To be honest, I think it’s hilarious that I picked the most stressful November (for the Americans anyway) to give this challenge a go for the first time. My experience has been a juggle between caring for my mental health and simply enjoying the writing process. Distractions and interruptions have been abundant and when my mind gets too exhausted from pushing them away, all it wants to do is escape with a video game or book because my mind is too tired to plot a story. I’m having to be incredibly patient and constantly remind myself how important this is to me.
The progress I’ve made so far is significant. I won’t give up.
Comment below and tell me how your experience is going if you’re taking on the challenge and if you’re a fellow writer who isn’t writing a novel, do you have any tips to ward off stress during a writing session? I would love some pointers. (Yes, I’ve already tried take a break from or delete social media.)
“How To Ignore People” is a video by YouTube Channel Philosophers of Life I came across today. I wanted to share because we need to be more considerate of who we allow to have influence in our life. Depending on how those people are, they encourage or discourage your sense of self-worth and affect your confidence. According to the video, it’s a fact that your probability of success is dependent on the people you hang around. If you have people in your life who aren’t healthy for you and you need some advice on how to distance yourself from them, this video has some solid pointers.
I enjoyed my Yule then jumped right back into work. The couple of weeks off was really needed and one week to just focus on work helped as well. Blog posts and updates are coming back. And more is coming… I hope you all are well. – Kris Leliel
metonymy metonymy: “A figure of speech that substitutes the name of a related object, person, or idea for the subject at hand. Crown is often substituted for monarchy…should not be confused with synecdoche, a substitution of a part of something for the whole or the whole for a part.” – NTC’s Dictionary of Literary Terms … Continue reading What is metonymy? – Literary Terms 101
Just a heads up, some visual changes are being made to the website to prepare for a new project. Apologies if some aspects of the site are difficult to see/read. I hope you all are doing well and enjoying Yule/Xmas/Whatever. Please celebrate safely. – K.L.
Us autumn lovers are in love with Halloween and then there’s us pagans who also love Halloween and recognize the traditions of Samhain (pronounced Sow-win – don’t worry, many have said Sam-hane at least once and only a**holes won’t let you live it down lol). Before I devoted myself to the mystic path, and way before my Christian phase in my late teens/early twenties, my psychic senses have always strengthened during Samhain. It’s never been a full-blown “I see dead people” kind of vibe. It’s a somber feeling where those who have passed on are on my mind and my ability to sense what’s beyond the veil couldn’t be ignored. My connection to Celtic culture was a distant love in the past, but currently, I’m more eager to learn more about pagan or indigenous cultures as it inspires my current beliefs and increases my respect for our ancestors and their history.
History.com has a decent summary of Samhain’s origins and evolution, but when learning about the culture of the ancient Celts, I prefer the Druid perspective. Tha gliocas an ceann an fhitich! is the Scottish Gaelic proverb “There is wisdom in a raven’s head.” It’s similar to the Irish proverb “To have a raven’s knowledge,” which was a way of affirming a seer’s ability. Those who sense the power of the changing seasons certainly gain some wisdom when Samhain comes around.
Druid Susa Morgan Black of the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids presents Samhain as such:
‘To the ancient Celts, the year had two “hinges”. These were Beltaine (the first of May) and Samhain, or Samhuinn, (the first of November), which is also the traditional Celtic New Year. And these two days were the most magical, and often frightening times of the whole year.
The Celtic people were in superstitious awe of times and places “in between”. Holy sites were any border places – the shore between land and water (seas, lakes, and rivers), bridges, boundaries between territories (especially when marked by bodies of water), crossroads, thresholds, etc. Holy times were also border times – twilight and dawn marking the transitions of night and day; Beltaine and Samhain marking the transitions of summer and winter. Read your myths and fairytales – many of the stories occur in such places, and at such times.
At Samhain (which corresponds to modern Halloween), time lost all meaning and the past, present, and future were one. The dead, and the denizens of the Other World, walked among the living. It was a time of fairies, ghosts, demons, and witches. Winter itself was the Season of Ghosts, and Samhain is the night of their release from the Underworld. Many people lit bonfires to keep the evil spirits at bay. Often a torch was lit and carried around the boundaries of the home and farm, to protect the property and residents against the spirits throughout the winter.’
Crossing thresholds not bound by time and sensing the entities beyond, I feel, is something either you experience personally or more so through the observance of nature, such as the passing seasons. In either case, autumn holds power. Those of us who take in that power through more shamanic means revere this time rather than get caught up in the thrill of fearful tricks or treats (not that I don’t mind a good Halloween prank). As Samhain draws closer, I want to say with the considerations of the pandemic and the families and friends who have lost loved ones this year, be respectful of how the dead are grieved if you honor the existence of an afterlife or simply respect death itself. Samhain, representing letting go, sacrifice, endings, and transitions, will call you to at least do that.
My head has been stuck in the books lately and when that happens blog posts seem to gradually fade, haha. Between studying, blogging, and my other music projects, I’m missing my novel and the VPD entries again. So I thought maybe I should take NaNoWriMo seriously and see how far I get. Once Samhain passes, taking on the NaNoWriMo challenge will be intimidating for sure, but I just really miss my novel, or rather the world I’m building and my characters. It’s dark scifi-fantasy novel and the first draft was over 400 pages and over 136,000 words. Working on the second draft definitely came with some struggles (and a lot of panicking, to be honest), but that beautiful big-picture view of the entire project and the awesome information I’m retaining from my psychology classes keeps connecting the dots between my characters and all the ways I can torture-DEVELOP them. Hehehehe.
So basically, I’m really enthusiastic and can’t wait to take on this challenge along with report my daily progress. Also, my cover song and poetry reading will be finished within this week and posted in the first week of November. I hope you’ll like it and thank you for your patience. I’m getting much better at actually completing projects rather than jumping around from one to another aren’t I? Good for me. Are you a fellow writer thinking of trying out NaNoWriMo as well?
I think I just want to drown in poetry for my next creative project. I don’t know about you, dear readers, but November has been transformative for me. I’ve been chaotic and melancholy with mild intervals of maturity due to retrospective divination sessions and meditations. And my Thanksgiving was…I suppose 60% okay. I observe the … Continue reading I Just Want Poetry – [Just Me]
I’ll allow the video to speak for itself. Please don’t feign ignorance on this day if you’re American. Don’t ignore history. Take time to learn whose land you’re on.
I didn’t really notice the Mercury in Scorpio retrograde energy until yesterday and I could only express how the energy messed with me in a silly Tumblr post.
Yeah, so that happened and the relief from perfectionism just from the academic aspect has bled into the music aspect as well. I’m so freaking close to releasing this new cover song and already planning the next one!
Sometimes a friend will ask me if Mercury retrograde is even a “real” thing. Usually I say it comes down to your belief and understanding of astrology, but if the retrograde energies don’t seem to affect you, then why worry?
First and foremost, I found classical lofi and I love it. Second, I’ve accepted that my writing and creative career is being accomplished in chaotic baby steps. I make small achievements on a daily basis, I think, but thanks to the mental health issues I have, sometimes I forget that daily progress. There’s a lot … Continue reading Classical Lofi and Honest Chaos – [Just Me/Video]
I romanticized storms all my life, until I saw within myself a lightning strike shattering me. The fractals of my psyche flew out of reach. I felt their razor edges dig into the thinnest barriers of my consciousness, forcing me to scream, laugh, weep, rage, and die repeatedly. Those fractals seized my imagination at the … Continue reading Lightning Strike – [Stream of Consciousness Poem]
“The reason Harvey is so relevant I feel, is because I’m interested in the sense that many creative introverts I know have, which is that we’re somehow on the outside, that we don’t fit in, that we’re not approved of by society, that we’re somehow doing “it” wrong (whatever it is.) Just that sense of otherness.
And that can make living the life of a creative and actually fulfilling our true dreams and pursuing our true calling/path VERY difficult.”
The Creative Introvert is my new favorite podcast. I finally found someone who gets it and dedicates her time to letting other introverts know they’re not alone when it comes to dealing with the mess of anxiety while also being a creative spirit. Please check out the podcast in the link below. There are some very good points on respect one’s art and themselves in this episode and I truly appreciate Cat for sharing her insight.
After such an intense year of repeated exposure of people, either famous or not, and their ugly under bellies, I expected that the people worship craze would decrease. How many Americans voted with the idea that “their saviors” will save a country so they won’t have to take any of the responsibility? How many celebrity … Continue reading Stop With The People Worship – [Just Me]
This week has been so stressful and confusing that I forgot to promo the release of my cover song. Well, shit. Lol. Give me a day or two to get things sorted.
To be honest, I think it’s hilarious that I picked the most stressful November (for the Americans anyway) to give this challenge a go for the first time. My experience has been a juggle between caring for my mental health and simply enjoying the writing process. Distractions and interruptions have been abundant and when my … Continue reading How’s NaNoWriMo Going? – [Just Me]
“How To Ignore People” is a video by YouTube Channel Philosophers of Life I came across today. I wanted to share because we need to be more considerate of who we allow to have influence in our life. Depending on how those people are, they encourage or discourage your sense of self-worth and affect your … Continue reading How To Ignore People – [Video]
Us autumn lovers are in love with Halloween and then there’s us pagans who also love Halloween and recognize the traditions of Samhain (pronounced Sow-win – don’t worry, many have said Sam-hane at least once and only a**holes won’t let you live it down lol). Before I devoted myself to the mystic path, and way … Continue reading The Power and History of Samhain – [History Study]