ivkio

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In 1909, the biologist Jakob von Uexküll noted that every animal exists in its own unique perceptual world — a smorgasbord of sights, smells, sounds and textures that it can sense but that other species might not. These stimuli defined what von Uexküll called the Umwelt — an animal’s bespoke sliver of reality. A tick’s Umwelt is limited to the touch of hair, the odor that emanates from skin and the heat of warm blood. A human’s Umwelt is far wider but doesn’t include the electric fields that sharks and platypuses are privy to, the infrared radiation that rattlesnakes and vampire bats track or the ultraviolet light that most sighted animals can see.

The Umwelt concept is one of the most profound and beautiful in biology. It tells us that the all-encompassing nature of our subjective experience is an illusion, and that we sense just a small fraction of what there is to sense. It hints at flickers of the magnificent in the mundane, and the extraordinary in the ordinary. And it is almost antidramatic: It reveals that frogs, snakes, ticks and other animals can be doing extraordinary things even when they seem to be doing nothing at all.

~ Ed Yong, NY Times Opinion, 6-21-22

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Butterfly wings and grizzly bear jaws

are both successful pathways to survival on this planet.

There is no single, best way to thrive.

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I think “exist” is such a strange question when it comes to god. You have relationships with characters, with stories, with concepts, with words, with ideas, and you know them to exist. But with god, we think he has to be some material being or individual consciousness in order to be considered “existing”

Can’t you have a relationship with god as a shared character? As an idea? Our ideas do exist materially, after all. Their body is formed of all our writings of them, and all the places our physical thoughts of them are in our minds. We build their being collectively, through our relationship. God is a shared conversation.

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[excuse my crassness] how do you become ballsy / have a spine (aka stop being so people pleasing, say no, speak up for yourself and others etc) when you’ve dealt with years of being told to be submissive and agreeable?

i feel like the particulars of How To Do This and What This Looks Like will vary wildly depending on your environment, comfort levels, who you're interacting with, how you communicate, etc. so i can't give you a step-by-step guide -- but i CAN give you my most vital piece of advice:

START SLOW.

this kind of "ballsiness" is a combination of 1) setting clear, firm boundaries and 2) pursuing what you want without caring what other people think

if you've grown up in a toxic household or been in a toxic relationship where your boundaries & desires are systemically ignored, undermined, mocked, or punished..... it is Going to be overwhelming to start pushing back against those expectations. like, pretty much no matter what. even if you're confident, consciously, that you can safely set boundaries & that you DESERVE to do so, there's a lot of subconscious negative reinforcement to work past. it can be a damn scary process!

so, Starting Slow.

you don't become fearless overnight. instead, start working on setting boundaries/asking for things with people you love & trust to respect you:

can we try not to call past 10pm on weeknights? i have class in the mornings

would you mind picking up the clutter left in this shared space?

i'm busy that day, what other times can we meet up?

i have to catch up on work tonight, could i reply to you tomorrow?

you don't have to be 100% confident and assertive here -- step one is to get comfortable expressing your needs at all! as time goes on, you'll start associating expressing said needs with positive outcomes instead of negative ones. that's often the confidence boost that can help you start establishing boundaries with strangers and professional acquaintances as well

i also HIGHLY recommend starting to do little things you want to do, even if you don't have a reason:

take a walk in a park just cuz you wanna go out

go check out an informal social group meeting at your local library (knitting, art, theater, book club.... lots of options)

pick up a new hobby just because!

quit your new hobby when you stop liking it!

reach out to people online who share your fandoms or hobbies!

get that pretty decoration or that nice shirt or that pricey coffee (assuming you're able to spend a couple bucks on yourself each week) just bc you want it!

rearrange your space to be how you like it!

every active step you take to create a life filled with your own desires will Also make you a shitload more confident. and happier to boot!

again, these are just examples - what you do will just depend on what you want and how you communicate. but it IS possible

best wishes to you, anon 💕

[ivkio]

“Be curious, not judgemental.”

Walt Whitman

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Rudy Francisco//l, e on tik tok//Althea Davis//my screenshot//@/cosima.333 on tik tok

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“From the very beginning you are being told to compare yourself with others. This is the greatest disease; it is like a cancer that goes on destroying your very soul because each individual is unique, and comparison is not possible.”

— Osho

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““There is no need of any competition with anybody. You are yourself, and as you are, you are perfectly good. Accept yourself.””

— Osho

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“This earth is the sacred place; there is nowhere else to go. There is no need to go to any church, to any temple. This earth is the church, this earth is the temple. This very body the Buddha, this very body the enlightenment, this very body the paradise. So nobody can walk it for you. It is your own walk, and it is a walk of awareness.”

— Osho

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There’s a teaching in Judaism that one should carry two notes, one in each pocket. One should say “I am but dust and ashes,” and the other should say “the whole world was created for me.” They are seen as opposites; you check one when you’re feeling down on yourself and the other when you’re feeling especially full of yourself. The idea is to maintain balance, but I think the way to achieve full harmony is to realize how they are saying the same thing.

That’s why I have imagined them as a carbon atom. Carbon is a main component of dust (and ashes), but also one of the main building blocks of life. Carbon simultaneously encompasses all. It’s in us, it’s in the stars, the planets, the trees. We are built to exist, yet we are also the building blocks of existence. If we keep both in mind, we can live in balance all the time.

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You must always be yourself no matter what the price. It is the highest form of morality. We should both try to live it. You’ve got to always keep your heart and mind open. You can disguise your emotions you can even numb them and finally you can paralyze them. And that is tragic. Our emotions are the only clues to our identity. The only true meaning in life is passion. The passion to learn, to paint, to love etc. Don’t dare destroy your passion for the sake of others. When you do you’ve lost the beauty of life and that’s what a sin is. By robbing yourself of your very reason to exist you have cheated. You must laugh when you must laugh, you must weep when you must weep, and you must love when you must love.

– Candy Darling, Candy Darling: Memoirs of an Andy Warhol Superstar

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Emma

[ivkio]

Happy Ivkio New Years!

Today, ivkos celebrate by planting or starting seeds for those who need it (be it the soil, native fauna, food for the poor, herbal medicine for the sick, etc). This plant will need to be nurtured by you over the next few months, and gifted to the being(s) you chose.

Welcome into the third year of the Ivkio religion~ ✨

[ivkio]

As the second Ivkio year comes to an end, Ivkos celebrate Nakamo, the day of giving thanks and reconciliation.

As explained more in depth in this post, ivkos are encouraged to give thank their relatives, friends, god(s), animals, soil, your body, your creativity, yourself as a whole, etc. Along with directly thanking them for their positive influence on your life, you can silently thank those you've left behind.

This day also provides the opportunity to apologize to those you feel you have wronged, even minorly.

Although it is a day of optional reconciliation, no one is required nor expected to forgive and reconnect. Rather, it's a chance to communicate and let the heaviness of your heart lighten.

Have a healing Nakamo! ✨

[ivkio]

“Be kinder to yourself. And then let your kindness flood the world.”

—

Pema Chödrön 

Quotes that remind me of Sagittarius

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