Top 10 Tuesday

Prohairesis—In these highly reactive times, we are seeing a lot of intolerance being fought with more intolerance. Everyone walks around on this earth with their own lives, agendas, aptitude/willingness to learn and listen, and consciousness (look up the word sonder) molded by their psyche, the environment, and biology/genetics. A lot of knee-jerk judgment and blanket-statements are used, which is always unfair and not very rational. I recently read about prohairesis which is a stoic term for a person’s ability to think for themselves and come to their own rational conclusions regardless of the sources of information or the type of information to which they’re exposed. Now, because humans walk this planet with their various cloaks of experience, rationality isn’t always a part of their wardrobe. All those above things can create unhelpful biases. All of those above things can create big, stubborn egos. A lot of people who want to prevent the banning of books are the same people who want to ban talking-heads in the media. This paradox is intriguing and there are various nuances (misinformation, gas-lighting, perspective, content) at play. It’s a back-and-forth game of Whack-A-Mole, a constant desire to eliminate rather than communicate. We all know that communication is difficult. We all know that humans are even more difficult. I have no answers and really, are there answers? I think about “agreements” a lot—like how most people agree to obey traffic laws because it benefits every patient driver regardless of their walk in life. Does such a thing exist for the nastiness humans feel towards one another?

Old Crow Wetlands—I finally visited some wetlands that aren’t terribly local to me but I have been wanting to explore for a long while. There is currently an initiative to further protect these wetlands from a very possible build of a Rutter’s gas station. Considering where the build would occur, a lot of run-off and litter from the gas station would inevitably leach into the wetlands and well, I’ll leave your imagination to fill in the rest. I finally visited it on a very blue, bright day yesterday. I admired buttonbush, milkweed, and hibiscus as well as some very neat ice formations. There’s room for improvement regarding nesting boxes, etc., but it’s a very beautiful place that I look forward to visiting again once the weather warms up.

Four Good Days—I watched this film starring Mila Kunis and Glenn Close. It’s about a young woman who is struggling with her addiction to meth and looking for forgiveness and grace from her emotionally exhausted mother as she tries to rehabilitate herself. The film shows not only the family dynamic but the internal dynamic of each victim of addiction, whether it is the user or the observer. You can view this film on Netflix.

Black Bear--And here is another film I watched recently on Hulu. It stars Aubrey Plaza and I always enjoy watching her in darker, more cerebral films. I particularly liked seeing her work side-by-side with Mark Duplass in the film "Safety Not Guaranteed". "Black Bear" is an interesting, twisty movie experimenting with intent, character development, gas-lighting, and possible borderline personality disorder. The mental health crisis an actor or actress may experience while internalizing the character they portray. Plaza is always type-casted as a sardonic, dark character, but it's fun to watch her unravel, as well.

Maybe It's Time to Normalize Lack of Job-Ambition--I have been working at my current job for over a year now and I am glad and grateful and over-the-moon for my transition to another job. In fact, I'm still riding the high of no longer working at my former job for reasons I have no need to explain. The previous job severely disrupted my mental health and I was becoming a stranger to myself. I now work a rewarding job and I won't go into that, either, because again, I have no need to explain. I do want to express, though, that the experience of undergoing a lot of stress and demands while at my previous job led to the discovery that I never really had much ambition for a profession to call home about. I'm content to do my job well and then go the hell home to live my life. I've lived my life with too many varying interests and no desire to settle into a pigeon-hole. I am an all-encompasser. I am also highly sensitive but I no longer apologize for it. It's perfectly okay to work a job that simply pays your bills and allows you to live the life you do or eventually will love. I work a job that is rewarding to me, pays my bills, and allows me to live how I want. Granted, I live a simple life, nothing luxurious. But I love it.

Visit from My In-Laws--Brian's parents visited this past weekend. We watched the Winter Olympics, I crocheted a lot, I made French Onion Soup, and we played our usual game of Phase 10, enhanced with wine of course. I am so grateful that a horror story doesn't exist between us. I love his parents and my parents love Brian more than they love me. Just kidding...kind of.

Standing Stone Coffee Company--Yes, coffee is a highlight of the week as it should be. Next to tea and honey, it is a nectar of the Earth. When visiting the Old Crow Wetlands in Huntingdon, I treated myself to a sit-down at the coffee house in town. I had an iced mocha and sat in a sunny spot near the window, finally looking at the photos I had taken. It was so bright and blue at the wetlands that I couldn't quite see what I captured. I always enjoy trying new-to-me coffee shops and try to get to some whenever I'm somewhere new or different. The best chai I've ever had was in Lynchburg, VA.

The Starling--Wow, I've watched three movies this past week. It's because I was on-call for work so I basically had to stay home all week. Anyway, I watched "The Starling", a comedic but dark drama about grief. It stars Melissa McCarthy and Chris O'Dowd's heartbreaking face. His sad eyes remind me of a father-figure I once had who was also sometimes sad. He had passed away. Melissa McCarthy's plight with her resident Starling (it's an aggressive bird if you didn't know) mirrors her duty and stubbornness during a very difficult time of loss. And may I say...Melissa McCarthy's character gives me huge Hilda vibes (the pin-up illustrations). I adore Hilda.

Counter-Mapping--I have always had an intense fascination with maps be them foldable or hangable. I've enjoyed maps in art-form, as well, easily seeing maps in petri dishes and agate (a type of stone). I recently read about counter-mapping which is when a map is created in appropriation with a certain culture or idea. I recently read about the A;shiwi Map Art Project painted by Zuni artists (pueblo peoples of the American southwest). Check these out.

Gordon Hempton's Sanctuaries of Silence--Deep in Olympic National Park is the Hoh Rain Forest where acoustic ecologist (what a title!) recorded the sounds of the forest. We humans are plagued by a lot of sound pollution to the point where we've become desensitized to the drone of our own homes and surroundings. The Hoh Rain Forest isn't bereft of sound pollution, planes flying overhead in their low hums. You can listen below.