Post No. 2,690 - Some interesting reading/viewing [Note: Content Warning - links to distressing reports on some topics. Reader discretion is advised]

Note: CONTENT WARNING - some of this content is about upsetting, disturbing or triggering events & attitudes. Seek competent help - including professional - if you need it. READER CAUTION IS RECOMMENDED! For anyone distressed by anything in this post, or for any other reason considering seeking support, resources are available in Australia here, here, and here. In other nations, you will have to do an Internet search using terms such as “mental health support - <your nation>” (which, for instance, may lead to this, this, and this, in the USA, or this, this, and this, in France [biased towards English-language - my apologies]), or perhaps try https://www.befrienders.org/. 

Here are some llinks that might of interest or value:

• “How do you bring your spiritual self to your job and make sure you are doing more good than harm?”   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/07/how-do-you-bring-your-spiritual-self-to-your-job-and-make-sure-you-are-doing-more-good-than-harm   “Mindful work is one of the four paths to enlightenment in Hinduism; karma yoga and Zen Buddhists consider every action a means of mujodo no taigen – actualising the Way. In Islam, finding moral and ethical ways of making a living is seen as part of worship”   Very interesting   

• “Why Your Outrage About Cultural Appropriation Is a Sad Waste of Time”   https://medium.com/the-point-of-view/why-your-outrage-about-cultural-appropriation-is-a-sad-waste-of-time-eb275f6441c3   “You’re being distracted from real issues. If you want change, focus your righteous efforts on global exploitation   ...   I grew up in a time when people wore insignias of other cultures to show their appreciation or (emotional) closeness to that culture.   My father is Nigerian. Much to his delight, my mum, who is Austrian, wore traditional Nigerian clothes on important occasions”   Excellent commentary on the difference between appreciation/closeness vs. appropriation   

• “For Those Who’ve Had Enough Tough Love | John Beckett”   https://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbeckett/2024/01/for-those-whove-had-enough-tough-love.html  

• ““Pagan” Has A Meaning | John Beckett”   https://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbeckett/2024/01/pagan-has-a-meaning.html   This is on the misappropriation of the term Pagan by bigots who are angry at others to use as a cheap insult   

• “Newly discovered cosmic megastructure challenges theories of the universe | Space | The Guardian”   https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/jan/11/newly-discovered-cosmic-megastructure-challenges-theories-of-the-universe  
  

• this week’s “afterlife report” by the  Zammits (see here for zoom meeting opportunities):  https://www.victorzammit.com/January12th2024/  
  

• my recent posts on my political blog:  
• From the news on   society,   the climate crisis, environmental issues, and nuclear threats/issues,   human rights and humanitarian aid,   the war in West Asia,   politics in the USA,   and   politics & democracy, and international affairs;  
  
  
• “The NEED to keep ("unconscious") bigots OUT of governance”   https://politicalmusingsofkayleen.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-need-to-keep-unconscious-bigots-out.html  
  
  
• “Paid employment”   https://politicalmusingsofkayleen.blogspot.com/2024/01/paid-employment.html  
  
  
• “Low quality elected representatives in the USA [Content Warning - links to immature and abusive behaviour]”   https://politicalmusingsofkayleen.blogspot.com/2024/01/low-quality-elected-representatives-in.html  
  

• from Medium and similar:
  

• “Everyone Wants to Quit, but They Can't”   https://www.okdoomer.io/what-happens-when-you/   Starting with [CW - animal] research into nociception, calls for decency (e.g., living wages, affordable homes, etc)   “The western world has gotten it backward for hundreds of years, treating our minds as things that exists apart from our bodies and environments. They don't. Our brains are things that emit chemicals in response to our realities. Our thoughts and feelings are the result of things in the real world that happen. You can't trick yourself into happiness”  
  
  
• “Stop Telling Kids What To Do With Their Lives”   https://medium.com/the-point-of-view/stop-telling-kids-what-to-do-with-their-lives-fc2fcd041a3a   “Our actions take away their agency in life”   Well said 

• from YouTube:

• “How to debunk deceptive emotions | Kristen Lindquist”   https://youtu.be/4mPZC8QQXCo?si=2oSkhSFsOggjljED   Covers differing cultural contexts etc  
  
  
• “Are you here to please others? Well, I’m not”   https://youtu.be/_rJPilWR4bo?si=J7OZ8O9MQsPved-R  
  
  
• ““Witchcraft Without Activism is Cosplay””   https://youtu.be/JkjQio7kB7Y?si=MfHe01FlczSzaGdK   I agree with this sentiment - but note that I have not looked at the full interview 
  
  
• on neurodivergence: 
• not from YouTube: 
  - “I Know Why There Are More Women Autistic Self-Advocates Than Men”   https://medium.com/blue-notes-to-myself/i-know-why-there-are-more-women-autistic-self-advocates-than-men-8e7544f89367   “Toxic masculinity has infected this space and keeps away male advocates.   ...   I start with this baseline premise because it’s long been true of depression, where men are reluctant to talk about it”  
  - “Me and Billie  Eilish Have Something in Common”   https://medium.com/counterarts/me-and-billie-eilish-have-something-in-common-c256c9955c2f   This is an informative reflection (including some surprising stats) on Tourette's Syndrome (which one of my nephews has):   “There are some advantages for people with the syndrome: it can contribute to greater creativity, as well as raising self-awareness and empathy.   ...   While Tourette’s can be tiring, painful, and embarrassing, it hasn’t stopped Ms. Eilish from writing hits, touring, and talking openly about her condition.   ... It’s no longer a source of shame”  
  - “I Am Autistic — I Do Not “Have” Autism”   https://medium.com/@markpalmer_81150/i-am-autistic-i-do-not-have-autism-fd536c98cfaf   
  
  
• from  Autistic AF-ter 40:
  - “Did you know this about PDA? | Pathological Demand Avoidance”   https://youtu.be/RytCqrg6IEE?si=YxTGbcCDO7-hTiRo   This is excellent - especially the discussion around saying no for moral reasons. I also quite like the proposed alternative association for the initialisation PDA: Persistent Demand for Autonomy   (By the way, I recently found out that an acronym is pronounced like a word - e.g., NATO, where as the letters in an initialisation are pronounced one at a time - like CSIRO. See, for instance, https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/abbreviations/abbreviations-acronyms-and-initialisms-revisited/)   I am finding this channel quite good and am following it:   Autistic AF-ter 40   https://www.youtube.com/@Autistic_After_40  
  
  
• from other channels: 
  - “Why you should NOT plan out all your time”   https://youtu.be/QNpqFsU4QOg?si=FOfmukPUb17kA1NC   I actually consider this self evident  
  

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Remember: we generally need to be more human being rather than human doing, to mind our Mӕgan, and to acknowledge that all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk.

 

Copyright © Kayleen White 2007-2024     NO AI   I do not consent to any machine learning aka Artificial Intelligence (AI), generative AI, large language model, machine learning, chatbot, or other automated analysis, generative process, or replication program to reproduce, mimic, remix, summarise, or otherwise  replicate any part of this post or other posts on this blog via any means. Typo’s may be inserrted deliberately to demonstrate this is not an AI product.     Otherwise, fair and reasonable use is accepted under Creative Commons 4.0 on an Attribution-ShareAlike basis https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/