagining something, but some are done by looking at an image of some sort. Many of these mental exercises are used in Psychosynthesis, which is a psychotherapy founded by Roberto Assagioli after his imprisonment by Mussolini in WW2. Directed imagination can be visual like these methods, but mantras are more popular in meditation.

A mantra is a set of words that you say. It can be a single word like "life", or it can be a sentence. It can even be a sound that has no meaning, or a set of words that have a meaning that you don't know. Transcendental Meditation is the most famous and popular brand of this type of meditation. Originally the founder promoted any type of mantra meditation and said the words didn't matter. Later he changed it to the words mattering a lot. Now, you pay money to get special phrases that are usually something like the names of various Hindu gods in the Sanskrit language to repeat silently in your head.

Most mantra meditations are done silently, but some are done out loud. Some are done as group chants. Notice that this type of directed imagination meditation includes prayer, whether done silently in the mind or out loud, by oneself or in a group.

I had a few experiences with meditation classes over a number of years, but nothing ever really happened. Not until I went to a meeting held among friends in a house in Grand Rapids. Atri led the event. He took us through a series of awareness games, then we chose a word and did a silent mantra meditation, I chose "aliveness". That experience was quite profound for me. I had the oceanic feeling and the experience of cosmic consciousness. It's something that's beyond words. I had read several books on this, but I didn't realize what it really was until I experienced it myself.

After that I studied the Ishaya method and used their specific mantras for awhile. It was a good experience. It was very good at changing my perception and awareness of the world. But, it seemed to not work that great when it came to intense chronic pain. That's where I made the move from directed imagination meditation to directed sensation meditation and had such good results. Notice that both of these methods are directed. Now we can look at the other side of that coin.

(As a side note: I encountered one couple that had both done the TM (Transcendental Meditation) course. The husband liked it and had used it for 20 years. The wife didn't like it and didn't use it. This was at a general meditation group. I had both of them biofeedback test their mantras that they were given. The husband's tested well. The wife's tested poorly. It was an curious result.)

Non-directed Sensation

Zen is interesting because there isn't one form of Zen meditation, there are many types. But, in one form of Zen you simply feel whatever your body is doing. This is often done in specific sitting positions, and sometimes while walking. Sometimes with the eyes closed, and sometimes with the eyes open.

This is also where what is usually called mindfulness falls. It's just being mindful, being aware, of your body as you're doing other things. Notice that you are sensing and perceiving things. Just this realization in the moment will change the experience and your consciousness.

People tend to do this naturally sometimes, but I think rarely. It happens when you are laying in bed looking at the ceiling not thinking about anything, just aware of your body. Or when you're walking in bare feet and just notice the sand or grass touching your skin, and then the wind blowing across your body. It can be powerful, but I think it is kind of an odd experience to do, and thus I rarely have done it in a purposeful manner. It would probably benefit me to play with it more. But, I don't think it's a good idea necessarily to always be doing this.

Non-directed Imagination

Yes, I'm saying that when you are asleep and dreaming you are doing a type of meditation. When you're mind is just wandering around your thoughts in a daydream you are doing a type of meditation. And, when you take drugs to go on a "trip" you are doing a type of meditation. It's just of the non-directed imagination type. Since our imaginations like to wander we don't have to try to do this, it just happens, so we don't associate it with meditation.

Dreams are amazing things. It's your mind processing things, making connections, solving problems, symbolically presenting problems to you, condensing and sorting information. You naturally do this while you're sleeping, but you can also do some of it while you're awake.

There's actually a gradient rather than a sharp division. People work with lucid dreaming where you try to become aware that you are dreaming and direct the dream. Active imagination is like an intense daydream where you are directing it for psychological purposes. Vision quests are somewhat directed and somewhat free ranging. These are all somewhere between directed imagination meditation and non-directed imagination meditation.

The idea of watching and waiting is here too. You don't try to do anything, you just watch your mind and wait for it to calm down. It will eventually calm down, it's pretty incredible. The first experience a lot of people have in meditation really surprises them in how many ideas your mind is throwing up into your conscious awareness, and how you can't stop it, or even control it. If you just watch that crazy process for long enough and keep letting go of what comes up your mind it will eventually clear. I believe Vivekananda promoted that method. You get the feeling of being the observer of your own thoughts. It's a good perspective. Most of the methods are aiming at this same type of result, they are just using a different method to get there.

I have a few articles related to the ideas of non-directed imagination.

Two Examples of me Interpreting Other People's Dreams

http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2018/12/two-examples-of-me-interpreting-other.html

Twenty-Two of My Dreams, Not Interpreted

http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2018/06/twenty-two-of-my-dreams-not-interpreted.html

Experiments with Active Imagination

http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2018/11/experiments-with-active-imagination.html

Conclusion

It's common in meditation to limit the input from the environment. So you do it in a quiet place, where nothing is moving, with your eyes closed. But, you can expand beyond that. Atri always emphasized trying to move that meditative state that you achieve in the sessions to the rest of your life, and essentially meditate with your eyes open while you are living. This is the same idea as praying without ceasing.

These psycho-technologies, as the psychologist John Vervaeke calls them, are all useful. In some ways they are similar, and in some ways they are different. It depends quite a bit on your personality, your circumstances, and your purposes what will work the best. Even when you find what works I think it can be useful to explore. I find exploration for the sake of exploration fun and engaging, whether that's in the world or in the mind. Either way, it's useful to have this framework to think about what you're doing and what options you have to explore.

________________________________________________

You can find more of what I'm doing at http://www.JeffreyAlexanderMartin.com

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A few secrets approximately enamel whitening Inside the last 10 years the sphere of tooth whitening, each in the dental office and at home, has changed immensely. Basically, there are two distinct strategies to get whiter enamel: dental (in-office) whitening, and an at home treatment. Discover some secrets about enamel whitening that your dentist hopes i will in no way let you know! Technique #1: dental (in-office) teeth whitening I can inform you from first-hand enjoy, dentists love the patient who wants to have a enamel whitening procedure in the dental office. Back inside the early '90's there was only one option to be had. Your dentist might make molds of your tooth, send them off to a lab, and in 5-10 days receive lower back your custom fitted tooth whitening mouthpiece. Then you definitely might sit down within the dental chair for 1-2 hours, with these plastic tooth whitening molds full of peroxide (at a totally low attention) pressed in opposition to your enamel and gums. 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In fact, brush-on enamel whitening is designed for the phase of the general public this is in love with shortcuts (in other words, for those folks that do not need to spend the time to do it right the first time). Brush-on tooth whitening has  predominant flaws: 1. While you brush on the tooth whitening method, it is based on the idea that it's going to dry on your teeth. This is incredible in precept, however in case you get the enamel whitening method moist (i.E. From saliva or from licking your teeth) then it becomes clearly smooth to rub off parts of the method. And wager what takes place if you rub off most effective part of the teeth whitening method? You purchased it - you don't get an even whitening end result! It seems patchy and blotchy. 2. The second flaw with most brush-on teeth whitening as I see it, is the ingredients. If you look at the ingredient list of the leading brush-on whitener, you'll see the first ingredient is alcohol.  alcohol is terrible for your breath! 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You could even do the pinnacle and backside arch separately for consolation if you decide on. After that...You'll have a surprisingly whiter smile - guaranteed! More Themes  HERE

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[erraticfairy]

Lessons on Compassion: Why It’s Good for Us and How We Can Do More of It

A Story of Compassion

Among so much disheartening news these days, once in a while there is a bright spot of news that is truly heart-warming.  Such was the case when I read about, and watched on video 21-year-old Naomi Osaka’s act of kindness and compassion toward 15 year old Coco Gauff at the U.S. Open. After losing in the third round at the U.S. Open, Coco was on the sidelines completely defeated and unsuccessfully trying to fight back tears. Naomi immediately went over to her in this moment of suffering and offered kind words to her, and then invited her to be part of the post-match interview (which is usually only for the victors). During that interview, Naomi became teary as she spoke to Coco’s parents in the audience, recalling being at the same training facility as Coco, and acknowledging Coco’s hard work, and how both they (the parents) and Coco are “amazing.”

Surprising Benefits of Compassion

Interestingly, by expressing compassion, not only does the recipient of the compassion benefit, but so too, does the one giving compassion. Some of these many benefits to the person expressing compassion include reduced levels of cellular inflammation, increased perceptions of happiness and an experience of pleasure, a buffering effect against stress, an increase in longevity, a broadening ability to see a wider perspective outside of oneself, and increasing feelings of social connection (which in and of itself has major implications for health and well-being).

Empathy Versus Compassion

Whereas empathy involves putting yourself in another’s shoes and feeling the suffering of others, compassion goes further and involves a genuine wish or act to alleviate another’s suffering, and to be with another in their suffering.  This was the case with Naomi Osaka. She could have walked off the court and in her own mind recalled what it was like to publicly lose at the U.S. Open (as had happened to her the year prior), and felt in her body what she imagined that Coco Gauff might be feeling, by remembering or imagining the pain of such a moment.  But instead, she went further and reached out in such a genuinely compassionate way, in a moment that Coco will likely never forget, and in a way that likely changed Coco’s experience of her own suffering. Such moments are truly precious and we all have the capacity to offer them. In fact, the impact of doing so may be more far-reaching than you realize.

I still vividly remember such an act of compassion when I was 15. It was at my mother’s funeral, and I recall we were pulling into the driveway of the temple where the funeral service was being held.  My mom had died tragically in a car accident, and it was a time of intense grief and suffering for my family and I. As I looked up through my tears I saw three of my friends from my dance class walking into the sanctuary to be at the funeral.  I had no idea they were coming, and I certainly hadn’t expected them to be there. The fact that they had taken time from their own lives to be with me during this darkest time, to be present with me in my pain, was something I never forgot.

Sometimes, because seeing another person suffering is difficult, we might shy away from opportunities to reach out.  At other times, we might feel helpless because we are not sure how we can make a difference. Other times, people may feel uncertain about how to express compassion.

Where Can We Start?

In these circumstances, where can we start? One place to begin is to look for opportunities for small acts of kindness in ordinary places.  Sometimes something as simple as a smile, a warm gaze, or a small gesture can go a long way. I remember a time when my kids were younger and my son was having a meltdown in the grocery store.  In that moment of frustration and embarrassment for me, someone walking by gave me a friendly smile and an understanding glance as they told me that it wasn’t long ago they too had experienced similar struggles with their child.  That simple gesture went a long way to help relieve my own angst and embarrassment, and to let me know I was not alone. Recently I was in NYC on the subway and a homeless man who had just come on board spoke to everyone in the passenger car, explaining his family’s plight and asking for money.  It was as painful to listen to his story as it was to watch, as every single person in that car looked the other way, as if he wasn’t there. I felt my own inclination to do the same, then fought that urge and turned toward him, looked him in the eyes, and told him that I’m sorry that I had nothing to give him (as I truly didn’t have a single bit of cash on me) but that I wished him and his family well.  I’m not sure that my words made any difference, but I at least wanted to give him an experience of a human connection, as I would have wished for if I were in his shoes.

Another way that we can cultivate compassion is through the meditation practice of loving-kindness.  It turns out that compassion, while innate, is also something that can be taught, learned and practiced. In one study researchers found that two weeks of compassion training (involving listening to a 30 minute guided audio meditation) led to more altruistic behavior and brain changes (greater activation in the parts of the brain involved with empathy, emotional regulation and positive emotions when viewing pictures of human suffering), than for those in the control group. The meditation used in the study involved participants repeating the following phrases: “May you have happiness. May you be free from suffering. May you experience joy and ease.” Participants were first asked to picture someone close to them, wishing them these words in a time they have suffered; then they focused on sending themselves these words as they recalled a time that they have suffered; then they sent such feelings of compassion to a stranger, and finally they imagined sending these words toward someone that they have experienced some difficulty with in their life. 

There are many variations of this meditation practice, but the idea is that phrases of compassion are repeated, sent to oneself and/or others, and become the object of attention throughout the meditation. Try it out and notice the positive feelings that emerge from doing this even if for only a few minutes.

Practicing compassion need not take long or add time to one’s day, but it can have big pay-off, both for the recipient as well as for the one offering compassion. Make it a point to find a small way of engaging in an act of compassion this week, and notice the positivity that is generated by doing so.

from World of Psychology https://ift.tt/34GHcfO via theshiningmind.com

#World of Psychology #child psychology

[positivepsychologyinterventions]

Lessons on Compassion: Why It’s Good for Us and How We Can Do More of It

A Story of Compassion

Among so much disheartening news these days, once in a while there is a bright spot of news that is truly heart-warming.  Such was the case when I read about, and watched on video 21-year-old Naomi Osaka’s act of kindness and compassion toward 15 year old Coco Gauff at the U.S. Open. After losing in the third round at the U.S. Open, Coco was on the sidelines completely defeated and unsuccessfully trying to fight back tears. Naomi immediately went over to her in this moment of suffering and offered kind words to her, and then invited her to be part of the post-match interview (which is usually only for the victors). During that interview, Naomi became teary as she spoke to Coco’s parents in the audience, recalling being at the same training facility as Coco, and acknowledging Coco’s hard work, and how both they (the parents) and Coco are “amazing.”

Surprising Benefits of Compassion

Interestingly, by expressing compassion, not only does the recipient of the compassion benefit, but so too, does the one giving compassion. Some of these many benefits to the person expressing compassion include reduced levels of cellular inflammation, increased perceptions of happiness and an experience of pleasure, a buffering effect against stress, an increase in longevity, a broadening ability to see a wider perspective outside of oneself, and increasing feelings of social connection (which in and of itself has major implications for health and well-being).

Empathy Versus Compassion

Whereas empathy involves putting yourself in another’s shoes and feeling the suffering of others, compassion goes further and involves a genuine wish or act to alleviate another’s suffering, and to be with another in their suffering.  This was the case with Naomi Osaka. She could have walked off the court and in her own mind recalled what it was like to publicly lose at the U.S. Open (as had happened to her the year prior), and felt in her body what she imagined that Coco Gauff might be feeling, by remembering or imagining the pain of such a moment.  But instead, she went further and reached out in such a genuinely compassionate way, in a moment that Coco will likely never forget, and in a way that likely changed Coco’s experience of her own suffering. Such moments are truly precious and we all have the capacity to offer them. In fact, the impact of doing so may be more far-reaching than you realize.

I still vividly remember such an act of compassion when I was 15. It was at my mother’s funeral, and I recall we were pulling into the driveway of the temple where the funeral service was being held.  My mom had died tragically in a car accident, and it was a time of intense grief and suffering for my family and I. As I looked up through my tears I saw three of my friends from my dance class walking into the sanctuary to be at the funeral.  I had no idea they were coming, and I certainly hadn’t expected them to be there. The fact that they had taken time from their own lives to be with me during this darkest time, to be present with me in my pain, was something I never forgot.

Sometimes, because seeing another person suffering is difficult, we might shy away from opportunities to reach out.  At other times, we might feel helpless because we are not sure how we can make a difference. Other times, people may feel uncertain about how to express compassion.

Where Can We Start?

In these circumstances, where can we start? One place to begin is to look for opportunities for small acts of kindness in ordinary places.  Sometimes something as simple as a smile, a warm gaze, or a small gesture can go a long way. I remember a time when my kids were younger and my son was having a meltdown in the grocery store.  In that moment of frustration and embarrassment for me, someone walking by gave me a friendly smile and an understanding glance as they told me that it wasn’t long ago they too had experienced similar struggles with their child.  That simple gesture went a long way to help relieve my own angst and embarrassment, and to let me know I was not alone. Recently I was in NYC on the subway and a homeless man who had just come on board spoke to everyone in the passenger car, explaining his family’s plight and asking for money.  It was as painful to listen to his story as it was to watch, as every single person in that car looked the other way, as if he wasn’t there. I felt my own inclination to do the same, then fought that urge and turned toward him, looked him in the eyes, and told him that I’m sorry that I had nothing to give him (as I truly didn’t have a single bit of cash on me) but that I wished him and his family well.  I’m not sure that my words made any difference, but I at least wanted to give him an experience of a human connection, as I would have wished for if I were in his shoes.

Another way that we can cultivate compassion is through the meditation practice of loving-kindness.  It turns out that compassion, while innate, is also something that can be taught, learned and practiced. In one study researchers found that two weeks of compassion training (involving listening to a 30 minute guided audio meditation) led to more altruistic behavior and brain changes (greater activation in the parts of the brain involved with empathy, emotional regulation and positive emotions when viewing pictures of human suffering), than for those in the control group. The meditation used in the study involved participants repeating the following phrases: “May you have happiness. May you be free from suffering. May you experience joy and ease.” Participants were first asked to picture someone close to them, wishing them these words in a time they have suffered; then they focused on sending themselves these words as they recalled a time that they have suffered; then they sent such feelings of compassion to a stranger, and finally they imagined sending these words toward someone that they have experienced some difficulty with in their life. 

There are many variations of this meditation practice, but the idea is that phrases of compassion are repeated, sent to oneself and/or others, and become the object of attention throughout the meditation. Try it out and notice the positive feelings that emerge from doing this even if for only a few minutes.

Practicing compassion need not take long or add time to one’s day, but it can have big pay-off, both for the recipient as well as for the one offering compassion. Make it a point to find a small way of engaging in an act of compassion this week, and notice the positivity that is generated by doing so.

from World of Psychology https://ift.tt/34GHcfO via IFTTT

#IFTTT #World of Psychology

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The debut will be a considerable part of one’s work which should not be discounted by all ways. Among the ideal residency personal statement cases can let you receive best from it. The conclusion’s function is to outline notions mentioned yourcleaner.com.au/sample-acceptance-essay-on-current-and-also-long-run-goals/ from the debut and the anatomy besides to reveal the method by which they relate solely with the thesis. References ought to be all set and in the initial draft, it needs to become well arranged, ” she states.

Yells The HOW TO Compose A RESEARCH PAPER Summary Rip-off

You are going to be broadly speaking requested to use the APA newspaper format the moment the newspaper you’re writing falls under the class of psychology, or to any of those numerous areas in social sciences. You ought to thoroughly look into the situation and offer arguments using research reflection on the issue. My adventures continue to cement my urge to be a physician. Keep in mind, but that the thesis announcement has to be in your very first paragraph, preferably within the very first a handful of sentences.

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You’re looking for effective methods to make a few ideas for your essay. There are a couple of fantastic topics to have a look at when deciding on a issue for your argumentative essay. Now you may well be considering how to compose a classification composition overview. Following are a few racism essay themes that will give the very capability to develop an exceptional bit of creating to you. The debut together with in conclusion is imposed together, hence developing a streamlined paragraph communicating only the considerable information.

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During the publication there are a great deal of events which is often thought of as a societal criticism for the specifications of today. The trick to http://www.alice.ktndevelop.com/2019/05/08/literary-judgments-and-also-general/ creating a booming relative analysis is to specify a fantastic qualitative and qualitative scheme before you begin composing. There are numerous tactics to compose this sort of essay. The formatted phrase docs tend to be more easy to work with. When you are very well versed with the extensive topic of attention, narrow it down to some certain theme.

The length your own document must run to in either web pages as well as words and phrases.

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Don’t opt for jokes. Even if you need to jump out, any gimmicky article isn’t the way to take action. (As an example, distributing a song as opposed to a personal statementwhen you’re certainly not researching audio.)

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At which you have to convince the other person of one’s remarks Attempt not to forget that discussion matters are a sort of persuasive speeches. Superior names offer you potential subscribers the reason behind examining the essay from the very first location. Luckily essay producing is one particular location. Simply compose a set of all you’re ready to remember. Do not produce too easy and dull paragraphs, since it really is very tedious.

Materials Review (Launch, techniques, result, discussion along with finish)

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Training course work. While learning, this work is one of the most crucial. To finish that the best way, it’s important to start the job about the training course in advance, quickly following your acceptance from the subject. To get this done, you will need repeatedly speak to the actual curator of the project along with spend long from the collection or even surfing the net. Right now, however, most students function donrrrt you have time for this particular prolonged method and prefer to buy composition on the web.

First, the very first step is to review the occupation. In the event the purpose is repeatable out of a few angles there are a variety of selections of ways it may be defended. You may feel our very best writers are for one to stay in contact with them throughout a newspaper writing 30, there isn’t any opportunity. A abstract is a brief announcement that gives you a thorough yet concise comprehension of your work to the reader.

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A detailed second reading may subsequently be undertaken which highlights on getting an all-inclusive understanding of this topic. The use of controlling notion is crucial because it restricts your issue sentence. Any form of research-paper has a specific structure that’s predicated on titles. Seeing an individu job in a manner that is vital and assessing plot, personalities, and ideas related to this job is harder as it seems. Below is a summary of the various types of hooks, where you are able touse them, and the way to write one.

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