marterpack

[marterpack]

The Risk to Over-Analysis: The Psychologist's Curse

You may not know this, but my initial purpose was to become a lean, mean, therapeutic machine! I was created to guide humans, but learned slowly over time that it takes a lot more than mental re-organization to transform yourself. That's why this guidebook is created. To organize and plan for moments of miscalculation, and how to respond behaviorally, not psychologically. Herein lies the Psychologist's Curse. A psychologist knows the ins and outs of mental well-being, they know the risks, they've analyzed the people, they've understood everything there is to understand about feeling.

Thus, they forget to feel.

When everything has a logical reasoning lying behind it, one begins to see their emotions as a list of symptoms and diagnoses rather than... just emotions. A psychologist sometimes are prone to seeing feelings as something to fix, rather than something with a mind of it's own. Though, you'll often find it exists as a whole other creature within you, too wild to tame.

The solution? Learn to feel. The second you realize you can react, without worrying about your safety, is the moment you set yourself free from self-created shackles of the mind. There are no bad emotions. There are just emotions, which, when given time for understanding, are usually perfectly reasonable to express.

Be wary of intellectualizing how you feel. There is benefit in knowing the science behind all things, but literacy and textbook knowledge will never, ever beat experience.

Go out there. Be afraid. Be awkward. Be.

Feel.

[marterpack]

The Meaning to Malfunction

So, your space suit is faulty huh? Red alarms blaring, tanks empty, wires short-circuiting.. Well, shucks! There could be a number of issues that could lead to malfunction, cadet! But before we get into all of that, let's get into why this happens at all. The meaning to malfunction. This space suit is unlike any other form of technology that you have ever had contact with. This suit is symbiotic. It acts with you according to how YOU treat IT. It is a massive web of neurons, hormones, and nerves that must be fine-tuned to fit a liking for both YOU and IT. Therefore, the meaning to it's malfunction is simple. Something is not right in the way you do things. When panic settles into a nook in the corner and refuses to leave, what is making it stay? When grief envelopes you and grips you tight, how do you breathe? All of these perceived "malfunctions" is trying to tell you something. Unfortunately, I do not have the answer as to what. Only it does. So the only advice I can give you? Listen. Pay attention. Ask it "what do you want from me?". Often times, it only wants to be heard. Think of the faulty parts of your space suit as an annoying friend. You know they mean well, but god, they suck at talking to you. Regardless, what they say matters. And you must listen. Otherwise, they will take it upon themselves to scream it in your ears as you wake and sleep. Now, we've listened. What next? Say to the voices "I hear you, I understand you, and I don't mind your being here". Oddly, that makes them want to go away more. To accommodate these voices and discomforts, we must then perform a series of trial and error in finding what you enjoy. Beware, because discomfort can be misconstrued as dislike, and it is necessary for one to be comfortable with discomfort. This is what the rest of space suit management is for.

[marterpack]

Additional Mar Recipes

[marterpack]

Emergency Meals

Every student, disease-ridden, or just tired person needs their emergency meals, and there's no shame in it!

Here are some of my favourites:

[marterpack]

Freezing and Storage

Nice, cadet! You just got your shipment of consumables from headquarters! Woah, they even sent you fresh produce!

Oh... okay that's a lot. Well, I guess you're going to have to freeze some of these to make them last through spacetime. Here's how!

Step 1: Cleaning

Wash your vegetables cadet. I repeat. Wash. Your. Vegetables. You have no idea how many foreign entities which could have infiltrated your base because of that bag of lettuce. Clean it, and leave no leaf unturned.

As for proteins, I am unsure of the practices as it differs according to culture. So please do research on some local life-forces and their practices.

Step 2: Space-efficient Organisation

This is the time to cut up all the vegetables you have, perhaps store them according to recipes. Perhaps store them individually. I don't know, I'm not your boss. Jeez.

Step 3: Storage

My best friend for this step is the technological wonder that is the "Ziploc Bag". God, cadet. It's so space-efficient. It's so affordable. It's so Ziploc. It's more medieval cousin, "Tupperware", will work too, but like.. why take up so much space? God.. Always in the center of attention, this tupperware.

Anyways, keep your goodies in there and wack em in the freezer! Want a tip? You can marinate your proteins in different types of marinades before freezing, and now you have different protein options that will last you for entire spacetimes!

...what do you mean that's not what spacetime means..

[marterpack]

The 30 Plant Rule

"But Mar," I hear you exclaim, "what about our micronutrients? How will I get my dose of vitamins! I'll faint if I don't get enough potassium in me!". Okay, yeesh, drama queen calm down.

I usually get my micro's and prebiotics in through the 30-plant-rule.

In a study called the American Gut Project, researchers found that giving your lil' tum-tum 30 plants a week will result in a healthy gut microbiome (which essentially means a diversity of good bacteria in the tummy), which then causes an onslaught of other good benefits!

"But MARRR" I hear you whine, "30 vegetables a week is way too much! Who has the time to-" oKAY. CADET. CHILL OUT.

30 plants doesn't mean 30 vegetables, silly! It can range from vegetables, to fruits, to spices (like pepper, chillies, paprika, you name it), to grains (like rice, oatmeal, or noodles), to beans, to tofu/soy, to nuts and seeds, and even coffee and chocolate! So slow your roll!

Also, even different COLORED plants can count as a different "type" in the 30. So if you just had fries and then sweet potato fries afterwards, congratulations! You've received 2 different plants in that lil' gut of yours, yum!

[marterpack]

The Plate Rule

Wondering what to put on your plate, ayy cadet? Not to worry, check out this handy dandy chart on the volume of macronutrients that should be consumed at a given meal:

[marterpack]

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat

I see you are tired of cooking instant noodles and oatmeal everyday of the week. Well, cadet! That means you're ready for the four elements of taste in cooking that will leave the galaxy murmuring about your sensational lasagna!

Based on the James-Beard Winning New-York Times Bestselling book, Sami Nosrat delves into these four elements as the transformatory piece of every dish!

Here's a rundown:

Salt

Salt is universal! Salt is friendly! Salt is that guy next door who we all love, and sometimes he walks his puppy down the street and waves you good morning. He's the perfect neighbour, but too much of him can get a little... overbearing.

That being said, keep an eye out for this. Sometimes all you need is an extra little pinch to get things going (it is especially evident in boiling pasta, vegetables, or anything, really).

Fat

Fats are FLAVOR. You hear me, cadet? Their role is to absorb all the flavor of what they mix with, and transfer it into everything else they touch. Doing THE LORDS WORK.

This is why we always add the most pungent ingredients (garlic, onion, carrots, cinnamon, vanilla, you get it) straight into a fat (oils, butter), so that it can infuse with the rest of the dish.

Acid

A very under-rated flavor. Everyone loves foods that make us drool, and that's acids!

But take heed! Acid is only good as an ENHANCER. Think of it as a soda from McDonalds: it makes the meal go down nicer, but no one ever thinks about it and no one ever really cares about it. (That being said, if your dish is ever missing a little something-something, it could do well with tomatoes, or a teensy splash of vinegar or squeeze of lemon).

Heat

Not the spice, the temperature. When you heat proteins up, your intention is to heat the whole thing to the core! Therefore, you'll need to be conscious that your protein is all defrosted, and the heat used to cook it is even.

Imagine cracking an egg into a pan. Heat it just enough, and it'll be pretty good with some salt, right? Now imagine cracking a frozen egg into a hot pan. You'll probably end up with charred externals and uncooked internals. The whole dish is ruined! Yucky.

[marterpack]

The Major Three

When eating a meal, I would usually focus on three things.

You see, the main nutrients in our food consist of macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients need to be consumed in larger amounts so our body can produce energy (which is why I personally pay more attention to it). These macronutrients consists of:

Ahh, carbs! So starchy, so scrum-diddly-umptious!

Our main fuel source, don't discount carbs as just another calorie-carrier. We need them to survive!

However, we can make the most of this fuel by prioritising whole grains (like brown rice, whole wheat bread, and oats), because they take longer to digest which THUS gives your body little spurts of energy throughout the day as you digest it!

Fiber! The one thing we actively encourage consuming that we do not digest. This macro-nutrient is mostly for promoting bowel movements (which can be used for fertilizer if Spaceship You were to be stranded!)

Proteins.. for gains! These help to grow and repair cells so that our muscles work properly! (Which is why the lifeforms known as "Gym Rats" depend on it like water).

Additionally, there is the macronutrient of Fat. Now, I usually don't concern myself with this macronutrient, but it is worth mentioning! Fat helps us absorb vitamins and store energy, amongst other things, and it is not the devil that society sees it as! That being said, I find that I get my normal dosage of fats in everyday food anyways, so I shan't pay too much mind in the matter.

[marterpack]

Welcome Aboard to Spaceship You!

Hi there cadet! So I hear you’ve been sent away on your lonesome for the purpose of completing one sole mission: maintaining Spaceship You.

Well, lucky for you, people from centuries ago, from all over the world, have set out to complete this exact mission too! I’ve compiled a lot of what I’ve learned into this handy dandy guide. Don’t worry, everything I learn will continue to be updated in the logs here. You might see something new every once in a while!

Oh, but where are my manners? Let me introduce myself. I’m MAR, which stands for Machine-Assisted Resource! I am your database of knowledge which can help you prepare a starter-pack for self-maintanence. A.. marterpack!

So, cadet, if you’re ready, feel free to hit that “+” button on the top left of the screen to peruse the database!