fighting

So much winning…

I’m one of the ‘lucky’ ones. Since the outset of the Covid spread, my business has largely been shut down. The upside is that I’m finally getting the space to take care of things I’ve needed to do.

The downside…well, my business was not elgible for funds through any of the options put forth. And I’ve largely been out of work.

I spent the first month just recovering from constantly being at everyone else’s whim. The second month I started working on projects, planning my survival, and learning how to teach online classes for the part of my business that did transition.

Slowly things started opening up, too soon, as evidenced by the fact my state is now at the point where hospitals won’t admit people and ambulances are grounded. I’ve managed to stay safe, despite the close calls I’ve managed to have. Which as brought me to why I’m taking up writing again…

It almost feels like the months I was finally able to recover never happened. My anxiety level is through the roof between trying to cover my co-workers and watching the country burn. At current are the attempts to counter the fanned flames, how well that will work remains to be seen.

I’m wondering about most of my friends. Some of my closest ones say things that make me wonder exactly what they mean, because my knowledge of them leads me to wonder if the words they speak really mean what my first glance thinks they mean. And this comes from a kid who has a very German last name, who found out exactly how cruel kids could be when we learned about WW2 in history. Combine that with reading my grandfather’s letters (that were written in German) telling his aunt that they would have to stop speaking the language.

The cycle continues.

Vagueries…

Maybe it’s finally catching up to me, my hatred of arguing. It’s too time consuming to pull a few paragraph research paper together for the sake of persuasion on someone’t thread or blog. But here I am, being faced with a serious accusation that at the least should have prompted the asking for an example – except it wasn’t. It was tabled as a one-off that has appeared to have blossomed into something bigger, but has it?

At this moment, I feel like it’s time for a major change. Every time I’ve done something like this, it’s been a process. Not a stop, delete, re-enter. I’m feeling pulled to delete an entire program, not only wipe the computer memory, but to buy an entirely new system. In my spiritual life, one of the deities I work with is demanding and isn’t one to suffer vagueries. There’s an extent to which I feel pulled to not only put my foot down, but to break out the steel toed stompy boots to do so. It’s not fair to me, given my drives and motivations and it’s not fair to those I work with who don’t have a problem with me and might possibly be floored at what’s being thrown at me.

It’s also said a lot about the people where I’m at. I’ve always believed in the power of a support system and this includes in a place of employment. When I am in the acting roll of the employer, I have always had my staff’s back. Before anything was ever leveled anywhere, a discussion would be had to get the gray area between the black and white. It made for a happier staff and while the clients wouldn’t always be happy [to find they were misguided or jumped to a conclusion without all the evidence], they would be taken care of and ultimately respect the decisions. Same went with the staff when the opposite happened.

I have no real clue where I’m going with all of this, though, I guess it’s a note to anyone who reads this. If you have an issue with someone or some place, be as specific as possible. I always tell my athletes to try and be as specific as they can when describing an issue or a fear, because we can work to overcome that. But when the complaint is vague, with no real definition, we can’t form a plan to work through it.

If I need to change something about my approach to what I do, I need to know what it is that needs to change before I can make a plan to do so. I’ve never had an issue with self-reflection – more often than not to the point of gaslighting myself. But right now, while I’m leaning in that direction, my stompy boots are on and are telling me that I know what I know, and I haven’t done anything that has warranted the level of accusation that I have received. But it is making me question other things, and that is not a bad thing.

Hrm…

So, with my world in absolute chaos due to tricksters making evolution happen, it dawned on me that I’m having a creativity drought. It was thrown at me yesterday as one of my gymnasts let out a huge groan followed by a very loud “Oh MY god!!!” as I tried to wrangle her teammates into setting up our stations. Granted, my usual passion in what I do has been tempered by the adult realities of life and I find myself regressing back into a few points in my life where I felt my fires either being snuffed out or just quelled to smoke by a dump of cold water.

But in my time off, my creativity has been seriously stifled. I remember days where I could churn out poems, most of which made no sense, doodled new animals to life, or imagined symphonies that would make the masters weep. But here I am, grasping at what others have created, in hopes that it will kick my muse back to life. Be the lightening that rekindles the flames. But always, I come back to the person(s) that would rather let someone suffocate, just to see those lips turn black. Those who I ultimately don’t know whether I should pity or ignore. The killjoys.

She is right. And that’s what those people do, they make you question everything. Feel worthless in your talents. All so that you eventually wither away and die. The Echo to Narcissus.

In light of the #yesallwomen…

I wanted to make a list of habits I've developed or red flags that set off personal alarms because of situations I've been in with, or because of, men. So here we go:

When driving, if there is a car pacing next to me for a length of time, I avoid looking to see who it is because of a time when I was driving home. The guy in the SUV next to me had his rear view mirror angled so that I could see him masturbating (and doing a very poor job of it).

If I go on trips involving a team I'm on, I either room with guys I can trust, or I room alone (assuming there are no women to room with). Because a teammate made sure I got no sleep one night.

I have trouble accepting compliments on how I look, because a friend thought I was dressing up for him, and tried to force himself on me. And, when I went to a gala after I got out of an abusive relationship, my bf at the time leered at me and said, "I can't wait for you to get home so I can molest you."

When I go to concerts alone, or in strange places, I sneak my spiked wrist bracelet in with me. I wrap it around my fist so I can interest people to move away from me. Because someone at a concert thought my being near him was reason to put his hands in places they shouldn't be.

On a trip to my favourite swim spot on the river, I made the mistake of taking a teammate who I wasn't comfortable in being around (I chalked it up to cultural differences). He tried to force himself on me. When I told him no and decided we were going home, he went and told the inner circle of the team that I had sex with him.

I learned BJJ because an ex used leg locks and choke holds to "keep me in line". Learning it led to the one above, along with learning that someone I respected wasn't worth the respect.

I locked myself up both emotionally and sexually, because I was told by an ex that I was too emotional and I needed to get control of it (I'm still trying to unlock all of that).

I'm fearful of overly affectionate drunks both because of the demon I call my grandfather, and because I'm fearful of having to hurt someone because they won't listen to the word no).

I have bolted away from what might have been first dates, because the guy was just trying to be nice, or paid for something I didn't expect, because I was getting the wrong signals. I'm pretty sure they were both just nice guys, but it set off alarms from "nice guys" who were expecting repayment.

A guy who decided I had wronged him, put my unlisted home number up in a gas station bathroom, with the note "for great anal sex call *my name misspelled*". I got so many phone calls between the hours of midnight and 4AM that I almost had to quit my corporate job because I wasn't getting any sleep. I called the cops, they took my statement, and I never heard from the detective on my case. I ultimately had to change my number and move. This is why I don't answer calls from numbers I don't know.

In college, a guy called me – wrong number. Apparently, he had a female friend who would let him talk to her while masturbating. He did it to me quite a few times. I hung up on him, a lot. The only way it stopped, was when it turned out a friend of his fiancee was on the hockey team with me. He told her. I started making sure my dorm number was unlisted. As an RA, it was only available if you were a student in my building.

I won't get into the catcalls I've gotten, walking down the road. I also make sure that, if I'm on the bus or the train, I'm sitting or standing with my back against a wall and my bag between me and other people. I also walk with headphones on, normally – not necessarily listening to anything. I used to walk with my keys in my fist, now I only do that in places I'm not familiar with, or when I'm alone. I'm always looking at my surroundings and sizing up everything and everyone.

None of this is fair to the really nice people who don't deserve this. But it is because of a few – because I don't know who they are and they are good at hiding. I differentiate between the "nice guys" and the Nice Guys. I love the Nice Guys because I'm like their sister, and they protect me like their sister. And I have their back like a little sister and will beat the crap out of anyone who messes with them. I just wish there were more of them, so everyone can have a little sister.

Edits:

The other day, while I was waiting on the train. A stranger walked up to me and asked if I could use his phone. I stood there frozen, not willing to let my phone go because I had been witness to how phones get stolen, and conflicted on that. I was very hesitant on calling the number because I felt sorry for the excuse he gave me (and his phone really was dead), and afterwards I kicked myself because he now had my phone number. How messed up is it, that those thoughts go through my head in trying to be nice and help someone out.

You can’t see me…

Not because I'm invisible, even though I might be, but because you choose to not see me.

That's pretty much a summary of the waters beneath the surface for the past 3 weeks. I'm usually content to be in the background, doing the things I do because it's who I am, or how I choose to express myself. But the one time, the one time, that I made the choice to step up and say "HEY EVERYONE, REALLY LOOK AT ME!!!" I received the biggest smack down I could ever imagine possible. Worse than any of the shit I put up with going through middle and high school (and believe me, not all of it happened at school, so let's just say girls can be bitches and leave it there). So yeah, not planning on doing that ever again. But at least I know who my family consists of, and I'm grateful to them, even if they were part of the reason I broke before I was supposed to. But I shattered and I'm trying to pick up the pieces, little by little. The universe hasn't been totally helpful, because every time I try to take down time to hit up the mountains, or the river, or something; it manages to pop up and say, "Oh, you want time off? You sure about that?" and when I prove that I am, I come back to a clusterfuck bigger than I left to say, "See, you really shouldn't have taken that downtime. Normally, by this point in the year, I've had a month and a half of vacation. It's what keeps me sane, because I really do need 2-3 weeks to decompress from my job. So far, I've had a week and a half – and that wasn't a real, don't deal with anything work-related, vacation. I really need to just hole up in a cabin with no cell signal or wifi. Just me, coffee, a book, nature, and maybe Pastry (if he can get the time off).

I'm finding I need to re-establish my boundaries. I put myself out there for people, for whatever reason, and find that my margin of returns are exceedingly slim. Those who will continue to be blessed by my thoughtfulness are the ones that have shown themselves to return it, in some way – whether it's "paying it forward" or "kicking it back". I love them, and they get it. But I'm really tired of the dead ends. I'm really tired of looking out the window and seeing what is happening outside. The level of stupidity is astounding to the point I want to slam heads against a mirror and say, "What the fuck are you doing? Don't you see what you are doing?" But it would be useless. Very few are interested in self-reflection, and those who don't even consider it till they hit the proverbial wall are so blinded that they don't even know they've hit anything. It's disheartening to me. Depressing.

I have no clue where I'm going with this. I had some totally awesome stuff in my head earlier. Fluid and descriptive. All the stuff my writing professors loved. All the stuff my muse would pour out on to the paper before she was blindsided and muzzled because she "just wasn't good enough". Stupid people. Stupid me.

My office has a purple rug with yellow and lavender flowers on it. That makes me happy. I need more purple and lavender flowers. I need more solitude. Whatever fire is burning inside needs to come out. I can't handle it anymore, I'm tired of containing it within. It's being fed by something I don't know, and something I'm not familiar with. I don't know how to calm it down. And I don't want it to destroy me.

I vented on the TSA today…

I had my moment, and I raised my voice. The day didn't start off bad, it was actually pretty good. Elan slid backwards on her digestive issues because she was given the wrong food for a few days, so instead of leaving for the airport, we were bathing a cat and cleaning up the couch. Delta failed at baggage check, because the woman in charge of our line decided to walk away and leave 20 people standing there. The manager came up and asked if we had been helped, I said no because the woman walked away. He went to pull up our bag tags and informed us that we might need to rebook because the 5 minutes we stood there waiting on someone to take up her line caused us to come under the 45 minute bag check requirement. But he got us on our flight anyway (it was a nice recovery). Then, on to security. The terminal we were using had its own security check point, with all scanners being used. I opted out, to the snarls of my husband who thought I was being petty. The guy doing the line filtering weakly calls out, "female opt-out" which got 0 attention from anyone else in the area. So I stand. And stand, and stand. He repeats his calls about 4 times, while I continue to direct the line past me. Finally, someone asks me if I'm going through, and I loudly proclaim, "NO! I'M WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO COME PAT ME DOWN!" Which gets every TSA guards attention and a glare from the guy in charge of my line. I told him if he had actually called out, with authority, maybe one of the 3 people two lines over, who were gossiping and joking around might actually do their job. At any rate, it got me my pat down, and as I walked past, the guy directed me where I could lodge my complaint. Yeah right, I had 5 minutes to get to my gate because I had spent 15 minutes waiting for a damned pat down.

Those people are so freaking useless. But kudos to the woman who ended up giving me my pat down. She was professional, however seemingly unsure in her touch, and very polite. She got it done and didn't BS me, and didn't force my husband to get rechecked because I touched his face to move his eye sight to his computer since he wasn't listening to me when I told him to look down.

I’m very disappointed…

*****Disclaimer*****

My apologies if you don't wish to read this and it takes up your page. It was not my intention when I set out, and normally, I would happily hide it behind a cut. But this is something that I believe needs to be said, and hiding it behind a cut would defeat the purpose of writing it.

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In a number of things, but we'll start the massive brain dump with the thing on the forefront of my mind, that makes my husband continually ask what's wrong with me…

Something horrible happened yesterday, 28 people were killed in the course of one man committing suicide. It was evil, regardless of what his personal issues were, that lead him to yesterday morning, it was evil. There is no changing that. Last night, before I went to bed, The Travel Yogi decided to post, what I consider to be, an anti-yogi status update. The call not to have a dialog about our issues as a culture that lead us to days like yesterday, but to further restrict guns – because a man intent on going on a killing spree was denied the ability to legally purchase the firearms. So, instead, he opted to take his mother's – before or after killing her. Gun control worked. Unfortunately, in the words of a legal beagle friend of mine, he decided to commit other crimes in order to obtain them.

I'm disappointed, because lost in all of this is something I consider to be the ultimate question – What is wrong with us, not as individuals, but as a culture? Out of all the vomit on FB and in the news, I've only seen this question asked twice, but not answered – or even seriously considered. Instead I see calls for more control, calls for less control, the occasional blame on the individual who actually perpetrated it (and who I will never name, because he doesn't deserve a name, in the same vein that I don't believe he deserves a burial better than being left out for the animals to scavange).

Now, going back to the anti-yogi stuff….Yoga is a process of self-knowledge and self-discovery. Using different branches, the goal is to shed into what is your higher self. We go out into the world, to show others how it can be, and that it can be done. We actively serve and provide a safe space for others to discover themselves. In relation to the topic, the focus was on the material tool – the guns used – not the intent, or the issues surrounding the person who chose to use a tool for an evil purpose. One of the major Hindu texts, the Bhagavad Gita, takes place on a battlefield, prior to the protagonist of the tale going to battle. He faces a serious quandary in regards to the idea of having to possibly kill a member of his family. It was a violation of the first Yama, Ahimsa (nonviolence). It's a quandary that many within the military and law enforcement field have had to face, and come to grips with. An ethical person will always have that issue, when faced with that kind of decision. A law-abiding citizen, who chooses to arm his/herself makes the choice to use their weapon in either defense. This man, chose to arm himself in offense – against children. For whatever reason, whether it be a mental disease or lapse, he premeditated the death of someone, and that someone ended up being mostly innocent children. This is not a case of SpiderMan, or The Mask, where an evil spirit rides a person and makes them do these horrible things. It was the choice of a man, not the weapon.

To go back to my question…what's wrong with us as a culture? That makes people jump to killing someone, instead of talking, or dealing with their anger in a constructive manner? It's not movies, it's not video games. Many of these weapons have been around for decades, much longer than I've been alive. Yet in recent times, it took a sudden turn for the worst. Is it people lacking respect for each other? For their lives? Probably. We don't actually talk anymore. We're so focused on getting what we want, and when we want it, that we don't sit back and take in what we actually have. Nor do we interact with people. We cut people off on the roads, instead of letting them merge, because that car length is the difference between arriving 10 minutes early and being late. We sit on the phone all the time, because paying attention to work, or whoever called us, is more important than seeing that person trying to cross the crosswalk with the right-of-way. We ignore the accidents, crimes, or the injured people we see – because we're running late. We teach our children that material wealth is more important that watching the sun set, or going out to play on a nice day. We teach them that these things are theirs, by right, and if anyone else tries to take them, Mommy and Daddy will come in to yell at that kid's parents. We teach them to cower in front of anyone who demands anything from them, because standing for yourself is wrong. We reward bullies for their behaviour, when it reaches the boiling point that the bullied lashes out, because no one would listen to them. And as a result, those kids are punished and taught to sit back and "take it." Yet, we coddle our kids. We don't let them participate in sports where there are winners and losers – for the sake of their self-esteem. We don't teach them humility and how to win graciously. We teach them that they are all the same; that trying their best doesn't gain them any kind of recognition. Because pride, when coupled with humility, is somehow evil. Believing in your own greatness is looked down upon, but believing in your misery is somehow a virtue.

The problem, is that the world, however we view it in its idealistic phase, does not allow for these things. These kids, who think they're "hot shit", when they go to get a job and find out that they are underqualified and lack the skills for the job they claim is right for them lash out. They're unprepared an emotionally immature to deal with their own failings, because they've never been allowed to fail. Some of them get a late lesson and recover, others go on sprees of violence – whether it's against themselves or others. It's because somewhere, WE FAILED THEM. Our "mind our business" mentality is what is killing us. Those of us who see this, and say nothing are at fault. We, as a society, have gotten too PC and overly inclusive to have the fortitude to stand up when we need to – because we're afraid of offending someone.

As a country, we once had values. They were espoused in the Declaration of Independence and elaborated upon in the Bill of Rights and the various writings of our Founding Fathers. What are our values now? Freedom for everyone? The right to pursue life, liberty, and happiness? We are selfish. Our pursuit of happiness is greed. Our liberty is a joke. And life? Some, and this includes some of those brave teachers who really fulfill the definition of a hero, are willing to defend those who can't defend themselves, against those who wish to do them harm. They are willing to stand up and say something is wrong and protect the innocent who need their protection.

And the problem with the arguments today, is the call to remove a tool from an ethical citizen's arsenal, for providing for both themselves and their loved ones. All because others are afraid and unwilling to stand up for themselves.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

It’s quite possible that the nature of consciousness is in the midst of a fundamental transformation. The human race seems to be getting more empathetic, more compassionate, and even more psychic. Many of us are having experiences that were previously thought to be the province of mystics, such as epiphanies that give us visceral perceptions of the interconnectedness of all life. Even as some traditional religions lose members and devolve into cartoony fundamentalism, there are ever-increasing numbers of intelligent seekers who cultivate a more discerning spiritual awareness outside the decrepit frameworks. If you haven’t been on this bandwagon, Scorpio, now’s a good time to jump on. If you’re already on board, get ready for an accelerated ride.

FreeWill Astrology

Kinda funny…I downloaded Celestine Prophecy the other day, watched it twice. Definitely a campy movie, and while I get the points trying to be made during it…..it was kinda funny in how it wasn’t really an adventure that grabbed the viewer and pulled them in. Kept things quite separate. Decent movie on paper….

House stuff is still going, the Italian mafia met me there yesterday to inspect the work of the non-Italians. He was impressed the unit is still functioning, but said it’ll probably have to be replaced before winter, as next winter will probably be colder than this winter (it’s operating at 60%, and according to him it’s too small for my unit). Good for me, in that winter is almost over, and if trend continues from last year, I probably won’t have to turn on the A/C this summer. Parents are packing all the stuff to bring me, including stuffs for psychosu and moonbird (and yes, we need to do tea, if I can ever wake up early enough). I spent most of yesterday window shopping, to try and get ideas for stuff I like, plus catch-up/paint shopping with psychosu. I do have some posters I’m going to be getting rid of, as well as poster frames. If anyone needs something like that, please let me know. They’re in great shape and I’d hate to have to throw them away.

I went to my first Judo class on Tuesday, I’m still sore, in all the right core places. Tonight is Jiu Jitsu, which I can’t wait to get back to training. My goal is to be back to smaller tournaments by the end of the year, Pan-Ams and Nationals next year, European nationals and Worlds the year after. I’m hoping to get back to Denmark this year too, miss the place. Love going to France, but definitely miss Denmark, and need to hop over to Sweden and back up to Norway. I think next year, I’ll see if I can get back to Tuska in Finland. Of course, that all depends on Pastry’s travel restrictions, but we have to get to that point first.

I love BJJ, I am addicted to it, and every day that I am not in the gym a part of my just dies at the idea of not being there. Yeah, the obvious thing is to just show up, but that’s where the issue lies. I lack the passion. I don’t know if it’s from training burn-out, or drama burn-out. But the fact is, I’m not having fun when I drag my ass out of bed in the morning and consider whether or not I will leave for the gym.

The best times I’ve had, have been on the beach with my teammates, sparring with each other just to say we did it. One of my training partners attempting take-downs at the office I work in, or getting lost on the way to the other academy.

I could point fingers and make the claims of what I know is my real issue, but that would be pointless. Fact is, I find no joy at this gym, outside of the few training partners I have respect and appreciation for.

I had this same issue when I made the choice to retire from gymnastics, and this is a bit different. While I’m definitely going to take a hiatus from competitions for a while (despite my desire to compete at the European Nationals), I just need to find a place where I can rediscover the enjoyment of the sport, and it’s not with this family.

The last couple of years, for me, were draining, physically and emotionally. I’m in recovery mode, and in some ways I’m fully recovered, and in others I’m still healing.

Regardless, I’ll be contacting the instructors around my next few trips and seeing if I can fit their schedules to mine. That said, I wish I was in Denmark. The team there is awesome and I would love to spend more than one day training with them. I could easily regain my focus and maybe come back and rejoin the family. But as it stands…. *sigh* I miss my brothers. That is all I miss.