#and connectedness

[birdy-babe]

I’m so glad Stolas has Blitzo right now

Despite everything that happened between the two of them, I think Blitzo is the most perfect person Stolas could have next to him right now.

And not only because he loves Blitzo and finds happiness and comfort in Blitzo- but Blitzo might be the only one to truly TRULY understand what Stolas is going through. He knows what it’s like to instantaneously have your entire life ripped apart, to, in a span of minutes, lose your home, family, friends, and any sense of security you may have.

He knows what it’s like to have that- and have it all be his fault. (We know it’s not REALLY either of their faults but that’s the way they feel, that’s where the blame is inevitably put).

Blitzo is going to understand the pain, the loss, the mourning, the guilt, the self-hatred, the desperation.

He’s going to be the person he wished he had after the fire.

[slowandsweet]

I do believe in an everyday sort of magic - the inexplicable connectedness we sometimes experience with places, people, works of art and the like; the eerie appropriateness of moments of syncronicity; the whispered voice, the hidden presence, when we think we’re alone.”

— Charles de Lint

[abductedlawnchair]

*ranting and raving and stomping on rooftops and flailing my arms about* HUMANS ARE AMIMALS!!! WE ARE ANIMALS!!! QUIT ACTING LIKE WE'RE NOT!!!

I am so goddamn tired of society acting like we're not!!! I am so goddamn tired of us as a society acting like we are above all the other animals!!! I do not care that we are the apex!!! We are fucking ANIMALS!!! Like, just take a step back and observe us like we have our own nature documentary on Nat Geo or something. Maybe with David Attenborough or whatever, idc. Just imagine it.

We are a species of apes that just so happened to gain the ability of extremely complex and abstract thought, capability of language, an almost absurd level of self-awareness, and the type of intelligence that allowed us to discover, invent, and develop tools. A species of apes that just so happen to have such a crazy level of curiosity that we have the capability to learn about the world around us, and beyond.

The way we learn and develop is fascinating. If you observe a toddler from that standpoint, watching them interact with the world around them, you'd see how natural curiosity is to us, in our human nature. Neil deGrasse Tyson has literally said that children are beings of chaos because they're curious and learning about the world around them.

We all have children in us, just like we have our ancestors in us!!! Our brains are wired like theirs. Relatively, we have been in this state of society for an extremely short amount of time!! Our brains and nervous systems are still wired to survive and keep us safe from predators and other dangers!!

We are social creatures!! We need love and connection to survive!! We can't do things on our own. The only reason we ever got to where we are is because we work together and communicate and share knowledge. The way society is right now is too isolating!! Humans aren't meant to be fighting for a place in society!! Haven't you seen zookeepers?? Or anyone who cares for nature in any capacity?? We have an incredible capacity for compassion and caretaking, because we have the capability to know and understand the inner workings of ourselves and countless other species!! Caretaking and compassion is literally an innate human trait!! We're supposed to take care of each other and the world around us!! We literally are capable of pack bonding with ROOMBAS, for fucks sake!! Little robots that our ape brains see moving around on its own, being part of our homes, and thinks "little guy is alive... I love him"!!! Isn't that beautiful???

We were an evolution of Mother Earth, Herself, to grow Her and expand Her and care for Her!!! Whether you believe in intelligent design or just the absurdity of it all, it still happened like that. We have the capacity to care for Her in an evolved level, yet we're fucking it up so badly right now.

Indigenous cultures have always been on the right track. They've always been right about this. They have always known that we are all pieces of the same organism, just like the atoms and cells and organs and electricity in your body are all part of one body!!

And btw, culture is another HUGE part of us being social creatures!! Being expressive and creative and connected!! That's part of our nature!! We're meant to sing and dance and laugh together!! That connectivity of us being a collective is So Important!!! Making fun of people for being "sheep", or having "herd mentality" every single time is so stupid because yes!!! Yes that's EXACTLY how we are supposed to be!!! We are social creatures, remember?? The whole point is that we do things together!!!

I know how society is rn isn't the end all, be all, but it just breaks my heart that this Capitalism shit goes against some of the most beautiful parts of humanity!! We are animals!!! We are cute and curious and compassionate and social and we need warmth and sunlight and sustenance from the earth and water and sleep and shelter from the elements!! We have instincts just like everything else!! We came from the dust and we will return to the dust because we will always be part of the Earth, just like all the other animals!! And somehow, despite all odds, despite how robotic Capitalism wants us to be, our human nature seeps into everything.

Take care of yourself! You are an animal, after all! <3

*climbs off rooftop... for now*

[quotelr]

If they criticise you before they cheer you on, they are not your people. Simple.

Nikki Rowe

[hylianengineer]

It's time for Discovery found family feels again.

[aeolianblues]

On isolation: One very helpful thing I’ve noticed is that it takes a week or two of not going out, not meeting people in your community, a few weeks of falling behind to become and feel isolated. But it takes a quick chat with someone you know to become reconnected. It takes going outside and accidentally running into a friend for that hole to become quickly plugged. You’ve got that going for you. Go outside, don’t fall into isolation and hopelessness.

[worldbuildingwanderlust]

Loving you

Is like breathing

Effortless

Automatic

and should it cease

So would I

[sarenth]

May 2025 Workshops

I have two workshops coming up in May, one free to the public and one paid. Yggdrasil, Its Roots, and Its Worlds: Heathen Cosmology The first workshop is free through Witches’ Night Out, sponsored by the Magical Education Council here in Michigan. The Facebook event is here. This is free and open to the public. Date: May 14, 2025 6pm-8pm EST Location: Crazy Wisdom in Ann Arbor and…

[adhamabbas]

do believe in an everyday sort of magic -- the inexplicable connectedness we sometimes experience with places, people, works of art and the like; the eerie appropriateness of moments of synchronicity; the whispered voice, the hidden presence, when we think we're alone.

Charles de Lint

[bubbloquacious]

Okay how about this: a generalized path between points x and y of a topological space X is a function P that assigns to every open cover 𝒰 of X a finite sequence (U₁,...,Uₙ) (call it a connecting sequence) of 𝒰-sets such that x ∈ U₁, y ∈ Uₙ, and for all 1 ≤ k &lt; n we have that Uₖ ∩ Uₖ₊₁ ≠ ∅. Such a function exists if and only if x and y are contained in the same connected component of X.

To see this, note first that if there are disjoint open sets U, U' such that U ∪ U' = X and x ∈ U, y ∈ U', then 𝒰 = {U,U'} is an open cover of X where no such connecting sequence (U₁,...,Uₙ) exists. For the other implication, assume that x and y lie in the same component. For an arbitrary 𝒰, define S(𝒰) to be the set of all points z ∈ X such that there is a connecting sequence (U₁,...,Uₙ). Then S(𝒰) is open because if z ∈ S(𝒰) with connecting sequence (U₁,...,Uₙ), then Uₙ is an open neighbourhood of z contained in S(𝒰). It's closed because if w is any point of X such that every neighbourhood V of w intersects S(𝒰) (so in particular if V ∈ 𝒰), say in the point z, then if (U₁,...,Uₙ) is a connecting sequence for z, (U₁,...,Uₙ,V) is a connecting sequence for w. So S(𝒰) is an open and closed set that contains x, so because y lies in the same component as x we get that y ∈ S(𝒰). Because 𝒰 was arbitrary, there is a generalized path from x to y.

So connectedness is equivalent to generalized path-connectedness. You can concatenate generalized paths in the obvious way. It seems you could use such a gadget to define something like the fundamental group of spaces with bad path-connectedness, like the Warsaw circle. But how to define a homotopy relation between generalized paths?

[isomorphismes]

Hadamard knew in 1898 that negative curvature and simply connectedness for surfaces embedded in 3-space force uniqueness of geodesics joining two points—implying that any segment of geodesic is also a shortest path.

But there is a long way toward the modern statement: “on any complete abstract Riemannian manifold of ≥0 curvature of any dimension, curvature is the quotient of its universal covering by a discrete group of isometries.”

Marcel Berger, Riemannian Geometry during the Second Half of the Twentieth Century

-------

Hadamard, 1898 being Les surfaces à courbure opposées et leurs lignes géodésiques

[sfenvs3000w25]

Blog #3: Reframing Nature: Addressing Privilege and Promoting Inclusive Environmental Engagement

Privilege is a term that can be defined as different advantages that are unearned and are connected to the economic, social, and cultural identities of individuals. Privilege shapes the ways in which people connect with, interpret, and access nature. People from higher socioeconomic lives and backgrounds generally have more potential and opportunity to truly experience different natural spaces, which ultimately frames them as either places of healing or leisure for these individuals to visit and connect with during busy or stressful times in their lives, which we have all experienced at one time or another. Conversely, some marginalized may experience exclusion for a variety of different reasons and influencing factors. Some of these may include but are not limited to different geographical locations, financial reasons, systemic barriers, or even risk. Additionally, some individuals may view nature as a site of labour rather than a place to explore, heal, refresh, and escape the real world. These different views and feelings surrounding nature could create rather divergent narratives about nature and the natural world itself, which could stem from the unfair and unequal distribution of natural resources or even opportunities that nature provides. 

Enjoying nature this summer at my cottage.

Cultural privilege can heavily influence which perspectives are prioritized within environmental narratives, as well as those that aren’t. Colonial viewpoints are often reflections of dominant interpretations, revealing nature as an “undisturbed, immaculate wilderness”, all the while erasing Indigenous practices, histories, and culture. Terms that are used to define wilderness including “pristine” reaffirm the previously mentioned bias, which ultimately ignores the interconnected bonds and engagements that several marginalized networks and populations may have with the environment itself. Ultimately, this positioning ignores and overlooks the environmental contributions given by underrepresented groups. 

Connecting as an inclusive community!

Resolving and addressing privilege in nature interpretation urges the increase and amplification of voices from different marginalized groups. This would allow for the inclusion and integration of more diverse cultural perspectives from both groups and individuals, ultimately minimizing the barriers in place limiting the accessibility of nature. If we critically examine the ways in which privilege shapes different understandings surrounding nature including both collective and individual, we would be capable of cultivating inclusive, welcoming environmental engagement for all. This commitment would require a variety of different key principles and actions, including structural change, self-reflection, and a push for equal representation. This would eventually ensure that nature itself is being valued through an inclusive, broader, welcoming, and just lens for all. A piece from this week's readings that truly resonated with me was in regard to the fact that many individuals born into more privileged circumstances "are not taught to recognize their privileges" (Gallavan, 2005). This is true, and upon reflection of my own personal situation, I feel that I am at fault for this. Luckily, my family has never struggled financially, so I have never truly known what it was like to not have all the essentials for school, work, life in general, etc. This unit truly impacted me and I will forever be grateful and thankful for all things both big and small. I will begin recognizing my privileges and helping the less fortunate wherever I can.

[a-typical]

“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.” ― Carl Sagan

[kamala-laxman]

"The key is to be in a state of permanent connectedness with your inner body - to feel it at all times. This will rapidly deepen and transform your life. The more consciousness you direct into the inner body, the higher its vibrational frequency becomes." Eckhart Tolle

[thixcy]

✨Morning Message ✨

Speaker: Erika Gagnon

[bogkeep]

some of my relatives identify as sami and some of my relatives identify as kvenish... even as siblings. idk what this makes me