#Writing may not commence today since I had to be an adult today already so I'm a *touch* wiped mentally

[panie-wanie-dean-bean]

I'M A JEAN SIMP I WANT TO BE GOOD FOR HIM!!! And also to make him like and trust me so I can take advantage of him later :3

Oh, don't worry, the choices were not "make Jean hate you" and "Be a dumbass who can't see that Jean's a dick" the y/n can obviously see Evelyn hates him and will ask why. Honestly I thought the Sucker punch would win but this is probably the more fun choice for me :3

[stovetuna]

This is for @bardingbeedle who yelled at me in the tags and then on messenger and ultimately inspired me to write some “lorge soft steve” and tbh who am I to refuse. (also high-key inspired by this masterpiece of fanart I RBed [again] earlier today)

(takes place shortly after the events of Avengers Assemble episode 2x07, aka the best fic none of us ever wrote)

(heed the READ MORE!)

***

Tony is hustling from one meeting to the next, all but literally running into the kitchen for a cup of afternoon coffee, when he spies Steve Rogers bent over the communal living room coffee table. That in and of itself isn’t exactly outside the realm of normal Steve Rogers activities—the man does love a good brood, even if he won’t admit it and doesn’t do it as often as he used to.

But Tony wracks his brain for possible reasons why Steve would be hunched up around the shoulders like he’s expecting a body blow any minute and keeps coming up empty. Not even fresh coffee makes his synapses fire faster. Did they forget his birthday? Impossible. Did someone send Captain America hate mail? Uh, doubly impossible, especially because Tony’s got lawyers screening their mail for that kind of stuff (they’ve got more than enough pressure in their day-to-day lives, time-slip dinosaurs and age regressions notwithstanding).

Maybe Steve found a piece of upsetting news, or some fact of modern history that isn’t sitting well with him? That’s a lot more likely.

Before he can remind himself that Pepper’s waiting in his office to put him on a call with the president of MIT—something about a commencement speech, if memory serves—Tony is sauntering into the living room, nonchalant, tongue already prickling with some smart remark. He’s got it all written out in his head like a perfect line of code up until the moment he’s standing in front of Steve and sees the expression on his face.

“Whoa, who ran over your puppy?”

Tony winces, wishing for the millionth time that his mouth and his brain could work together simultaneously, but no. Worse, Steve doesn’t even answer him—he just frowns harder, if that’s even possible, and folds in on himself like his shoulders alone don’t take up half the length of the massive couch. Tony lowers the hand holding his coffee and blinks.

“Steve?”

“Oh!” Steve jumps upright, and quick as a flash moves something vaguely folder-shaped behind his back. “Tony! I didn’t hear you walk in—don’t you have a meeting right now?”

Something in Tony’s chest squeezes at the sight of that smile and at Steve’s impeccable attention to detail. But really, ever since the incident with the Time Stone, when he’d jolted back into his adult body and come to in Steve’s arms, he’s felt completely knocked off-balance. Now everything about Steve Rogers—the man, not the superhero—is a revelation. Every smile, every word, every look has Tony tripping over his own feet, tongue, thoughts. He may be back in his adult body, but he’s never felt more like a prepubescent teenager with a crush, fidgeting in place under Steve’s gaze.

“It got postponed,” he lies, because whatever has put that pinch between Steve’s eyebrows is way more important right now. “What’s up?”

“Nothing!” Steve replies, too loud and too quickly. Tony gives him a look. Steve flushes, shrinking in on himself even further, like he wants the couch to devour him. “Uh, nothing important. Just an anniversary I forgot about.”

Now it’s Tony’s turn to frown. He likes to think he’s got a solid mental calendar of important dates for all of his teammates memorized at this point—Natasha’s move-in, Bruce’s lab incident, Sam’s SHIELD acceptance, Steve being found in the ice—but none of those are today.

“Got room for one more?” Tony asks, nodding at the scant space next to Steve on the couch when the man gives him a questioning look. Steve’s cheeks immediately go a charming shade of pink, which churns the coffee in Tony’s empty stomach with a vengeance. Steve shifts to press himself against the arm as Tony moves to sit down next to him, almost crushing the folder Steve had hidden earlier in the process. There’s a gasp, and a lightning-quick hand, and then Steve, pale and breathless, is holding a manila folder against his chest like it’s the secret to the Super Soldier Serum.

It’s weird—Tony knows Steve trusts him, and vice versa. They wouldn’t have solved the riddle of the Time Stone if they didn’t trust each other. So to sit next to Steve, who’s gone from morose to terrified in the three minutes since Tony walked into the room and feel a wall between them is jarring. And upsetting. He’s only been nursing this crush for a few days, and Steve’s not that perceptive…is he? Maybe he is. Maybe this is Steve weeding out Tony’s feelings before they’ve even had a chance to grow.

Tony shakes his head at the thought. No, Steve’s a lot of things, but cruel isn’t one of them.

“Care to share with the class?” he asks, gently so he doesn’t spook Steve. It seems to work: Steve relaxes, tension falling from his shoulders as he eases into Tony’s presence. He takes a deep breath and exhales slowly, but keeps the folder pressed securely against his sternum. Tony tries hard not to steal a glance at the way Steve’s shirt pulls across his broad, thick chest as he breathes.

“It’s nothing.”

“Cap, if it was nothing, you wouldn’t be trying to Honey-I-Shrunk-Myself into the couch right now.”

Steve Rogers in active wear doesn’t cut quite the same figure as Steve Rogers in full Captain America regalia, it’s true, but that doesn’t mean he’s small. Like this, he’s just as large and has just as much presence as he does in uniform; it’s just…more human. Less Captain, more Steve. Both are devastating in their own way, but only Steve—friendly, blushing, awkward, unassuming Steve—makes Tony acutely aware of the distance between their bodies, down to the last electrified hair.

Catching his own breath, Tony puts his full mug on the coffee table and drops his hands into his lap, turning his head to watch Steve chew on whatever words are fighting to come out. Be patient, he tells himself. Whatever this is, Steve’s struggling with it, and Tony can have some tact when he wants to.

Finally, Steve closes his eyes and sighs. When he lowers his hands, the folder goes with them. Tony glances at the cover and almost swallows his tongue.

“Is that—?” Steve makes a noncommittal sound, like a ‘yes’ but softer, uncertain, like he’s not sure Tony’s reaction is a good one. Tony swallows his excitement with a wince. “Is that the Project Rebirth file? I told Fury to give it to you a long time ago, but I wasn’t sure he did.”

Tony is so preoccupied looking at the folder he doesn’t hear Steve’s gasp or notice his eyes lock onto him. “He did,” Steve replies quietly after a pause. “But that’s isn’t…that’s not what this is about.”

That’s kind of a surprise. The sudden appearance of the Project Rebirth file would explain Steve’s face and body language, but if it’s not that…

Steve hands the entire folder over to Tony without another word.

“Uh,” Tony gapes, too awestruck to achieve any kind of higher brain function.

“Look at the date,” Steve says. It’s not an order, just a gentle request, but it doesn’t prevent a shiver from rippling down the length of Tony’s spine. If he was hyperaware of the space between their bodies before, it’s even worse now with Steve leaning every-so-slightly toward him and reaching out a hand to point directly at the date written on the faded label.

22 June 1943

Tony blinks. “It’s the anniversary…of you?” He opens the folder without a second thought, and the first thing he sees is a picture of Steve. There are other things in the file—sheaves of what look like medical reports, heavily redacted memos, and carbon copies of typed letters—but the only thing Tony can focus on is Steven Grant Rogers circa 1943. The Steven Grant Rogers of before.

He’s touching the photo before he can stop himself, being so, so careful as he traces the narrow shape of the man in the photograph while the real, supersized thing sits next to him.

“It’s the first time I’ve really had a chance to sit and think about what it was like, before,” Steve says, unprompted. “Everything happened so fast once I got the serum, I didn’t have time to just…take it all in. And then I went into the ice and—well. You know the rest.”

All skin and bones, this man, back then. But the jut of his jaw is the same; the serum didn’t change that, or the flinty stubbornness in Steve’s eyes, or the proud set of his shoulders, just daring the world to try and fuck with him. Tony smiles—Steve before the serum is like a matchstick, short and thin and always one spark away from bursting into flame. He really didn’t change a bit.

When Tony finally looks up from the photo (not gazing, of course not), he sees Steve’s expression has gone pinched again, his arms now crossed in front of his chest.

“Alright, there’s that face again. Out with it, Cap.”

Steve really shouldn’t bite his lip—it’s bad for Tony’s health. But Tony’s comment does get him to smile a little bit, which is good. “I guess…it’s been over seventy years since I got the serum, but most days I still feel like that skinny guy in the picture.” Tony watches him as he speaks, taking in the faraway look in Steve’s eyes, the shrinking posture, the downward turn of his mouth—who says I can’t be observant, Tony thinks—and wishes he and Steve were the kind of friends who hugged outside of catastrophic cosmic events. God knows it looks like Steve could use one, as wound up and tense as he is right now.

“I’ve broken so many things by accident because I keep forgetting I’m this, now,” he says, gesturing broadly at himself with one hand. Frowning, Steve uses that same hand to brace his forehead, elbow dropping down onto his thigh. The man is the picture of misery, and Tony aches to comfort him. It’s a physical pull in the pit of his stomach, urgent and needy—like if he doesn’t get his arms around Steve Rogers right this second, something important inside him is going to malfunction.

Tony shoves his hands under his thighs and nods. “Dr. Erskine could turn you into a super soldier,” he says softly, “but he couldn’t erase the first 27 years of your life.” He doesn’t speak his next thought aloud—that if there was in fact a way to erase those years, Tony would have signed up for the very first clinical trial. It’s a grim thought, and not something Steve needs to hear right now, but it’s been on Tony’s mind ever since his brief return to adolescence, and it’s a hard one to shake.

But what Steve heard seems to help. He peeks at Tony through his fingers and swallows loud enough even Tony can hear it.

“Yeah,” he rasps, “something like that.”

“What else?”

“What?”

“What else is bugging you? About this?”

Steve lowers his hand and stares at Tony. Stares. It’s such a feeling, being stared at by Steve Rogers, Tony can feel the heat climbing up from underneath his t-shirt. Even the arc reactor feels a bit warmer in his chest.

“How could you tell?”

“You’re still doing your level-best impression of a Shrinky Dink, Cap,” Tony replies. “Kind of hard not to notice.”

“I have no idea what that is,” Steve laughs, a hoarse, dry sound, “but you’re not wrong. I guess…I don’t know. It’s hard to put into words.”

“Try.”

Seriously, when Steve looks at him like that—like he did when Tony soared through the air as Iron Kid, all awe and pride and warmth—Tony feels capable of anything. Anything. He’d bottle that feeling, if he could, just like he’d bottle the color of Steve’s hair in the afternoon light coming in through the living room windows right now, all warm, pale yellows shot through with gold. If the photo in the file were in full color, Tony would bet his fortune Steve’s hair would be the same shade it is now.

Because Steve Rogers has always been perfect. Damn him.

“I still feel small,” Steve says, and any thoughts of hair and perfection derail abruptly. Looking into the middle-distance past his nose, he continues, “I don’t fit in this body. That doesn’t make sense, but—it’s like the super soldier is a mold, and I’m just there rattling around inside it, too small to fit. Does that—does that make any sense?” He looks at Tony imploringly, begging him with his eyes to understand. Tony feels that tug again, worse now, to wrap his arms around Steve and hold him tight. Call it returning the favor for the other day with the Time Stone, call it acting on his crush, whatever.

No one so large has ever looked as small as Steve Rogers does right now.

“It does,” Tony croaks.

“Really?”

“Really. I mean, how do you think I feel inside the suit?”

Steve makes a sound at that—not a whimper, not a gasp, but something hovering between the two that splits Tony’s heart right down the middle. “I never thought of it that way,” he whispers. “But that’s it. That’s exactly it.” Visible relief fills Steve’s lungs and makes his entire body go lax, leaning closer to Tony in the process. Tony, of course, is hyperaware of Steve’s size—everyone except Thor and Hulk is small compared to him—but now he’s equally aware of who’s operating the Cap-suit, so to speak.

“The only difference is, I can take my super-suit off,” Tony says, pinching the underside of his own thigh to cut off a laugh—Steve hasn’t seen The Incredibles yet—and continues, “you can’t. That’s bound to make a guy feel uncomfortable, even you, Mr. ‘I can handle anything you throw at me.’” He elbows Steve a little, good-naturedly, for emphasis, and gets a full, beautiful smile for his efforts.

God. Skinny or huge, Steve Rogers is gorgeous. It really shouldn’t be allowed.

“Yeah, good point.” Face still split by a smile—I put that there, Tony preens—Steve leans against the back of the couch and sighs. “There are things I miss, though. About being small. I didn’t think I did, until…” He glances at Tony, then, and there’s no missing the blush creeping up his neck.

“Until?”

“The other day,” Steve replies. “When you de-aged, and I—when we—” Tony bites his tongue so hard he’s pretty sure he tastes blood. Don’t interrupt. Let him get it out. Steve laughs breathily. “When I hugged you, I was so glad I was in a position to protect you, physically, like that. But later on I kept thinking about how much I miss being the protected one, sometimes. Not always, but. Sometimes.” Steve looks at the photo and sighs. “I keep thinking about what it felt like when ma looked after me when I was sick, or when Bucky put himself between me and the bigger guy because he knew I couldn’t take another hit…sure I resented it a little, being so weak, but I liked…that.”

“You liked being cared for.”

The look Steve levels at Tony could drive away a storm.

“Yeah,” he husks. “I did.”

“And now that you’re—” Tony waves a hand at Steve’s everything, “—this, you think you don’t, what, deserve care?”

“Maybe?” Steve blinks. “I don’t know.”

“Cap—Steve,” Tony says, putting his hands palms-up in his lap so Steve can see all of him. No threat, no judgment. “Everyone wants to feel cared for. It’s human nature. And just because you’re superhuman doesn’t mean you’re inhuman.”

Damn if those therapy sessions Pepper forced him into aren’t paying off big time right now. If the sheen in Steve’s eyes is anything to go by, Tony’s hit the nail right on the head.

“Oh,” he breathes.

“Yeah,” Tony smiles. Butterflies be damned, he moves the project file onto the coffee table next to his now-cold mug and turns toward Steve. Slowly, he opens his arms. “C’mere,” he says, so quiet only Steve would hear if anyone else was around. As it is, they’re alone in the tower, and Steve doesn’t hesitate—one moment Tony’s arms are empty and the next he’s got 240 pounds of solid muscle curling into his chest and Steve’s tucking his big head under Tony’s chin like the world’s neediest Bernese mountain dog.

Thankfully, Tony’s arms are just long enough to fit all the way around Steve’s massive shoulders. And even if they weren’t, he’d find a way to make it work.

Knees knocking together, feet brushing up against each other on the carpet, Steve shifts and adjusts until he can wrap his arms around Tony’s waist. Once he settles in, he sighs right into the notch at the base of Tony’s throat. “Thank you, Tony.”

“Anytime, big guy,” Tony replies, softly with a warm smile he thinks Steve can’t see.

[loviswriting]

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Bizarre Beach! Torn Between Scylla and Charybdis!

JJBA part 4 fan fic. Chapter 9: Finale! Operation Clean the Beach (and Bite the dust)!

Summary: During his stay in Morioh, Jotaro needs to come up with a subject for his doctoral thesis in marine biology! Strange happenings in the waters of Morioh beach piques Jotaros interest, making him investigate strange sightings of a mermaid, followed by injured surfers! In hopes of finding a subject for his thesis he teams up with Kishibe Rohan and Joseph Joestar to solve the mysterious happenings! Is it the work of an actual mermaid or is there a Stand user lurking around the corner?!

Number of chapters: 9

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Total word count for all chapters: 12 749.

Chapter 9 word count: 1713

Authors note: this is my first fan fic, I tried my best and hope you will enjoy it! You may also read it on my Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20937995/chapters/49778429

Jotaro spent the following day, together with his chil-, I mean, companion Koichi to formulate a plan for helping not only the starfish but all of Morioh beach. After a good night's rest, Jotaro went to the beach and met up with Koichi, awaiting the rest of the team to show up. The festival was still ongoing, with a lot of buzz and people there, which was to their advantage for setting the plan in motion. After about fifteen minutes everyone was there; Jotaros nephew Josuke, Josuke's bro Okuyasu, Koichi's date-mate Yukako, the local Italian delight Tonio, old man Joseph and of course Rohan the guy who can not speak Italian. Jotaro took tone, “Okay everyone, as I mentioned yesterday over the phone, we’re here today to take care of all the littering and trash that has been piling up at Morioh beach. It’s endangering the wildlife in the sea, making a couple of Stand user starfish attacking people recently, you’ve probably read the headlines… so today we’re putting a stop to that and making the environment better. Koichi hit it,” he passed over to Koichi. “Ah, yes, Jotaro-san! So, we have come up with a plan where we have tried to utilize everyone's abilities as much as we can to make the beach and the waters cleaner! You will work in teams with different tasks. The first team is the seafloor team, Okuyasu and Josuke. Rohan will use his Heaven's Door to make you able to breathe underwater. Then Okuyasu, you will erase any trash at the seafloor with your Stand, The Hand,” Koichi did not have time to finish his sentence before Okuyasu had ripped his clothes off and showing off a pair of swimming trunks underneath his clothes, bright blue with golden dollar signs on them, proceeding to flex his muscles along with his Stand The Hand behind him. “Hell yeah let’s go! I’m great at erasing things, hehehe! Leave it to me!” he boasted with confidence. “Uhm, that’s great Okuyasu-kun, but please try to not erase any actual sea life or plants down there.. and that is why you have Josuke with you! Josuke, your task is to use Crazy Diamond to heal any unhealthy or damaged sea life down there.” “Okay, got it, count on me,” Josuke nodded, not ripping his clothes off in excitement. Koichi leaned towards him and whispered, “Also please make sure that Okuyasu doesn’t do anything that’s, well... too Okuyasu, you know?” Josuke nodded with a grin and gave thumbs up. “Ahem, next team will be me, Yukako and Tonio, we’re team boat,” Koichi could once again not finish his sentence, due to Yukako bursting out in happiness. “Ooo!h I will get to be with my beloved Koichi! And the chef! Is this a romantic lunch date in a boat, with locally produced environmental friendly food?!” she jumped of joy and fiercely hugged Koichi. “DI MOLTO! I will prepare an exquisite romant-” Tonio burst out in agreement leaping forward into the hug but could not finish. At the same time, a voice muttered tiredly, “For fucks… Za Warudo,” and suddenly Tonio and Yukako stood some meters away from Koichi, with Jotaro behind them with a hand on each of their shoulders, “Continue Koichi.” Koichi felt naive not seeing this coming, but continued although being a bit startled from the sudden hugs, “Ah, yes, thanks Jotaro-san… As I was saying, we’re team boat and we are taking a boat out into the waters. Yukako, you will use your Stand Love Deluxe to form your hair into a net to collect trash from the water and try to filter out any fish that gets stuck. We will then put the trash in the boat. Don’t worry I have already made an appointment at a local beauty shop to  make your hair look fresh and amazing and afterwards I have made an appointment at Tonios for that romantic exquisite meal...” Yukako and Tonio swooned a bit and Koichi continued, “Tonio, your task will be to use your Stand Pearl Jam to prepare a delicious nutritious fertilizer that we can drop into the ocean to heal it and make the water cleaner. I have supplies loaded up in the boat. I will drive the boat and use my Echoes to locate trash in the water and also calculate a path so we cover everything.” “How fun, Bellissimo!” Tonio was happy, “Such a culinary challenge!” “Good. Now, the last team will be team beach, composed of Rohan and Joseph,” this time Koichi paused, having a feeling he would be interrupted otherwise. “Hey, I have to be with that old geezer?” Rohan said in chock, pointing to a half-asleep Joseph. “Yeah we figured it was the best choice to just have Joseph at the beach, with you.. but it won’t be that bad!” Koichi reassured the sweating mangaka, “Rohan, you’re an important spearhead in preventing further littering. You and Joseph will go around and inform people about not littering. Use your Heaven's Door to write into people that they will throw their trash in trash cans instead of littering and that they will pick up any trash they see and throw it. Joseph will then hand them a flyer about information about how important Morioh’s sealife is and the importance of throwing your trash where it belongs and to recycle. With your ability written in them, they won’t simply throw the flyer away!” Rohan nodded in approval, “That’s is a very clever idea! And I guess I will just...” he summoned Heavens Door and opened a book in Joseph, pen eagerly writing, “... write into him to do his task properly...” “OH MY GOD!” Joseph gasped after Rohan had finished writing the commands in him, “I feel a sudden urge to hand out flyers after Rohan has talked with people!” “And that just leaves Jotaro, who will communicate with everyone through walkie talkies and organize the whole operation and be where needed. He will also communicate with Morioh’s environmental committee to keep them informed about the needs of the beach and garbage disposal,” Koichi nodded to Jotaro who nodded back and then proceeded to hand out walkie talkies and items to respective teams. “Alright then,” Jotaro said when everyone had got what they needed, “Let’s commence “Operation Clean Morioh Beach! Go!” he pointed towards the water and all the teams spread out to their respective assigned area. “Oi Josuke! There will be turtles huh?! Watch out so you won’t get snapped by one of them, hehehehe!” Okuyasu teased with his friend. “Ugh, turtles!!! The worst! I’m heading to the changing room to get into my swimwear…” Josuke replied bitterly and walked away. “Yare yare…” Jotaro said and proceeded to meet up with the committee. Meanwhile in the bushes a few meters from where the gang had assembled, a certain serial killer sat hidden and had overheard the whole operation. “And here I thought they had met up to track me down today, and I just wanted to have a nice day at the festival… Can’t take any risks, I will do that another day I guess,” Kira said and walked out of the shadows, away from the beach and back towards town. “But they do have a point about caring for the environment and keeping the beach clean, don’t they, Killer Queen?” he said as a newspaper fluttered about in the wind on the ground and his ripped pink wrestler cat Stand showed up and poked the newspaper, making it explode in a tiny boom and turning it into dust, “Nyaa~” Killer Queen meowed. “I guess it's not as good as recycling it, but I don't want to soil my beautiful hands with something as dirty as that…” he scoffed, “But I guess the town too might be kind of dirty, and since my plans for the day got cancelled, I might as well…” he looked his Stand in its eyes and gave off a small smile, “Let’s go Killer Queen, we have some litter in town that needs to bite the dust,” he said and walked off into town for a better cause.

And so the evening came. The festival had quieted down and most of the people had dispersed from the beach beside a few citizens enjoying the evening sunset and the glittering ocean view. The gang had assembled at the beach once more. Bags of trash had been taken away by the garbage truck. Flyers had been handed out. Signs had been put up with the message to not litter. The water was clean. The corals and seaweed on the seafloor were healthy and healed. Yukako's hair had been brushed by Koichi. A certain punks fingers had been bitten by turtles and a certain other punk had laughed his ass off. The starfish Scylla and Charybdis had given their thanks to Jotaro and could rest easy. All was well in Morioh beach and waters. Jotaro stood in front of the gang. “Everyone… Good job today. We have helped the sealife of Morioh beach to start recovering and to spread a culture among the citizens of taking responsibility for our actions, for the sake of the environment. A single person may not be able to do much, but together we can keep our world and planet in good shape. To make it a place for both humans and animals and nature, without the expense of another. And this is a responsibility we all have, especially adults like me, who will leave this planet to further generations, like several of you. Keep up the good work everyone. Thank you,” he started to clap his hands and everyone else joined in. The operation was over and successful and the gang went out to have a lovely dinner at Tonio's. And remember, as long as we all try to do our best and take responsibility for our actions, there will always be a shining hope for the future.

This was the story of how bizarre happenings at Morioh beach led to the beach being a better place. But this was also the story of how Jotaro Kujo found the perfect subject for his doctoral thesis in marine biology; the intriguing starfish of Morioh!

Bizarre Beach! Torn Between Scylla and Charybdis! END.

[sayukiuniverse]

Sayuki from Asakusa, the first Western Geisha - JustBaked interview

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Lets  make some questions to Sayuki, the very first western geisha in the world. Let’s discover her amazing and magic life.

Sayuki Geisha Ph © Roberto Martino for #AGeishaDay Festival

You debuted as a geisha in 2007 (in the Asakusa district) under the name of Sayuki. Can you please tell us when you decided to become a geisha and why?

I got my doctorate in Social Anthropology from the University of Oxford, and then commenced lecturing in Japanese Studies and directing and working on television programs for broadcasters like BBC, NHK, National Geographic Channel etc. I proposed a program about geisha that would be a real look at the geisha world about the time that “Memoirs of a Geisha” was planned to be made into a movie.

What attracted you to a very different life?

As above, at first it was simply a television program proposal for me to spend one-year training as a geisha and to film that. Once I started I immediately became aware that it was simply impossible to make a program while training as a geisha. I had to do one or the other and chose to continue to train and concentrate on becoming a geisha first and foremost. I would still love to make a program… This time though I would make a reality series based on my geisha house and my little trainees.

I read you first travelled to Japan for a student exchange program when you were only 15 and grew up with a Japanese family, starting a real Japanese life.

Can you please describe how different your Australian life was from the new Japanese one?  Did you suffer for the lack of your family? Which were the first problems you had to deal with?

All exchange students deal with a very different culture, different food, and different school systems. But exchange students also have to live with families that are probably very different from their own. I had a wonderful Japanese family. I am still close to my Japanese father, though my mother died when I was just 20.

Who gave you the name of Sayuki? What is the meaning of that name?  Does every geisha change her original name?

Every geisha takes on a geisha name. Often, but not always, names contain one character from the geisha mother’s name. In my case, my geisha mother was Yukiko oneesan, and I took the character yuki, or happiness, and combined it with sa or transparent. My geisha trainees all have the character sa and combine it with various characters: Asaka – bright transparent fragrance Tazusa – transparent crane Sachika – transparent thousand fragrances.

You were the first foreign geisha in the world. Can you explain the troubles and difficulties you experienced in being accepted by Japanese geisha?

I was formally accepted into Asakusa district, so that was formal acceptance. Privately some tea-house owners and geisha may not have wanted to call me or attend my banquets, but that is the same for any geisha. I had enough support from both tea-houses and geisha to be able to make my career. I had far more trouble from online trolls who did not understand the geisha world at all but were very vocal in attacking me. This came as a complete surprise and was quite upsetting. Academics do not get bashed online for stating the facts in their research normally!

Before being a geisha, you are a “maiko” (mai=art of dancing; ko= little girl). When and how can a girl be finally a geisha?

The word for maiko from around Tokyo to northern Japan is hangyokuwhich means half-fee reflecting the fact that trainees used to get half of the fees of geisha. But whether a geisha becomes a hangyoku or not depends on their age at the time they debut. In my geisha house, Tazusa debuted as a hangyoku, but Asaka debuted as a geisha as I did. My own geisha mother debuted as a geisha because she was too tall to be a hangyoku.

Can you please describe what a typical geisha day is like? Which are the arts you have to practice? Which art do you prefer and why?

Typically, I deal with correspondence and customers and bookings and all the business of the geisha houses in the morning with my assistants. Then the afternoons are devoted to practice. And the evenings to work. Of course, sometimes we have lunchtime banquets, and evening practice, so there are some exceptions.

Sayuki Geisha Ph © Roberto Martino for #AGeishaDay Festival

I read you were not allowed to become a geisha mother on the grounds of being a foreigner… Is this true?

Asakusa District has clear rules about who may become a geisha, and normally by Asakusa rules I should have been allowed to become a geisha mother as I had fulfilled the required four years of working as a geisha. The Geisha Committee (10 members) decided that they would not allow me to on grounds of being a foreigner, thus contradicting their own rules. It was a great pity especially for my geisha mother as she was disabled and no longer able to work already, and I could have done a great deal to help her.

Can you explain what “being a geisha” is for you, the value and the importance of that role/the meaning of the word “geisha”?

Geisha means artist literally, and I think being a geisha always begins and ends with the art. Geisha are artists.

  How is it possible to be a geisha? Can everyone become a geisha?

To work as a geisha in Japan you must have Japanese nationality or permanent residency for a start. We have had enormous problems lately with fake geisha advertising on the internet. One former furisode is currently advertising with Airbnb, for example. Please do encourage geisha fans to write to Airbnb and discourage this as customers do not know the difference and it is very damaging to real geisha, especially to the new trainees who need the work. We also saw one foreigner try to work alone and illegally until senior Tokyo geisha reported her to Immigration.

Can you describe the difference between the life and the role of a geisha in the past (1600) and today and how it changed? I read that in the past Geisha’s lives were harder than today and geisha suffered more. Please tell us why.

  Perhaps in former times geisha had to undergo a stricter training… Many years helping out in the geisha house before debuting, or very strict practice. But I think, in the end, becoming an accomplished artist in any age is a difficult task and is never-ending. Geisha train their whole lives.

The figure of the geisha was born in 1600 and initially traditional entertainers of Japanese arts were men that were specialized in Japanese dance, singing and a variety of instruments including hand drum, shoulder drum, shamisen or Japanese flute. In the past geisha had to live in a very rigid way in their okiya where they had to study and stay away from men. They had to start when they were 5 years old and had to be ready to live in a very strict way. The expensive cost of their life and studies were supported by the “mother” of the okiya.

Geisha often went into debt to fund their complete training so they had to be in the service of the “mother” for all their life, hoping that one day the mother would choose one of them as her favourite.

Geisha have always come into the geisha world at different ages and for different reasons. So it is not always true that they always trained since a young age. Geisha were usually contracted into the geisha world, which meant that the geisha mother paid out a lump sum to the parents and the geisha paid the debt off over several years. Sometimes customers would pay the geisha’s debts off for them. These days it is one of the challenges of the geisha world as to who pays for the initial training as girls (and their parents) are no longer willing or able to undergo a debt-based apprenticeship. We have listed our trainees on Patreon, and are hoping that the many geisha fans around the world, will collectively become the danna(sponsor) of our trainees and help finance their flowering into traditional artists.

Sayuki Geisha Ph © Roberto Martino for #AGeishaDay Festival

I read that often geisha in the past had to offer sexual performances to their clients in exchange for cash to fund their debts with the okiya: is that true? It was called “Mizuage”. The first night of a maiko was offered to a danna (patron of the arts) selected from the okāsan. Is today the same in some cases?

  Sex or prostitution has never been part of the geisha job. Geisha have always been supposed to sell their arts, and not their bodies as did the courtesans.

Geisha were supposed to be more simply attired than the courtesans and not to compete with them. There are not courtesans in Japan any more (though there are women who dress up as historical re-enactments for parades and such) for the simple reason that prostitution is illegal in Japan.

Hierarchy in the house: describe, please.

Hierarchy in the geisha world is dependent on the date of debut, not on real age.

Let’s speak about my favourite topic: fashion and aesthetic. Oshiroi: make up school.

Geisha’s makeup is very complex and more elaborated than the western one. Can you please describe your traditional make up and its meaning? What materials do you use and which colours? Is there a difference between maiko’s and geisha’s makeup?

Geisha makeup evolve because tea-houses were candle-lit and girls with white faces stood out more than others. There were some precedents also for court nobles wearing white makeup too. The white skin and red lips make almost any Japanese woman look startlingly beautiful. There are many subtle differences between cute hangyoku makeup and more mature adult geisha makeup, from the way eyes and eyebrows are drawn.

Kitsuke: the dressing art of kimono. Can you describe the very roots and the meaning of the art of kimono?  I know every geisha must have plenty of them and every kimono should be worn in different seasons. Can you tell us something more about this ancient tradition and the way you dress?

All Japanese used to be dressed in kimono. Now only specialist in Japanese culture usually wear it on a daily basis.

Of course, geisha are never seen without kimono. The geisha world lays a heavy emphasis on the seasons, and geisha try to have their kimono exactly on the season so that customers feel a sense of the season when they come to banquets.

A winter kimono that has all kinds of flowers jumbled in together can be worn from October until May so the average housewife will choose such a kimono so she can wear it for a longer time. A geisha, who has very many kimono though, will choose a kimono that may have only one single flower on it and can only wear that kimono directly before and during that season.

For example, a kimono with cherry blossom over the whole of the kimono can only be worn for about two weeks before the flowers themselves bloom.

I read ordinary people wear the obi (kimono’s belt) in a different way from geisha, they tight it in the front. Please describe the main difference of the two styles.

The normal homongi (formal) kimono is the same for normal women and geisha, but geisha have some special styles like hikizuri (trailing kimono), and some special obi styles, like tsunodashi or yanagi in Tokyo.

The difference between the kimono dressing of a maiko and a geisha.

The whole outfit and kimono and obi and wig and hair ornaments are all different for geisha and hangyoku…

How long does it take to wear a kimono and put your makeup on before starting your working days?

The new trainees take many hours to get dressed, and the fastest geisha I know can do the whole thing in 40 minutes flat.

Sayuki Geisha Ph © Roberto Martino for #AGeishaDay Festival

What do you wear on in your free days? Can you wear casual dresses? (e.g. jeans and t-shirt)? I read that in the past you couldn’t wear jeans when you were a maiko.

Maiko in Kyoto cannot wear any western clothes because they have their own hair done up in the maiko style. So they have very restrictive lives.

Tokyo hangyoku wear wigs usually, or one-day hangyoku hairstyles, so they can revert to western clothes whenever they are not working. If they are going anywhere as geisha, though, they will always be in kimono with their hair properly done.

Hana Kanzashi: the art of the hairstyle.  Can you please tell us something about the way you do your hair? Do you do it by yourselves?

Mostly when our own hair is done up we visit the hairdresser and have it styled there.

Sado: tea’s ceremony, value and meaning.

Tea ceremony is one Japanese art that geisha may or may not do, depending on their district and geisha house and their preferences. There has been a lot of confusion because ryotei or ochaya (Japanese restaurant) has been translated into English as “tea-house” because they originally evolved from simple tea-houses. Geisha may study tea- ceremony but usually would only perform it on special occasions that have nothing to do with their everyday work.

Ikebana: the art of flowers. Which flowers do you use, why and their meaning?

Flower arrangement in Japan is heavily seasonal, and flowers are chosen that are spot on the current season. Tea-house mothers are usually skilled in the art of flower arrangement, or at least, of choosing the right flowers. Geisha may do this art depending on their own interests, but it is not an integral part of being a geisha.

Japanese geisha’s kitchen: geisha must be very good in preparing sweets and drinks. Can you explain the most important and typical courses and their value?

Geisha usually have nothing to do with preparing food, or with serving it, which is the job of the tea-houses and the maids there. In some districts, geisha have to train as tea-house maids, before they become geisha so they understand the job of the women they will be working alongside with.

The art of seduction: what is seduction for a geisha? What is the difference between Western and Japanese seduction and how to be sensual?

Japanese seduction is probably very understated and delicate. Geisha need to be attractive to all their customers.

Can you please tell us something about the art of dancing, shamisen and singing?

Most geisha begin their careers with dancing unless they are already very skilled musicians when they come into the geisha world. I was already playing western flute for a long time professionally as a part-time job before I entered the geisha world, so I chose to concentrate on music rather than dance. Tazusa, in my house, is a skilled shamisen player but because she is young she needs to concentrate on dancing for now. Many dancing geisha learn music as well, but only rarely perform at banquets because there are many older geisha who specialize as musicians. They will get their turn as musicians when they are older.

The difference between the role of a geisha in Tokyo and in Kyoto.

I think the role of a geisha is the same everywhere.

Sex in geisha’s world.  Can a trainee and a geisha fall in love and have relationship? Was it the same in the past? There is a wrong vision of some people who think geisha offer sexual performances to their clients: what would you like to tell them? Why is there still this belief?

Trainees are usually quite young and are supposed to be concentrating on learning a difficult profession so would not normally have boyfriends.

Geisha are entirely free in their love lives.

If there are lingering beliefs that geisha are prostitutes in the west, I think it has a lot to with whether westerners can understand the concept of women who are companions to customers, and works of art, but selling only their arts and not their bodies. What about western culture makes it difficult for westerners to understand that?

Geisha’s traditions are disappearing because of the lack of money and the difficulty to cover training expenses. Supporting trainees in the very first year is very important. The biggest challenge to geisha houses is how to finance the training of young geisha during this crucial time. They often go into debt to fund their complete training.

Can you please tell us how it is possible to support geisha’s traditions?

As above, I have great hopes of Patreon and asking geisha fans around the world to help collectively support our young trainees. Kimono and geisha goods are extremely expensive, but each geisha also has an obligation to support the wonderful craftsmen who make the things that geisha use.

What is exactly a danna and how to become one (danna = sponsor of geisha)?

There are many types of danna. A tabi (sock) shop that gives out free tabi to a trainee might call themselves a tabi danna. An adult geisha in a long term relationship with a man might call him a danna.

Who are your clients and where do they come from? What do you talk about with your clients?

Clients come from absolutely everywhere and are all kinds of people. We talk with them about whatever they want to talk about.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I like getting out of Tokyo into nature and hiking or mountain climbing or staying at beautiful places and enjoying after hiking onsen in hot springs. And traveling anywhere overseas too. We would like to travel more and more as geisha in the future, especially to work with the very many Japanese restaurants that you find abroad these days, but also to do events, trade shows, festivals, fashion shows, private parties, openings, galleries etc.

How does modern technology (internet-smartphone-social media) affect your professional life?  Can maiko and geisha use smartphones?

Yes, of course. Maiko in Kyoto are restricted from some things like using smart phones in the street, but that is because they are very young and need to be careful not to damage the geisha image in public. It is a very funny thing to see a little hangyoku at a banquet pull her smart phone out of her obi and have it ask a customer in English if he is enjoying his meal! For me I am never separated from my ipod and ipod speaker.

What do you think about the novel “Memoirs of a Geisha” of Arthur Golden? Does this novel describe in a good way a geisha’s past life?

One must be aware that this book is a fictional book, not non-fiction. And that it was set in the pre-war period.

And that is was written by an American man, and not by a geisha.

The book did a favour to the geisha world.

What’s the best part of the job?

As below for banquets…

To be living in a beautiful world, working in beautiful tea-houses, seeing beautiful things, as part of one’s work. To be able to spend one’s life perfecting one’s art.

Meeting many interesting and fascinating people.

What’s the most unexpected part of the job?

I was surprised to find that Kyoto, that everyone believes is most traditional, is actually quite modern in their business dealings, where Tokyo is much more conservative and old-fashioned. It is not perhaps not so surprising when you remember that when geisha culture arose, in Fukagawa, it was Tokyo that was the capital of Japan.

What is the most important aspect of being a geisha?

Perfecting one’s arts.

  Why would you recommend people to try geisha experience?

As I have said elsewhere, by attending a geisha banquet you can see the best of Japanese architecture in the tea-houses, the best of Japanese cuisine, art works on the walls, flower arrangement, beautiful kimono, experience the best of sake etc., Japanese dance, music. It is a complete Japanese cultural experiencee in one, more comprehensive than anything else.

What kind of event would you recommend hiring a geisha for?

As above, we can be called to many different kinds of events from private parties to festivals.

  Sayuki Geisha Ph © Roberto Martino for #AGeishaDay Festival

Is it expensive to call a geisha and what are some of the options?

The price of a banquet is determined by the price of the tea-house and food, and the ratio of geisha to customers. One customer calling ten geisha would be extremely expensive, but ten customers calling two geisha would make it quite affordable.

What other services do you offer?

I do seven types of activities:

Geisha banquet

Geisha school – a chance to come and watch the little geisha have their lessons thus supporting the older geisha who give the lessons and the youngest geisha who are learning

Geisha Shopping – a chance to go around the shops of the craftsmen who make the wonderful things that geisha use, from letter paper to hair ornaments

Kimono Shopping – a chance to buy a kimono set, or kimono fabric etc.

Kabuki viewing

Antique market shopping – a chance to buy some fantastic antiques at Tokyo’s shrines

Lunch with Sayuki – a chance to learn about the geisha world…best for people who have already been to a banquet and want to ask questions etc., know more.

  What would you tell to a western girl who wants to become a geisha?

It is impossible for a western girl to work legally as a geisha unless she has permanent residency or Japanese nationality. To try to work illegally would be enormously disruptive and damaging to the geisha world, as we have already seen. There are many interesting things to do in Japan without becoming a geisha. Be an exchange student, study at university in Japan, learn Japanese arts, and then after the ten years it takes to get permanent residence, if you are still interested in being a geisha perhaps there will be a geisha house willing to accept you. Of course, the question for the geisha house would be how or who would be funding the training, and whether the girl would stay long enough to recuperate their investment.

  Sayuki started in Asakusa with anthropological fieldwork in mind. But after the first year she asked for, and received, permission to continue as a geisha. Sayuki made her debut after a year of training which is normal timing. Whether one debuts as a hangyoku (maiko), or as a geisha (geiko), is dependent on whether one is over 20 or so at the time one debuts. Either way, to become a hangyoku or a geisha, cannot be done without usually a year of training first.

Sayuki has been training in several arts, including shamisen and singing, and specializes in yokobue (Japanese flute). Sayuki received permission to play flute at banquets from her teacher several months after she became a geisha. Subsequently, she received permission to study separately from the other geisha in order to take the exams for music university.

Sayuki has initiated some new things in the geisha world such as making it easier for foreigners to attend banquets by being able to contact her through her web-site. But as she rarely goes to banquets alone she is always with her geisha sisters and these new initiatives are aimed at allowing first-timers to the geisha world to meet not just Sayuki, but her geisha sisters too.

Sayuki has appeared frequently in the media in Japan. The geisha world is very strict and it is rather unusual for a geisha to appear in the media often so every interview and outside event that Sayuki did had to be approved through the geisha association. Sayuki requests that the media respect geisha rules about privacy so she is not set apart from the other geisha.

In 2011 Sayuki’s geisha mother became ill and was no longer able to keep her in her geisha house. Sayuki asked for permission to open her own house after she had been a geisha for four years (as per Asakusa rules) but this was denied on the grounds of her being a foreigner.

Sayuki currently continues to work as a geisha independently and has received support from geisha all over Tokyo, including individually from geisha from Asakusa, who work with her at her banquets. Long term she may be affiliated again with another district.

Sayuki took an MBA at Oxford before turning to social anthropology, and specializing in Japanese culture. She has lectured at a number of universities around the world, and is currently lecturing on geisha and traditional Japanese culture at Keio University in Tokyo.

She does guest lectures around the world on geisha culture. Sayuki has published several books on Japanese culture. She is also an anthropological film director and has worked on programmes for BBC, NHK, National Geographic Channel and others.

Source: https://www.justbaked.it/2019/02/12/sayuki-from-asakusa-the-first-western-geisha/

Sayuki from Asakusa, the first Western Geisha – JustBaked interview was originally published on Sayuki

[victor-d-lopez-blog]

Smashwords Author Interview

Published 2015-05-07.

Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?

Yes. Alas, it is lost along with much of my early work done on typewriters with no backups. I will rewrite it some day as it still speaks to me and, like many of my later stories, it delved into the interplay between the conscious and subconscious mind, life lessons and redemption. My second short story, Eternal Quest, survives in my latest short story collection, Mindscapes, and is still a favorite that is little changed from the one written by a young old man of 19 who had already learned some of the most vital lessons about the things that matter that he would ever learn. My philosophy, too, has changed little over the intervening decades.

What is your writing process?

For both my fiction and non-fiction I tend to compose at the keyboard. I do no outlining and seldom work on plot lines ahead of time. Also, my first draft is usually also my final draft with only minor changes. During the day, I almost always have a cup of coffee on hand as I write. At night, it may be tea, diet Coke or Pepsi or a glass of wine. Less often, when writing late into the morning, especially after a particularly good or bad day, the glass of wine may be replaced by a snifter of brandy or an Absolut vodka martini with olives. (No more than 2 drinks a day on average as a rule, though.) 

I like to work in significant blocks of time without interruption other than fetching coffee or pestering my wife during very brief breaks until she yells at me and I slink back to work.

Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?

I'm not sure what the first story was but it was certainly Disney and about Donald Duck. (In my native Spanish--just like my first Superman comic books and child's version of Homer's Odyssey). I still love these, though I have not read a Superman comic since I was 12 or 13. 

My love of fiction was inspired by Disney, Homer, Hans Christian Anderson, Aesop, and blossomed into an even greater love of Shakespeare, Milton, Dickens, Poe, Wordsworth, Keats, Blake, Niven, Zalazny, Koontz, King, Clarke . . . in a gloriously meandering line that is the only yellow brick road I ever need to walk.

How do you approach cover design?

I like to use my own photographs when possible. Even when using stock photographs or public domain designs, I like to incorporate a photograph that I've taken that means something to me. I've done that in my book of poems, my intellectual property book and in two of three short story collections. (Even my latest audiobook collection cover incorporates one of my photos in the montage of individual short story covers.) Of course, I don't have that luxury with the trade books and textbooks through my traditional publishers--on the upside, they do a far better job of editing my work than I. :)

What are your five favorite books, and why?

It is impossible for me to answer this. So I'll just list the first five that come to mind that have had a significant impact. 1, Intimations of Immortality by William Wordsworth. I love Wordsworth above all other poets of all times--even more than Shakespeare and Milton. This lengthy Ode encapsulates him for me, and links him to my favorite philosopher, Plato. It has had a profound influence as the first among my beloved Romantic poems.

2. Bleak House by Charles Dickens. "If that is the law, the law is a ass." What more need I say? (A case that drags out for generations until the last farthing is spent and then is finally resolved. That's not fiction. That's an ETERNAL TRUTH! And yet I still went to law school. Maybe I should list Freud next.)

3. Plato's Republic. (And the Socratic Dialogues.) There is Plato's idealism, Aristotle's realism and the rest is largely a historical footnote.

4. Shakespeare's complete works. The comedies. The tragedies. The sonnets. The inferiority complex for the rest of us who dare write anything at all after reading him.

5. Roger Zelazny's Amber series. I know, I know. It's absurd to list it here but it is still my favorite fantasy series of books from one of my favorite writers. I've read thousands upon thousands of pages in favorite fantasy series, including every word in the trillion page (it seems) absurdly long "Sword of Truth" series of books by Terry Goodkind (whom I love). At times I literally screamed in frustration at the repetitiveness GET TO THE F*^%$*#G POINT! George RR Martin (another favorite writer) in his lengthy Game of Thrones series of books (all eagerly digested--likewise the HBO series) also made me squirm and/or skip ahead from time to time lest I tear out the few remaining hairs on my head. I will buy the next long-overdue installment as soon as it is available, though. Likewise many other favorite authors like Stephen King (I almost died of boredom on my way to the Dark Tower on many occasions) -- and on very, very rare occasion even Dean Koontz whom were I pagan I would worship as a demigod. But Zelazny never had that effect on me, especially in his Amber series. Not a single skipped word. Not a single needless, redundant description. Were it not nearly 2:00 a.m. and need I not get up in less than six hours to attend Commencement ceremonies I'd probably rummage through my library for my Book Club two-volume Chronicles of Amber right now.

What do you read for pleasure?

Everything. But mostly science fiction and fantasy--classic and new. I also enjoy non fiction, of course. Just finished Killing Patton by Bill O'reilly, and Charles Krauthammer's Things That Matter. (Krauthammer is a national treasure. All of O'reilly's books are good reads and his Killing Lincoln, Jesus, Kennedy and Patton books are really terrific.) Now I'm working through a couple of anthologies and listening to the audiobook version of Dean Koontz's "Tick-Tock."

What is your e-reading device of choice?

I don't own a dedicated reader [no longer true]. I use a couple of Android tablets that can read anything out there and downloaded audiobooks too. A small laptop works well too.

What book marketing techniques have been most effective for you?

Book giveaways have been best at generating interest in my books. I do very little marketing other than an occasional Goodreads ad campaign and short story giveaways through Smashwords from time to time.

Describe your desk

Cluttered.

Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?

Queens, New York mostly. The working class neighborhoods exuding the incredible diversity (ethnic, racial, lingual, political, cultural) that exists everywhere in New York City have enriched my life and broadened my perceptions beyond anything that would have been possible had my parents raised me in their native, homogeneous Galicia (Spain) of the 1960s and '70s. 

My writing reflects the vast multicultural soup in which I was thoroughly steeped and slow-cooked. So does my trilingual upbringing (Spanish, Galician, English) with their separate rich roots and very different cadences, sensibilities and predilections. These have informed my poetry, fiction, non-fiction and life in indelible ways at levels beyond conscious thought.

When did you first start writing?

Almost as soon as I learned to write. I was writing (bad) poetry when I was eight years old, and "stories" before that. I kept a journal before I knew what a journal was--and burned it when what it contained was too painful, troubling, embarrassing, or simply too real to deal with at a tender age. I wish I had not for I can't remember what that precocious child found too troubling to keep around. This (no longer precocious) adult would like to know--and smile (mostly) and perhaps shed a tear or two for the unrequited love, frustrations or deep truths learned too young in life to process in a more productive way. 

I wrote a lot back then. Doubtless it was full of sound and fury, signifying nothing (apologies to The Bard). Some things don't much change.

What motivated you to become an indie author?

There are a number of factors that led me to explore the indie route after publishing two trade books and five textbooks with traditional publishers (Irwin/Mirror Press, McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall, McFarland & Co. and Textbook Media Publishing).

First, I wanted to publish a typically short book of poems for which there is essentially no significant market and which no traditional publisher would be likely to consider. Along the same lines, I wanted to publish a short story collection. Because I am not known for my fiction or poetry, I knew that finding a traditional publisher to take on either project would be a very difficult task, if not an impossible one. Most traditional publishers these days won't even read manuscripts from unagented authors, and I was not likely to find a good agent to handle my fiction and poetry without a past track record of success in these fields. Agents that charge up front reading fees (or any fees, for that matter, other than a percentage of the book's royalties/advances) are not agents I would consider in any case, any more than I would consider publishing through a vanity press masquerading as a small press. (Any publisher that requires an author to purchase a minimum number of books at a "discount" is a vanity press by any other name.) I could easily find an agent to represent me as to my non-fiction, especially my textbooks or law-related trade books. But I do not need representation as to these since I've never had difficulty interesting traditional publishers in such projects. When I complete my first novel, I will very likely search for a literary agent as it is a prerequisite for submitting it to most of the leading publishers today. For other projects, I'll go it alone or self-publish. 

But I digress. During the summer of 2011, I needed a break from my heavy research agenda that included research for a scholarly article and work on the instructor's manual and test bank for one of my new textbooks. So I decided to collect selected samples of my poetry spanning some 30 years and my favorite short stories written during the same time period and self-publish two books. I used CreateSpace to produce the paperback versions of my first two indie books and Kindle Direct Publishing for the Kindle version of these, later also ported to Barnes & Noble and still later to Smashwords for even wider distribution. Moreover, I wanted to experience complete freedom to publish precisely what I wanted and charge a low price to encourage as wide a distribution as possible. I also wanted to offer the book in both paperback and eBook formats. That was a particularly important consideration for another work that I was working on that summer, my intellectual property general reference work. Ultimately, I published all three books. Finally, I wanted to experience publishing on my timetable with complete editorial control for the first time. There is no question that all three books would be better had they undergone the vetting of the traditional editorial process; I am not the best editor of my own work and without question each work is less perfect than it would have been with an editor to help guide and rein me in when needed. Although it is equally true that at times even the best editors can be difficult to work with, especially when their preferences conflict with a writer's style and voice. The perfect is indeed too often the enemy of the good.

What are you working on next?

I'm winding down a sabbatical leave as I write this. This semester I completed research on usury laws in all 50 states and how these are in effect undermined by federal law. The research was started last summer and completed in late January, with a paper completed in early April and presented at the NEALSB annual conference in late April. It is now out for a first round of reviews in selected first-tier journals and law reviews. I am also currently in the process of researching "good Samaritan" statutes in all 50 states, a project that will continue beyond the summer and will form the foundation for a paper completed before the end of the fall 2015 semester. 

This summer, I will also work on a new, expanded 3rd edition on my Business Law and the Legal Environment of Business for my current publisher, Textbook Media Publishing. It should be out early next year. Not much time for fiction or poetry projects in the coming year, I'm afraid, nor for work on my first novel that has been mostly on hold in mid-stream for the better part of a decade due to time constraints.

[pastordorry-blog]

You Can’t Be a Disciple Without the Divine

Easter Season Series on Discipleship Week 5

Acts 1:1-14

June 2, 2019  Ascension Sunday

            Today we begin our series on the book of Acts. The first thing we need to establish is that the book of Acts was written by Luke.  He wrote it as a sequel to the gospel of Luke and addressed it to an unknown recipient, Theophilus, which literally means lover of God.  That’s us!  

Luke begins the book of Acts with a little review of the Ascension, which he also wrote about in his gospel.  The Ascension is one of those lesser known holidays on the liturgical calendar.  It took place forty days after Easter, which would have been this past Thursday. Rather than call everyone back to church on Thursday night, most Christian churches today just celebrate the Ascension on the closest Sunday following, which is today.  Happy Ascension Sunday!

The Ascension is a mysterious event.  Luke tells us in his gospel that, forty days after Easter, after having appeared to his disciples multiple times, Jesus appeared to them one last time.  He led them out to Bethany, lifted up his hands and blessed them, and was taken into heaven.  The disciples were filled with awe and worshipped their risen and ascended Lord. Then they obeyed Jesus’ instructions and went back to Jerusalem, filled with joy.  They stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

I have to give the disciples a lot of credit for that, being able to be so happy.  We could certainly understand if, instead of being happy and filled with joy, they felt sad or confused, or just plain tired.  It has been quite a roller coaster ride for the disciples!  For three years they traveled with Jesus, listening to him teach the crowds, watching him challenge the authorities, and witnessing many miracles.   He predicted his death and resurrection several times, but when it happened, they weren’t ready.  Over the last few weeks we have been talking about his resurrection appearances and how the disciples used the time after Easter Sunday to reflect on their experiences and solidify their faith.  Just about when they were probably getting used to a new normal—the resurrected Jesus—he leaves them!

Something similar is happening all around the country these days, as parents of high school seniors attend graduation ceremonies. “Commencement” we call it, marking the end of K-12 education, yes, but the beginning, the commencing of a new phase of life.  Football stadiums and auditoriums will be filled with happy parents and even happier students.  There will be great joy!  But after the parties end, there will be a range of emotions during a transition time. Parents and young adults will have to figure out new ways of relating and staying connected to one another.  

This figuring out how to stay connected is a top priority for everyone who follows Jesus. It requires soul tending:  paying attention to that special invisible body part that all of us have.  Luke writes in his gospel that the disciples returned to Jerusalem after the ascension with “great joy”, and that they stayed continually at the temple praising God. In Acts he tells us that the followers of Jesus—the eleven remaining disciples plus about one hundred others—joined together constantly in prayer.  The gospel of Luke focuses on the joy of celebration; the book of Acts focuses on the business of transition.  The gospel of Luke emphasizes praise; the book of Acts emphasizes prayer.  Jesus has promised the disciples they would be his witnesses of the gospel in all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.  But before they can go out and do any of that, they need to stay home and wait.

But they didn’t wait in a passive way.  They waited in an active way.  They met together.  They worshipped.  They prayed. They continued to reflect on all Jesus had taught them and kept their hearts open so they could receive the gift Jesus had for them next.  They spent time caring for their souls.

Have you ever felt Jesus telling you to wait? To stand still, stay close to him, and wait?  Last week we talked about Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, and how we are all called to wash each other’s feet.  We said that being a servant is at the heart of being a disciple.

But we are not designed to serve 24/7.  Mary and Martha were both excited to have Jesus as a guest in their home.  Martha showed that excitement by cooking and cleaning and being the hostess with the most-est, while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to his teaching.  Serving is important, Jesus said.  But so is sitting still and listening!  

While pastoring at my first church, the local clergy got to talking about this paradox at one of our ministerium meetings.  Being a pastor involves a lot of serving, going out and doing for God, which is exciting—but also tiring.  No one can do all that serving without taking time for prayer and study and being still.  I was having a hard time finding a balance.

That’s when I heard about do-be-do-be-do rhythm of spirituality.  Do-be-do-be-do sounds like a song from Frank Sinatra, but it’s also a great way to think about our faith.  God calls us to DO.  There is absolutely no doubt about that.  To go, feed, clothe, serve, etc.  But God also calls us to BE.  To stop, and wait, and listen.

This do-be-do-be-do rhythm is so important to God, God even made it one of the Ten Commandments.  Six days we are to work; the seventh day is for rest.  Stop.  Listen. Reconnect.  Experience recreation, re-creation.  We are designed and commanded to be do-be-do-be-do people!  Without taking time to BE, we can’t expect to be able to DO those things God most wants us to do.

This rhythm is important for just not just as individuals, but as a church.  We gather for worship on Sundays as an expression of our desire to BE.  We come in order to get reconnected to God, to be reminded of who we are, to get rested up and equipped so that we can then got out and DO.  That is our weekly pattern.  But there is also a yearly pattern.  We know the season of Lent is a time to pull inward, and for us to pay special attention to our souls and our connection to God. In general, summer is another season of re-creation.  Often it means lighter schedules, going on a vacation, or enjoying good weather.  All things to help us BE, to help us reconnect to God and be reminded of, and transformed into, who God wants us to be.

This summer Lima Church will once again enter into a sort of Sabbath rhythm:  no choir rehearsal, no adult Tuesday night Bible study, fewer weekly meetings.  We do this every year.  But this year, we are also going to try, for the month of July, just having one service each Sunday morning at 10 am.  Church Council voted to do this for several reasons.  Because we normally have three morning worship services, Lima Church people don’t all know each other.  Meeting together for a month will hopefully help us connect with people who usually worship at different times.  Our praise band is all volunteer except for the director, Edda.  Only having one service in July will give them all a much-deserved month off.  But since music is so important to this church, one service allows us to bring in special guests each week to bless us with their unique witness.

The second thing I want to highlight is the Reconciling Ministry team.  You may have heard me mention that there is a group of about 20 people meeting every two weeks, with the focus of helping the Lima Church adopt a statement of inclusion and affirmation of people with differing sexual orientations.  We are already “welcoming”.  But there is a great deal of energy in our congregation around wanting to make it clear where we as a congregation stand.  

The Reconciling Team decided to spend the summer, devoting our time to prayer and study.  Everyone is welcome to attend the meetings.  We are using curriculum that centers on the idea of being bridge-builders, how to connect the church to the world, and how to connect people of various opinions in the church to each other through our mutual connection to God.  We are also learning more about human sexuality in general, and on Tuesday, June 18th, we are having a workshop presented by a Penn State Brandywine instructor.  We are meeting with a particular actionable goal in mind.  But for the summer, we are devoting ourselves to prayer and study, awaiting further instructions from the Lord.

This Do-Be-Do-Be-Do rhythm gets played out in many ways in us and our church, and it is a huge part of all church tradition. This week I read about an ancient church father, Anthony of Egypt, who lived from 251 to 356, that’s right almost 106 years.  He was raised in a wealthy Christian family but as a young man felt God speaking directly to his heart, telling him to see his possessions and give the money to the poor. So he did.  He embarked on a life of solitude in the Egyptian desert, not just for a few days or weeks away, but he lived there for 20 years!  “He renounced all his possessions to learn detachment; he renounced speech in order to learn compassion; and he renounced activity in order to learn prayer.”  (Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Daily Office, p. 46)  When Anthony emerged from his solitude, he was transformed.  People remarked that he was whole in body, mind, and soul.  God used him to cast out demons, care for prisoners, and even provide spiritual counsel to Emperor Constantine!  Anthony emerged from his time of solitude ready and able to build bridges with everyone in his midst.

After the Ascension, the disciples waited ten days in Jerusalem before Pentecost, and they used that time well.  They emerged from that time ready to be witnesses for Christ.  Which meant that, for all but one of them, they emerged ready to be martyrs for Christ. John lived to be an old man, but he spent the last part of his life in exile on the island of Patmos, as punishment for being a Christian.  All of the other disciples, church tradition tell us, were killed for their faith. The Greek word for witness and martyr are one and the same.  

Where do you see yourself in the rhythm of discipleship?  Are you getting the do-be-do-be-do balance just right?  We can’t be effective witnesses without attending to our own souls. We can’t be disciples without the Divine.  We are all called to be servants.  But there are times when God calls us to stop and wait, to listen for further instructions, to be reminded of who we are.  How will you commit to caring for your soul this summer?  Amen.

[foursprout-blog]

How To Be Happy In Today’s Crazy World: 3 Secrets From Research

New Post has been published on http://foursprout.com/happiness/how-to-be-happy-in-todays-crazy-world-3-secrets-from-research/

How To Be Happy In Today’s Crazy World: 3 Secrets From Research

***

Before we commence with the festivities, I wanted to thank everyone for helping my first book become a Wall Street Journal bestseller. To check it out, click here.

***

Sometimes it feels like the world is actively conspiring against your happiness. Now before you start folding your tin foil hat, let me say that you might not be paranoid…

Right now there are a record number of people on antidepressants. So many that even if you’re not taking antidepressants, well… you still kinda are.

Enough people in Western nations consume — and then excrete — the medications that they’re at detectable levels in the water supply.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

Some one in five U.S. adults is taking at least one drug for a psychiatric problem; nearly one in four middle-aged women in the United States is taking antidepressants at any given time… You can’t escape it: when scientists test the water supply of Western countries, they always find it is laced with antidepressants, because so many of us are taking them and excreting them that they simply can’t be filtered out of the water we drink every day.

For the past few decades we’ve lived under the idea that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in your noggin. And while that is true for some people, more and more research is showing that our dissatisfaction may be due less to a broken brain and more to a broken life.

You don’t see so rapid a surge in cases of depression because our genetics or grey matter changed overnight. The world has shifted in ways that are detrimental to the psychological needs of the human animal. That persistent feeling of vague dissatisfaction may be a normal response to abnormal circumstances. The canary in the coal mine.

So journalist Johann Hari spent three years on a journey of over forty thousand miles conducting more than 200 interviews with social scientists and psychologists to discover what was wrong with the way we live today that was causing such an explosion of unhappiness.

His excellent book is Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions.

What he found was that while our world has become very technologically connected, all the sources of unhappiness stem from a growing disconnection in other areas of our lives.

Let’s find out how to reconnect. And how to live happier lives…

  Disconnection From Other People

Loneliness is the equivalent of being punched in the face. I mean, literally.

Your stress response to both — the increase in your body’s cortisol level — is the same.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

Feeling lonely, it turned out, caused your cortisol levels to absolutely soar—as much as some of the most disturbing things that can ever happen to you. Becoming acutely lonely, the experiment found, was as stressful as experiencing a physical attack. It’s worth repeating. Being deeply lonely seemed to cause as much stress as being punched by a stranger.

And have no illusions, loneliness is an epidemic in the modern world. A few decades ago, the average US citizen reported having three close friends. Since 2004 the most common answer is…

Zero.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

…social scientists have been asking a cross-section of U.S. citizens a simple question for years: “How many confidants do you have?” They wanted to know how many people you could turn to in a crisis, or when something really good happens to you. When they started doing the study several decades ago, the average number of close friends an American had was three. By 2004, the most common answer was none.

I can already hear some people crowing: “I might be dissatisfied but how could it be due to loneliness? I’m always around people.”

Turns out there’s a difference between being lonely and feeling lonely. This is why someone who works a job surrounded by people and then goes home to a spouse and children, can spend very little time alone — and yet still feel profoundly lonely.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

In his studies, it turned out that feeling lonely was different from simply being alone. Surprisingly, the sensation of loneliness didn’t have much to do with how many people you spoke to every day, or every week. Some of the people in his study who felt most lonely actually talked to lots of people every day. “There’s a relatively low correlation between the objective connections and perceived connections,” he says.

So what do we need to do? To prevent feeling lonely, we must share something with those around us — something meaningful to both you and them. A belief. A cause. An activity. A goal. We need to be “in it together” — not merely together in the middle of a faceless crowd.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

As he researched this, John discovered that there was a missing ingredient to loneliness, and to recovering from it. To end loneliness, you need other people—plus something else. You also need, he explained to me, to feel you are sharing something with the other person, or the group, that is meaningful to both of you. You have to be in it together—and “it” can be anything that you both think has meaning and value.

So join a group. Harvard researcher Robert Putnam has studied group activities for decades — everything from bowling leagues to volunteer groups.

Between 1985 and 1994 involvement in community organizations declined by 45%.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

Today, people still bowl, but they do it alone. They’re in their own lane, doing their own thing. The collective structure has collapsed. Think about everything else we do to come together—like supporting your kid’s school, say. “In the ten short years between 1985 and 1994” alone, he wrote, “active involvement in community organizations … fell by 45 percent.”

Famed biologist E.O. Wilson once said, “People must belong to a tribe.” Increasingly, we don’t. But you can fix that.

(To learn more about the science of a successful life, check out my bestselling book here.)

We all know relationships are critical. But there’s something else the modern world is lacking that’s a lot less obvious but no less important…

  Disconnection From Values

Your pursue “intrinsic values” when you do something solely because you love it. You pursue “extrinsic values” when you chase money or status. Being a patriotic soldier is intrinsic; being a mercenary is extrinsic.

The lesson from the research is clear: the more extrinsically motivated you are, the more you feel motivated by money or status, the more depressed and anxious you are.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

Twenty-two different studies have, in the years since, found that the more materialistic and extrinsically motivated you become, the more depressed you will be. Twelve different studies found that the more materialistic and extrinsically motivated you become, the more anxious you will be. Similar studies, inspired by Tim’s work and using similar techniques, have now been carried out in Britain, Denmark, Germany, India, South Korea, Russia, Romania, Australia, and Canada—and the results, all over the world, keep coming back the same.

I know some people are jumping to say, “Well, I’m not like that!” But, to a degree, we have all become more extrinsically motivated. We all care, to some degree, what others think of us and technology often amplifies this to toxic levels. Facebook and Instagram have become gladiatorial status tournaments to show off how cool our lives are.

But when we’re counting “likes” on social media, we let others control our self-esteem. And that places your own happiness outside your control. Not good.

And even if you win, you lose. Studies show that the achievement of extrinsic goals — the fancy car and the impressive promotion — bring no lasting happiness. None. Meanwhile, when we pursue intrinsic goals like being a better parent or trying to improve our writing skills so our blog posts don’t suck, we feel much happier and less anxious.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

People who achieved their extrinsic goals didn’t experience any increase in day-to-day happiness—none. They spent a huge amount of energy chasing these goals, but when they fulfilled them, they felt the same as they had at the start…. But people who achieved their intrinsic goals did become significantly happier, and less depressed and anxious. You could track the movement. As they worked at it and felt they became (for example) a better friend—not because they wanted anything out of it but because they felt it was a good thing to do—they became more satisfied with life.

You experience “flow” when you’re so involved in something that you lose track of time. You know the old saying: “time flies when you’re having fun.” Flow is a huge contributor to happiness.

And the more focused we are on extrinsic goals like status, the fewer flow states we experience.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

But when Tim studied highly materialistic people, he discovered they experience significantly fewer flow states than the rest of us. Why would that be? He seems to have found an explanation. Imagine if, when Tim was playing the piano every day, he kept thinking: Am I the best piano player in Illinois? Are people going to applaud this performance? Am I going to get paid for this? How much?

So what should we do? Yeah, we all have to pay the bills and achieving a decent level of status is a good thing, but we need to start choosing more activities that serve those intrinsic values.

Spending more time with those we love rather than those who can help us get ahead. More time playing the guitar because it’s fun rather than sharpening our Excel skills to get that promotion.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

“The first thing is for people to ask themselves—Am I setting up my life so I can have a chance of succeeding at my intrinsic values? Am I hanging out with the right people, who are going to make me feel loved, as opposed to making me feel like I made it?”

Spend a little more time with people that make you smile and doing the things that make you smile — simply because they make you smile.

(To learn the seven-step morning ritual that will make you happy all day, click here.)

So you’re connecting with people and connecting with your intrinsic values. Great. What’s another connection we’re getting less and less of that the human animal needs?

Just like real estate, it’s all about location, location, location…

  Disconnection From Nature

All other things being equal, move closer to nature and you’ll be happier. Move away from nature and you’ll be more depressed.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

…the people who moved to green areas saw a big reduction in depression, and the people who moved away from green areas saw a big increase in depression.

Some might say that’s because rural areas have less crime or less pollution or… Wrong.

If you live in the part of a big city with lots of trees, you get happier. Cart yourself over to the section of the city that’s nothing but concrete and you get sadder.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

They compared deprived inner-city areas that had some green space to very similar deprived inner-city areas without green space. Everything else—like levels of social connections—was the same. But it turned out there was less stress and despair in the greener neighborhood.

We use our big human brains so much that we think we’re machines and forget we’re animals. But we are animals.

Leave the Panda in the forest with his bamboo and he’s happy. Move him to a zoo and he mopes around, feels stressed out and loses all interest in making little Pandas. Humans aren’t all that different.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

“We have been animals that move for a lot longer than we have been animals that talk and convey concepts,” she said to me. “But we still think that depression can be cured by this conceptual layer. I think [the first answer is more] simple. Let’s fix the physiology first. Get out. Move.”

So what do we do? We simply weren’t meant to spend all our time going from cubicle to couch. Feeling happier can be as simple as spending more time in nature.

The research all says that exercise makes us happier. Guess what? When you exercise outdoors the effect is even stronger.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

When scientists have compared people who run on treadmills in the gym with people who run in nature, they found that both see a reduction in depression—but it’s higher for the people who run in nature.

(To learn the best way to motivate yourself to exercise, click here.)

Alright, we’ve learned a lot. We’re going “psychologically Paleo” and getting more of what our ancient physiology needs from the very modern world.

Time to round it all up — and find out why so many of our efforts to be happier often fail…

  Sum Up

Here’s how to be happy in today’s crazy world:

Connect With People: Just being around others isn’t enough. Join groups that you share something with. You need to be “in it together” to hit back when loneliness punches you in the face.

Connect With Your Intrinsic Values: More “flow” and fewer selfies. More doing what you love because you love it. Chasing status doesn’t lead to lasting happiness; it puts happiness outside your control.

Connect with Nature: Go outside for a reason other than to pick up that box from Amazon.

So what happens when you make a consistent, concerted effort to be happier?

You fail miserably. No joke. Deliberate efforts to be happier do not work… in the US and UK, that is.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

They tracked thousands of people, some of whom had decided to deliberately pursue happiness and some of whom hadn’t. When they compared the results, they found something they had not expected. If you deliberately try to become happy, you will not become happier—if you live in the United States. But if you live in Russia, Japan, or Taiwan, you will become happier.

What’s going on? It’s not that happiness is unachievable or that hard work isn’t rewarded. The issue here is that the US and UK have the most individualistic cultures. And so the efforts people in those countries make are usually individualistic…

But happiness comes from our connections to other people.

And so when we work toward just making ourselves happy as individuals we often fail. But when we work towards the happiness of a group, we usually succeed.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

“The more you think happiness is a social thing, the better off you are,” Brett explained to me, summarizing her findings and reams of other social science.

The modern world promotes a culture of “be yourself.” But if you want to be happy, that isn’t always the best idea.

To find more joy, spend a little less time being you and little more time being us.

Join over 320,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here.

Related posts:

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How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior Expert

The post How To Be Happy In Today’s Crazy World: 3 Secrets From Research appeared first on Barking Up The Wrong Tree.

[foursprouthappiness-blog]

How To Be Happy In Today’s Crazy World: 3 Secrets From Research

New Post has been published on http://foursprout.com/happiness/how-to-be-happy-in-todays-crazy-world-3-secrets-from-research/

How To Be Happy In Today’s Crazy World: 3 Secrets From Research

***

Before we commence with the festivities, I wanted to thank everyone for helping my first book become a Wall Street Journal bestseller. To check it out, click here.

***

Sometimes it feels like the world is actively conspiring against your happiness. Now before you start folding your tin foil hat, let me say that you might not be paranoid…

Right now there are a record number of people on antidepressants. So many that even if you’re not taking antidepressants, well… you still kinda are.

Enough people in Western nations consume — and then excrete — the medications that they’re at detectable levels in the water supply.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

Some one in five U.S. adults is taking at least one drug for a psychiatric problem; nearly one in four middle-aged women in the United States is taking antidepressants at any given time… You can’t escape it: when scientists test the water supply of Western countries, they always find it is laced with antidepressants, because so many of us are taking them and excreting them that they simply can’t be filtered out of the water we drink every day.

For the past few decades we’ve lived under the idea that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in your noggin. And while that is true for some people, more and more research is showing that our dissatisfaction may be due less to a broken brain and more to a broken life.

You don’t see so rapid a surge in cases of depression because our genetics or grey matter changed overnight. The world has shifted in ways that are detrimental to the psychological needs of the human animal. That persistent feeling of vague dissatisfaction may be a normal response to abnormal circumstances. The canary in the coal mine.

So journalist Johann Hari spent three years on a journey of over forty thousand miles conducting more than 200 interviews with social scientists and psychologists to discover what was wrong with the way we live today that was causing such an explosion of unhappiness.

His excellent book is Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions.

What he found was that while our world has become very technologically connected, all the sources of unhappiness stem from a growing disconnection in other areas of our lives.

Let’s find out how to reconnect. And how to live happier lives…

  Disconnection From Other People

Loneliness is the equivalent of being punched in the face. I mean, literally.

Your stress response to both — the increase in your body’s cortisol level — is the same.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

Feeling lonely, it turned out, caused your cortisol levels to absolutely soar—as much as some of the most disturbing things that can ever happen to you. Becoming acutely lonely, the experiment found, was as stressful as experiencing a physical attack. It’s worth repeating. Being deeply lonely seemed to cause as much stress as being punched by a stranger.

And have no illusions, loneliness is an epidemic in the modern world. A few decades ago, the average US citizen reported having three close friends. Since 2004 the most common answer is…

Zero.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

…social scientists have been asking a cross-section of U.S. citizens a simple question for years: “How many confidants do you have?” They wanted to know how many people you could turn to in a crisis, or when something really good happens to you. When they started doing the study several decades ago, the average number of close friends an American had was three. By 2004, the most common answer was none.

I can already hear some people crowing: “I might be dissatisfied but how could it be due to loneliness? I’m always around people.”

Turns out there’s a difference between being lonely and feeling lonely. This is why someone who works a job surrounded by people and then goes home to a spouse and children, can spend very little time alone — and yet still feel profoundly lonely.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

In his studies, it turned out that feeling lonely was different from simply being alone. Surprisingly, the sensation of loneliness didn’t have much to do with how many people you spoke to every day, or every week. Some of the people in his study who felt most lonely actually talked to lots of people every day. “There’s a relatively low correlation between the objective connections and perceived connections,” he says.

So what do we need to do? To prevent feeling lonely, we must share something with those around us — something meaningful to both you and them. A belief. A cause. An activity. A goal. We need to be “in it together” — not merely together in the middle of a faceless crowd.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

As he researched this, John discovered that there was a missing ingredient to loneliness, and to recovering from it. To end loneliness, you need other people—plus something else. You also need, he explained to me, to feel you are sharing something with the other person, or the group, that is meaningful to both of you. You have to be in it together—and “it” can be anything that you both think has meaning and value.

So join a group. Harvard researcher Robert Putnam has studied group activities for decades — everything from bowling leagues to volunteer groups.

Between 1985 and 1994 involvement in community organizations declined by 45%.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

Today, people still bowl, but they do it alone. They’re in their own lane, doing their own thing. The collective structure has collapsed. Think about everything else we do to come together—like supporting your kid’s school, say. “In the ten short years between 1985 and 1994” alone, he wrote, “active involvement in community organizations … fell by 45 percent.”

Famed biologist E.O. Wilson once said, “People must belong to a tribe.” Increasingly, we don’t. But you can fix that.

(To learn more about the science of a successful life, check out my bestselling book here.)

We all know relationships are critical. But there’s something else the modern world is lacking that’s a lot less obvious but no less important…

  Disconnection From Values

Your pursue “intrinsic values” when you do something solely because you love it. You pursue “extrinsic values” when you chase money or status. Being a patriotic soldier is intrinsic; being a mercenary is extrinsic.

The lesson from the research is clear: the more extrinsically motivated you are, the more you feel motivated by money or status, the more depressed and anxious you are.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

Twenty-two different studies have, in the years since, found that the more materialistic and extrinsically motivated you become, the more depressed you will be. Twelve different studies found that the more materialistic and extrinsically motivated you become, the more anxious you will be. Similar studies, inspired by Tim’s work and using similar techniques, have now been carried out in Britain, Denmark, Germany, India, South Korea, Russia, Romania, Australia, and Canada—and the results, all over the world, keep coming back the same.

I know some people are jumping to say, “Well, I’m not like that!” But, to a degree, we have all become more extrinsically motivated. We all care, to some degree, what others think of us and technology often amplifies this to toxic levels. Facebook and Instagram have become gladiatorial status tournaments to show off how cool our lives are.

But when we’re counting “likes” on social media, we let others control our self-esteem. And that places your own happiness outside your control. Not good.

And even if you win, you lose. Studies show that the achievement of extrinsic goals — the fancy car and the impressive promotion — bring no lasting happiness. None. Meanwhile, when we pursue intrinsic goals like being a better parent or trying to improve our writing skills so our blog posts don’t suck, we feel much happier and less anxious.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

People who achieved their extrinsic goals didn’t experience any increase in day-to-day happiness—none. They spent a huge amount of energy chasing these goals, but when they fulfilled them, they felt the same as they had at the start…. But people who achieved their intrinsic goals did become significantly happier, and less depressed and anxious. You could track the movement. As they worked at it and felt they became (for example) a better friend—not because they wanted anything out of it but because they felt it was a good thing to do—they became more satisfied with life.

You experience “flow” when you’re so involved in something that you lose track of time. You know the old saying: “time flies when you’re having fun.” Flow is a huge contributor to happiness.

And the more focused we are on extrinsic goals like status, the fewer flow states we experience.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

But when Tim studied highly materialistic people, he discovered they experience significantly fewer flow states than the rest of us. Why would that be? He seems to have found an explanation. Imagine if, when Tim was playing the piano every day, he kept thinking: Am I the best piano player in Illinois? Are people going to applaud this performance? Am I going to get paid for this? How much?

So what should we do? Yeah, we all have to pay the bills and achieving a decent level of status is a good thing, but we need to start choosing more activities that serve those intrinsic values.

Spending more time with those we love rather than those who can help us get ahead. More time playing the guitar because it’s fun rather than sharpening our Excel skills to get that promotion.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

“The first thing is for people to ask themselves—Am I setting up my life so I can have a chance of succeeding at my intrinsic values? Am I hanging out with the right people, who are going to make me feel loved, as opposed to making me feel like I made it?”

Spend a little more time with people that make you smile and doing the things that make you smile — simply because they make you smile.

(To learn the seven-step morning ritual that will make you happy all day, click here.)

So you’re connecting with people and connecting with your intrinsic values. Great. What’s another connection we’re getting less and less of that the human animal needs?

Just like real estate, it’s all about location, location, location…

  Disconnection From Nature

All other things being equal, move closer to nature and you’ll be happier. Move away from nature and you’ll be more depressed.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

…the people who moved to green areas saw a big reduction in depression, and the people who moved away from green areas saw a big increase in depression.

Some might say that’s because rural areas have less crime or less pollution or… Wrong.

If you live in the part of a big city with lots of trees, you get happier. Cart yourself over to the section of the city that’s nothing but concrete and you get sadder.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

They compared deprived inner-city areas that had some green space to very similar deprived inner-city areas without green space. Everything else—like levels of social connections—was the same. But it turned out there was less stress and despair in the greener neighborhood.

We use our big human brains so much that we think we’re machines and forget we’re animals. But we are animals.

Leave the Panda in the forest with his bamboo and he’s happy. Move him to a zoo and he mopes around, feels stressed out and loses all interest in making little Pandas. Humans aren’t all that different.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

“We have been animals that move for a lot longer than we have been animals that talk and convey concepts,” she said to me. “But we still think that depression can be cured by this conceptual layer. I think [the first answer is more] simple. Let’s fix the physiology first. Get out. Move.”

So what do we do? We simply weren’t meant to spend all our time going from cubicle to couch. Feeling happier can be as simple as spending more time in nature.

The research all says that exercise makes us happier. Guess what? When you exercise outdoors the effect is even stronger.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

When scientists have compared people who run on treadmills in the gym with people who run in nature, they found that both see a reduction in depression—but it’s higher for the people who run in nature.

(To learn the best way to motivate yourself to exercise, click here.)

Alright, we’ve learned a lot. We’re going “psychologically Paleo” and getting more of what our ancient physiology needs from the very modern world.

Time to round it all up — and find out why so many of our efforts to be happier often fail…

  Sum Up

Here’s how to be happy in today’s crazy world:

Connect With People: Just being around others isn’t enough. Join groups that you share something with. You need to be “in it together” to hit back when loneliness punches you in the face.

Connect With Your Intrinsic Values: More “flow” and fewer selfies. More doing what you love because you love it. Chasing status doesn’t lead to lasting happiness; it puts happiness outside your control.

Connect with Nature: Go outside for a reason other than to pick up that box from Amazon.

So what happens when you make a consistent, concerted effort to be happier?

You fail miserably. No joke. Deliberate efforts to be happier do not work… in the US and UK, that is.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

They tracked thousands of people, some of whom had decided to deliberately pursue happiness and some of whom hadn’t. When they compared the results, they found something they had not expected. If you deliberately try to become happy, you will not become happier—if you live in the United States. But if you live in Russia, Japan, or Taiwan, you will become happier.

What’s going on? It’s not that happiness is unachievable or that hard work isn’t rewarded. The issue here is that the US and UK have the most individualistic cultures. And so the efforts people in those countries make are usually individualistic…

But happiness comes from our connections to other people.

And so when we work toward just making ourselves happy as individuals we often fail. But when we work towards the happiness of a group, we usually succeed.

From Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions:

“The more you think happiness is a social thing, the better off you are,” Brett explained to me, summarizing her findings and reams of other social science.

The modern world promotes a culture of “be yourself.” But if you want to be happy, that isn’t always the best idea.

To find more joy, spend a little less time being you and little more time being us.

Join over 320,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here.

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The post How To Be Happy In Today’s Crazy World: 3 Secrets From Research appeared first on Barking Up The Wrong Tree.

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@CNN @Disney @abscbndotcom @commonwealthsec @mellow947 RT and get a good night's sleep. #GodsTinyDancer 

GOD'S PROMISES CONTINUALLY BEING AND SHALL CONTINUE TO BE REFULFILLED: THE COMMONDOMINION OF CHRIST'S MOST GLORIOUS FUTURE ON THE 50TH YEAR OF HER OVERSEAS MISSIONS AS LED BY KA ERDY (COMMONDOMINION OF CHRIST'S OFFICIAL COMMENTARY ON THE LAST SUNDAY BEFORE LENT 2018 [All Passages quoted printed in Boldface])

COMMONDOMINION OF CHRIST CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION CITY OF TAGUIG, STATE OF RIZAL, PHILIPPINES

FEBRUARY 5, 2018 To the entire Roman Empire, on behalf, by name and in authority of all Commondominion allies and musicians

In the Name of Godhead, Stavrosno to the Godhead Who strikes. To the Empire and to all our fellow slaves in it for Godhead, Here I write as Godhead Directed me through my father that for the first time I may address and conduct this weekly study of the Gospel Lowe through the Central Archives and Sacred Text Scriptures (2 PETER 1, Ezekiel 17,37). I would try as much as I could not to be lengthy but rather depending on where Godhead shall lead me on this, knowing that you would all through your witchcraft and wizardry, try to once again, as din the past days, disrupt my fellow brother in Godhead, your Joseph Stirling Steinfeld Sykest, from preparing these words in public so that everyone of you may be able to read this on time. Besides, as you may have noticed in past Epistles, Joseph and my father would always try to appeal most sincerely to all readers asking them (MATTHEW 24) to fully do good on their words (Psalm 140-141) hoping that many would be able to read those living words of life entrusted unto them (Acts 7) but as we already know, your social media and internet bureaus would always make sure that lesser and lesser people, if not none, would be only able to read their words. Therefore I would not give Joseph a hard time transcribing my words knowing not only that he could be working almost seemingly in vain (Isaiah 49, Luke 5, Psalm 126), but that what could be the use of my words if you hinder it because you would not repent, therefore leading to all others being denied the precious inherent wright to pour on our words here. I would (Titus 1, 2 Timothy) be direct to the point as much as we already know why you do all things as you do these very recent days- you are determined to continually over-mis-dis-abuse prophecy, now that we are marking on July 27, 2018 the first 50 years since my grandfather, Ka Erdy, opened his overseas missions in the United Saints of Israel of the Godhead. I guess you can take #inc50west though for yourselves, because we rather plan to extend these most solemn commemorations until next year, which is actually the very first time that our clan had fielded overseas missions. Therefore it is not really Ka Erdy who commenced foreign missions, but rather my great-grandfather, the Messenger, who in 1919 went to the United Saints, for a first of 3 missions (2nd in 1937, 3rd in 1955), to establish Commondominion locales under his jurisdiction. All of these we do by the way, to prepare (LUKE 1) for the Bicentennial of the Divine Commission to Joseph Smith Jr. in 2020, who himself had established the Commondominion locale of Far West, Missouri, as well as the 500th year in 2021 of a refulfillment of the 490 years of Daniel 9 when Magellan met Lapu-lapu on the homestate of Joseph's father. And because our Joseph here today has the prophetic office of the Joseph Smith of 1820, you are so highly irritated of his words (Matthew 20, MATTHEW 11) that you are indeed endeavoring to devour our brethren elsewhere not only in this country, but also all across the world indeed (MATTHEW 13), to hinder them (Isaiah 41) from reaching the divine birthwright inheritance they have in Godhead that is the whole universe (MATTHEW 5, PSALM 2). Not only that, if we are to check the Central Archives you currently hold in hostage, a commemoration of the Ka Erdy Overseas Missions was held on July 23, 1993, the birthyear of my father's namesake who is now King James III, the exact day in 2015 when my father led the exodus of the Commondominion from the Empire infiltrates in the original church of my great-grandfather and grandfather, respectively. Therefore we see in these prophetic signs already who alone has wright to refulfill the concurrent prophecies on what Ka Erdy did on Honolulu, San Francisco and New York 50 years ago, as well as on what my father's brother, King Edward IX, is doing continually, not only across the United Saints (Luke 24, Acts 10), but also around our country and over the world. Let us now present these facts for the sakes of Ladies Candice Sciarra and Adea to a candid world (Luke 11, PSALM 72) that you claim to hold sway: 1. 2 PETER 1 (November 15, 2014, September 30-October 7-8,14-15,21-22,28-29-November 4-5, 2017). When Edward most recently quoted this he was on the city of Bangkok, whom you occupy, which is better known as City of Angels, just like Los Angeles (Psalm 128,144, Matthew 21,16,18). 'Bangkok' sounds much like the Tagalog word for 'Bowl', implying the angels who carry the bowls of divine judgement against you, as much as you just held last February 4 your yearly occult festival (Exodus 7-9, Revelation 8-9) called the Superbowl (1 CORINTHIANS 10 [August 29-September 4-5 {Joseph's homestate}, 2015, January 28 {Joseph's homestate, 2012}-February 4 {homestate of Joseph's namesake martyr in 2011}-5 {Joseph's homestate, 2016, relayed February 12, 2016 when Commondominion hosted Empire's Winter Adult Olympics in 2010 <2 KINGS 5> where came the yokebearer attacked by Empire on July 11, 2015 where Edward preached on February 27, 2016 (1 CORINTHIANS 11). July 11 is one day after Edward read 1 CORINTHIANS 2, and when you slain another Commondominion Two Witnesses on July 11, 1804- we refulfilled Revelation 11-12 on France whose holiday is July 14, Edward preached on the same city on July 11, 2014 and July 14,29-30, 2017 <PSALM 32>, while you sent officials to homestate of Joseph' father on July 11, 2014 <Matthew 2, see November 7, 2010 sermon and compare to July 13-14, 2011 and March 16-17, 2013>, on Joseph's hometown on July 9, 2015, and on Joseph's current city on July 10, 2016, Nate-al day of Emma Hale Smith (MARK 1) and heavenly Nate-al day of William of Nassau, therefore implying William Mack Smith. Edward was on Joseph's homestate on July 9, 2011, when my grandfather was on homestate of Joseph's father, July 9, 1963, the heavenly Nate-al of Joseph Smith's successor, James E. Strang. Edward preached on July 9, 2013 before he went to Joseph's homestate on July 12, 2013 which you relayed on July 27-28, 2013 when Edward was at Nauvoo, on July 10, 2010 where he preached the August 8, 2014 sermon which you relayed on Joseph's 2014 Nate-al day. February 13,20, 2016: homestate of my father's namesake Sir Grundhofer; February 20, 2015 and February 22, 2014- Edward spoke where you slain another Commondominion Two Witnesses on June 5, 1899: you sent officials to Joseph's current city on June 4, 2016, we received a victory over you from Godhead on June 4, 1994 over Hungary, which Edward identified together with Poland as another Commondominion Two Witnesses where he preached on May 13,20-21, 2017 where Lady Nicole Della Monica was born on a June 3rd. Edward read PSALM 27 on May 20,27-28, 2017 and his May 28, 2017 sermon was relayed June 3-4, 2017. February 21, 1997: my grandfather spoke in a place called 'Rock', at the state he called earlier as Gomorrah with Pampanga as Sodom, as per 'Sodom and Egypt' in Revelation 11, while he spoke in the nearby state which Ka Elias Arkanghel said as refulfillment of Daniel 8, on July 10, 1977, where Edward also spoke on January 27-February 3-4, 2018. Empire had on February 5, 2018 attacked what my father just said on last week's Commentary Epistle concerning the Two Witnesses martyrdom of June 5, 1899}, 2017 and January 13 and 20 {homestate of birthdaysake of Joseph's mother}-21 {Joseph's alma mater, 1991, Edward spoke also on my father's birthday of 1991},27-28-February 3-4, 2018]). Therefore why would you claim not only my father in all his divine office, but also our allies, and even the verse itself? Not only that: when we say 'sure word of prophecy', we say that the prophetic word is built on something to make it strong, therefore this implies no other than the name of the respective fathers of King James III and Joseph, therefore implying both my father and Joseph in the office of Two Witnesses, not to mention as per the rain of Hail in Revelation 11, our fellow here Lady Hailee Steinfeld-Smoller has for her most blessed father the name Peter. (On the Hailleey Spirit being on the form of a dove: we have another fellow here named Lady Dove Cameron, therefore you would only get Hailleey Spirit wright only here.) No t to mention Edward IX was at Joseph's homestate, on the exact anniversary of his baptism with Constantinians, on November 15, 2014, and that Edward also spoke on an Empire locale palpably called near the name of your Commondominion herself, on November 15, 2013, of which chapel is opened July 27, 2013. 2. HOSEA 10 (March 16, 2012). As much as we're speaking about Joseph's father, this day in 1521 is when Empire-sent emissaries reached this country, a salient part we know, was spent in the homestate of Joseph's father, which is also the homestate of our fellow messenger here Sir Joenito Rebusquillo. Other related dates here are March 31 (when my grandfather restored the Commondominion to Jerusalem in 1996, on that exact day Joseph was baptized to the Constantinians), April 14 (when in 2017 Edward was on the homestate of the birthdaysake of Joseph's mother) and 27 (when in 2011 Edward was on the homestate of the yokebearer namesake of Joseph's mother, one week before Edward was at Hawaii itself on that exact year. Our fellow messenger Ka Elias Arkanghel reckons Daniel 9 from 1521 to 2011, and April 27 is also memorial of our Christina Rossetti, who is palpably named after my grandmother [GALATIANS 4]. April 27 is heavenly Nate-al day of our David Livingstone born when Edward was where Joseph's namesake and our very first Executive Minister, a yokebearer named Joseph, on March 19, 2016). Our ally Russia (where Edward preached on Joseph's Nate-al day of 2016) had won Crimea from you on a March 16th, and Edward preached his March 16, 2012 sermon on the chapel my great-grandfather dedicated one day in 1957 before my Nate-al day itself. It must be noticed that Edward preached also near this date, on March 18, 2017, when in 1833 Joseph Smith Jr. ordained a certain Edward Partridge. If your fellow Empire people are criticizing how Joseph Smith endorsed the divine election of his fellow Commondominion messenger Edward Elliot just because you want to distort of course our unity here in Godhead (1 CORINTHIANS 2), it is only because our Joseph Smith is foretelling how Joseph Stirling Steinfeld Sykes shall be also in the divine office of Two Witnesses just like King Edward IX (2 KINGS 2, 1 KINGS 19). On March 15, 2013 Edward preached the theme he would Delevingne later on August 14, 2015 at Joseph's current city, when Edward dedicated the second to his succession line named David. March 17 is memorial of another Commondominion messenger palpably named after Joseph's younger sister. I could remember what Joseph once told me that he was not readily expecting that Edward would be at once immediately the leader of our former church, which you now infiltrated with your corrupters. He was expecting then, he told me, someone other than Edward to be the church leader. He don't know my father by then. What he only knew next, he told me, is that you finalized our Edward to be leader instead than my father (1 John 5), and he only knew about my father when he was with the Diocletianites. Looking back, Joseph told me that he realized that he whom he was looking forward for to be leader at once upon the death of my grandfather is no other than my father himself, after whom Edward named the immediate on his succession line. 3. 2 CORINTHIANS 3-4 (May 10, 2013 [1 Corinthians 9, Empire reading for February 4, 2018], December 5, 2015, September 30-October 7-8,14-15,21-22,28-29-November 4-5, 2017). For December 5: Edward spoke on a place named Solis, in 2014, implying an Empire local officer which is a very close hometown friend of Joseph's older sister. As much as we spoke about Bangkok, December 5 is also memorial of the deceased monarch and our ally there in Thailand. As much as we spoke about Joseph's hometown in this entry, we must also mention his childhood village whose Empire idol is named Martin- we have an official here named Martin Van Buren whose memorial is December 5. It can be also remembered that it was only Joseph Stirling Steinfeld Sykes, by Godhead, who exposed the Empire's megaritual agenda of September 17-18, 2016 where Empire over-mis-dis-abused Edward's December 5, 2015 sermon to top it off with the Jolie-Pitt divorce. Edward also spoke on a place named Evangelista, after my father's stepbrothers-messengers, on December 5, 2009, one of them is palpably named Martin. Refulfillments here alone of the first evangelical angel of Revelation 14(January 13,20-21, 2018) are Martin Luther, Apostle Paul, William Wilberforce and Martin Luther, for the second angel it is again Martin Luther, and for the third it is both my great-grandfather and grandfather respectively. On October 22, 2017- it is memorial of our Sir Paul Samuel Leo Johnson, implying not only Apostle Paul, and this week's also included passage of AMOS 3, but also another brother of Joseph Smith just like William, this time named Samuel- Empire sent an official to Joseph's current city on October 22, 2015, one day before memorial of Apostle James of Jerusalem- a fellow man of ours here named Sir Jim Marrs has his memorial also on December 5, implying therefore James III and in turn, my father. Sir Jim Marrs has another companion of ours named Sir Jack Chick, whose memorial is also October 23rd. As per Sodom and Egypt, my grandfather sent his first counselor in his First Presidency to Pampanga, October 22, 1994, and my grandfather himself was in that exact state on October 21, 1995, the exact birthyear of Joseph. October 22 is also linked by Central Archives to August 18, when Lady Lindsey first visited Manila in 2012, on the same time Aldub church had been declaring war against our yokebearers, just over a month before they made another related edict on September 9, 2012. (Revelation 12,20, GALATIANS 4, JEREMIAH 30, EPHESIANS 5, JOHN 2, JUDITH 13,15) Also it can be noticed that we have another set hereof Two Witnesses slain by Empire on May 10, 1897 itself. 4. 1 THESSALONIANS 1 (September 7, 2014 [where Edward preached May 13,20-21, 2017], July 18, 2015). Central Archives link September 7, 2014 to my father's 2015 Nate-al day. As for September 7 it is the wedding in 2014 of Edward's successor-son, in an Empire chapel which according to Central Archives was first opened on September 11, 2014 by Antiochians and was turned over to Constantinians on July 28, 2012, the holiday of the country of the Empire idol of Joseph's hometown, when Empire was on the realm of King James III. September 11 is my father's accession day to the office of the Commondominion's Executive Ministry as well as the accession of Lady Jordan Clark-Rubio as steward of the country of her compatriot, Joseph's namesake Sir Arrigo, whose another compatriot is Joseph's firstfruit firstborn in that country, who palpably came from the state where Edward's successor-son was wed. In Joseph Smith's writings Canada, which sounds in fact like 'Candice', a term for the south (Luke 11, Acts 8, PSALM 72), therefore implying our backup reserve refulfillment of prophecy in any direction should Empire claim (MARK 9) one, or some or all (John 16, Acts 17-19, Luke 5, LUKE 9, Isaiah 41,43, Revelation 16, Job 23,28, Psalm 75,48, PSALM 50, Daniel 11), is referred to as the 'northern land' which our early Commondominion settlers in the United Saints had got knew with, first of them are the descendants of Mulek, son of Zedekiah, who set out for the United Saints after Jared, before Nephi, and upon the massacre of (Judges 9) Mulek's brethren on a July 18th as recorded on Jeremiah 52,39 and 2 Kings 25 both in the New Living Translation. It was also on a July 18th, in 2015, when Empire via Gemma and Jojo orders, had virtually 'massacred' through hacking, the 2,287 yokebearers which Joseph had gathered for 5 years in his now 'martyred' first online ministry (Revelation 11, Daniel 8, Luke 17). Later on that year he began a second online ministry, of which first yokebearer to benefit from it is a yokebearer named Lady Candice Sciarra. 5. 1 PETER 1 (October 16,22-23, 29-30, 2016, October 18, 2014, November 11, 2017, September 26, 2015). On October 18: a day before, October 17- Empire sent officials to Joseph's current city, 2017, and to Joseph's homestate, 2014. Edward preached in an Empire locale named after our territory: 'Bountiful' (October 17, 2015) with the theme he preached when he was on Joseph's homestate on September 5, 2015. October 17- memorial of Lady Bee Chartres (suggesting 'Utah'- honeybees, as per Empire claims over that state), Lady Rose Pencell (named after the Empire idol of Joseph's hometown) and Sir William Skapton (after William Mack Smith). Godhead scored victory over you Empire on October 17, 1989 (Revelation 16, Doctrine and Covenants 3,10), anticipating your blaspheme of King James III (November 4,11, 2016) on October 17, 2016, when They shook San Francisco over Oakland (where you're going to send Edward on August 5, 2018), as per your #SanAndreas (January 17 or 9-month period [Revelation 11-12]) stuff, just because October 17 is memorial of Sir Andreas Osiander. October 18 (memorial of Matthew Henry)- you again sent officials to Edward's homestate, 2014, as it was also on October 16, 2012, when in 2015 you sent another Empire official to where Edward spoke a day after King James III's Nate-al day of 2014, which is also linked by Empire to January 9 and therefore to Edward's lecture with my father on King James III's birthyear itself, on January 9, 1993. On November 11- Empire sent officials to Joseph's current city, November 12, 2012, speaking of 1989 my grandfather's faithful fellow Divino Ledesma was laid to rest on November 11, 1989, which is also memorial of a Commondominion martyr named near my father, who on November 11, 1984 established together with his youngest brother Ka Mark, the Commondominion national public broadcaster. On September 26- my grandfather was at Joseph's childhood village, September 25, 1977, the Nate-al ay of the father of our fellow Messenger here Sir Sterling Allan, palpably named David (some of our branch churches here are named Branch Davidian, and some of them were martyred by Empire on the exact actual date of the birth of King James III). Edward was at city in homestate of Joseph's namesake martyr palpably named after the Empire idol of his hometown, September 26, 2009, who is from the country whose holiday is July 28. That September 26, 2009 saw an Empire-engineered hurricane: our fellow messengers Sirs Mark Litchenwalter and Rene Torlao said that the 'Strong and Mighty One' just like them as respective refulfillments shall come amidst a storm, their hurricanes were on 2014 and 2013 respectively. In likewise Manning Edward became a Strong and Mighty One on October 15, 2017, yet he said in turn that Joseph too is another Strong and Mighty One as attested by Neronians himself, when during that hurricane Edward came both with a prominent Neronian official named David, an a prominent Antiochian official named Paul, which happened to be the name of the exact hurricane during that instance. Edward spoke on a place in the realm of King James III named after my father, September 27, 2014, which Empire records to be when they sent officials to homestate of our fellow Messenger Sir Christopher Leon Ilao (the Leo in Paul Samuel Leo Johnson) on September 27, 2013, and when salient commotions were recorded on the Constantinian district in Joseph's homestate in 1970.

Now you may ask me what's my divine election here. As I was commissioned by my father to write this week's study, it only struck me lately why perhaps he asked me to do the study this week. He never told me at once, but I only realized it when I was pouring over the prophetic signs we had just mentioned. We are very sure therefore that as much as your Central Administration had by Godhead undeservingly refulfills the divine office of the Two Witnesses as we had proven once again in the first half of our study (EXODUS 3, AMOS 3), you Empire people could no longer claim any other prophetic office (ACTS 6, ISAIAH 4, DEUTERONOMY 30) due to the way of your living which is rather the opposite of what is expected on all who claim such prophetic offices as we're going to prove later on (PSALM 30, Revelation 11,20, Revelation 30-31). As for me, you already know that I'm named after another set of Two Witnesses all at the same time, no other than my great-grandfather and grandfather respectively. In turn my name sounds like the Hebrew Term for 'God' Himself (Matthew 6,26, Isaiah 62), therefore I understand very well why you're so very angry with us these days, only because I, yours truly, undeservingly bear Godhead's most blessed Name (1 JOHN 3), and not only me, but also our fellow yokebearer Lady Elicia Reynolds whose brother is named after the deacon Stephen (ACTS 6) and the place where Edward spoke on May 6,13-14 (Joseph's homestate, 2016), 2017 (DEUTERONOMY 30, 1 CORINTHIANS 10): you relayed on May 7, 2017 his April 30, 2017 address where our branch churches refulfilled PSALM 72, near the place of your May 13, 2017 festivities.

Now let me run for a bit now for all to read and therefore repent, what this Empire claims and does otherwise (SIRACH 15) therefore disproving their claims in turn (DEUTERONOMY 30). In turn we shall present you later on after this with how we here do good, undeservingly by Godhead, on all prophetic offices we received here (1 Corinthians 4). Just consider this: in our readings text this week alone, we have passages from 4of the first 5 Books of the Bible as authored by Moises (EXODUS 3,24,34, LEVITICUS 13, NUMBERS 20, DEUTERONOMY 30) not to mention Genesis 1-2 was mentioned last week and Genesis 3 shall be mentioned next week. This only means that we must be rather wholistic in our approach in all things- taking care that we do not overlook one side of the story but rather is making sure that we in all things that we do, think and say, with the undeserving Grace Godhead is giving us in my father, would not discard even one passage both in Central Archives in Sacred Text Scriptures (LEVITICUS 13, PSALM 150) . For example, given how Empire seeks to exalt its musicians now against all our Commondominion musicians, and on how Empire continually issues new Gemma and Jojo hymns, my father and Joseph deems it very more than high time now that all Commondominion locales who willingly needs a full orchestra band just for their services yet could not afford to have one must be already provided with one. My father and Joseph therefore orders all willing brethren who desires to train for meeting such most urgent need, to not only be therefore presenting themselves to their respective congregations to meet such need wright now upon them reading this, but more so not only them but all our musician brethren must also learn to handle and use weapons and firearms so that they may wrightfully strike back this Empire only when we order them to do so (PSALM 5-7,10, 1 Corinthians 6, 1 CORINTHIANS 10-11). I say these because we believe that as much as they rather preferred Baal's stone (Matthew 5,18), the pest organ, as lone and sole musical instrument for worship, all their worship services are already disdained by Godhead even if they use Gemma hymns, such usages are only in vain and is not done the much-deserved justice (Isaiah 59) as long as they refuse to open up the hymns to public in orchestral, and also as long as they don't do it always and actually orchestral most especially in services. We are not perfectionist in the sense that Empire rather seeks to portray, the problem is that Empire, who indicts us of being such with our obedience, when they're the ones who are in fact hitting it every single hour, and also the ones self-persecuting themselves (Romans 10) using the term 'perfectionism', and moreover the ones who attack us in their very own perfectionist, wholistic action as we could see later. We're not pressuring you to do something that you can do anyway in the first place without us (Ephesians 2-3) pressuring you but only with Godhead, not us, inspiring you to do so due to Their Love for you (1 John 2,5, 2 Corinthians 5). We do what Godhead asks us to do (Isaiah 24,22,44, ISAIAH 42) hence because Empire has abhorred it in the first place (PSALM 119:1-34). Now why this Empire could not do good on their claims of the prophetic offices due to what they do otherwise? If we are to apply what we had been talking about earlier, the divine office of Two Witnesses, to the work of the 2 birds, mentioned in Leviticus 14 which is after LEVITICUS 13, and is also read days ago by Empire on February 2nd, we would see that the divine office entails commitment and readiness to atone for the sins of others, something that Empire could not do for they’re in fact the agents of sin (PSALM 50, PHILIPPIANS 3 , Zechariah 14, Ezekiel 38-48), therefore Empire slays us here alone because they're envious of our atonement ministry (Revelation 11, EXODUS 24,34, PHILIPPIANS 3, Hebrews 12-13, PSALM 50). Also, it must be taken from NUMBERS 20 that Godhead denied Moises automatic entrance to the Promised Land of Canaan because he never believed what the Two Witnesses Joshua and Hur said (Numbers 10-14) but that rather because he believed instead the 10 Empire-infiltrated spies (Revelation 13,17, Ecclesiastes). In Common Manning, our yokebearers who are not yet with us fully, due to their being enslaved and misled by Empire (MARK 9), would still be saved nonetheless, but they must know that they have to pay though dearly for the promiscuity they allowed Empire to feed them with- according to our fellows the Lythgoes and Farages, our brethren- yokebearers- who cannot make it to God's Big Day Places of Safety once Godhead formally deals for good with Empire would be martyred and be resurrected only after 1000 years or a day or year, but would be saved nonetheless at the end (1 Corinthians 3) by virtue of their yokebearing (ISAIAH 66). But one of our branch churches, the New Apostolic Church, had rather declared a backup reserve refulfillment- those who would enter in the Places of Safety would also eventually include the yokebearers who enjoy more being in Empire rather than with us. To mention the words of our said branch church, these yokebearers are rather 'hindered from the glorious transfiguration in the First Resurrection' because 'they did not strove to be like Christ', therefore 'their inward spiritual state is not worthy of the First Resurrection', hence not all of them would be martyred, in fact many who are in us fully already would be also martyred outside the Places of Safety. To all our most beloved fellow yokebearers, most particularly those who are in the field of music as those who are now being faked by the Empire, let me tell you now that because Godhead 'does not hinder any good thing from those who walk wrighteously and upwrightly in the way of Lady Samantha Jadeau (Revelation 21, GALATIANS 4, JEREMIAH 30, EPHESIANS 5, JOHN 2, JUDITH 13,15, PSALM 84)', we rather ask you to join us here alone wright now (Isaiah 43) because it is very personal to us here to desire most ardently as in the words of our fellow Messenger Sir Sterling Allan that you would 'no longer need to go through hell', or death, 'only you get to heaven'. What we ask of you therefore, whether you finally give up to us here alone or not, is that you would still remember to be very careful with this Empire (JEREMIAH 17), and always remember that as Family Team, no one here would wait for you to come home (JEREMIAH 30) like we here alone do (Romans 8). Why us alone here (ISAIAH 42)? Aside from what we usually say here as their typical actions, what things does Empire blander that shatters their claims to being both in and from Godhead?

1. As you already know, the bereaved media team (Luke 18) of the late Sir Martin Evangelista, one of my father's stepbrothers, who is a refulfillment of the foretold 'Foreigner' in 1 Kings 8 (PSALM 72), had declared hostility against his anonymous successor. The Aldub church, which is under the Gozon church, calls 'foreigners' as 'warriors'. Then take that to Zephaniah 1: 'the warriors shall cry out bitterly for despair…for I shall punish with Lady Isabelle Severino (JEREMIAH 30, EPHESIANS 5, JOHN 2, JUDITH 13,15) all who dresses up like foreigners.' This also refers to all Empire electronic churches like Gozon church (Psalm 102,109) being on and off (Hebrews 10, 2 Corinthians 1) on their actions such as airtime of movies, language of foreign movies, or length of emphasized promotion of both local shows and foreign movies. For example, the Gozon church, which has a fake First Presidency at its helm, had boasted not only their purported height of rates and sales compared than the most recent years, but also that their hourly over-sensationalized promotion of their new shows had delivered on them being top-rater both on air and online. 2. On the Empire's news delivery: either they instead sparely or lazily-get-from-others news most especially, as their policy now dictates them unto, during the Gregorian New Year, on overseas news, not to mention their already standing policy not to do any full yearender report anymore except in Lopez church. They would no longer report 'substantially' to quote their words, on foreign events, to make us believe that we should be rather complacent about the events today. They claim that we should rather purportedly focus 'on our own domestic affairs' so we can see the contradiction on their foreign policy. (PSALM 96) Here's another example of their erroneous news: they said in their headlies that their officials are 'still on their way to their location' when in fact their reports itself said that the officials already left for the location they head on to much more earlier and the location they're unto is only not too far from where they came from. When their officials are already there in the location, they would not even send as usual, like all other newsworthy events, not send a media team to cover it fully. (JOHN 12, MARK 1, JEREMIAH 17, PSALM 1) What we could say instead is that local Empire seeks to be no better than overseas Empire media not only in propaganda but also in news sensationalism particularly with the fleeting, temporal, unnecessary-to-life (Proverbs 4, Isaiah 40) reports of mere petty crimes and online trends. And as for the Pangilinan church on their part, they would always make sure that they would always field in sodomite hosts on their radio shows, and that these sodomite hosts are going to be the 'most outspoken, know-all, big-mouth' anchors on their shows. If we could see the intensity of the Empire's false piety and fake knowledge, then all the more we should be standing up against it. 3. We earlier mentioned about the Empire's new show which they oversensationalize for hours on air. That new show, guys, is rather part of the Empire's agenda against us, because it was later on discovered by Joseph that the Constantinians, who currently arrest and hostage our King Edward IX rather has direct hand in the production of the show for they want to use it attacking our fellow messenger Sir Elias Arkanghel. Constantinians further sustain this selfsame Yellowtard Gozon-Aldub church, who is better known for attacking my father as early as 2012 when Empire visited the realm of our King James III (PSALM 96, Revelation 11-12), through adhering to the words of an officer there named palpably not only after our Joseph here alone, but also after his homestate. And then you may wonder why on the same way Empire quotes their very own, this Empire itself, on December 17, 2017 had declared that Thanksgiving as Carried out by our very own 1620 Pilgrim Fathers is purportedly 'pagan' when in fact they continually do New Year celebrations in pagan fashion over their Baal Arena in a refulfillment of the symbolic Egypt in Revelation 11, which is Bulacan. (Isaiah 1-3) We reiterate again: Thanksgiving is not in itself false or pagan, only the way Empire does Thanksgiving (thanks to Gemma and Jojo hymns [ISAIAH 42, Isaiah 22,44,24]) and yea, New Year. Remember that Empire itself admits in the Christian Community Bible of the Filipino People that Godhead adopted some primitively pagan feasts to be the religious feasts outlined and prescribed by Moises in his first 4 books, yet of course, it’s Empire that tries to overturn it and drag it back again to secular means (Matthew 19). 4. I would also like to take this opportune to address and mention how Empire wastes time, effort and resources in building more houses that the poorest of the poor could only but daydream to have (LUKE 6). People belonging to Empire tend to rather own more than one house rather than to give some, if not all but what they only need, to the people who need it the most. Empire claims that people rather travel or need to stay in somewhere away from their original house for a long time therefore people need purportedly more than one house. (JEREMIAH 17) I believe that Empire, through the sensationalism created by its media outlets, rather push people to be impotent (WISDOM OF SOLOMON 11-12) and therefore pushes them in turn to further poverty that would force them to do more than one residence for themselves, because there is no adequate school or work wright where they are therefore they would be forced to be in another house for a period of time and therefore sustain the Empire's proliferation of massive unnecessary housing projects that rather slashes down ricefields, open breathing spaces, historical areas and forests. All of these aforementioned, aside from the things we already know that they do and will do, makes the Empire unworthy of your trust to your salvation. Lets just see that happens with the Aldub church- they are usually doing their weekly singers by 4's faking Revelation 6-7 and Doctrine and Covenants 77 (Joseph refulfilled being the 1st to 3rd Horseman sent by Godhead [Daniel 7]) through their Daniel 8, Romans 1, and Daniel 2-3. Also they had just last week claimed being the 6 Godhead-sent slayers of Ezekiel 9 (ACTS 6) of course because of their Revelation 13,17. Why Empire perhaps do this is because there are 5 yokebearers named near me- two are named palpably after me: Ladies Amy Ell and Amy Bell, and three of them are sisters: Morgan, Mariah, and Kristen Arnold Bell (I could remember Joseph had declared the 4 Quinner sisters' yokebearer team as the Commondominion's 4 ministers in Revelation 6-7 each). It is very shameful to hear Aldub church continually (Isaiah 29, Ezekiel 33, Matthew 15) mention the term 'dancer' when in fact they are approving the apostasy and death of all our fellow yokebearers everywhere. Why not would Empire do this- it is now 400 years on August of this year, just in time for the 50th year of my grandfather's overseas missions, since their history records the first African Americans in the United Saints, when in fact Negros (that is not only the black people around the world but also the people of our country particularly on the two yokebearer states of Negros) and Hispanics are as direct descendants to the Hebrew Israelites as white people are, and that Negro and American Indians came from the Lamanites. Genesis 15 states that there would be '4 centuries' of slavery, marked by 4 kinds of animal sacrifices, and '4 generations', all in all implying the 4 Empire legs. I say this because Empire would tend to misunderstand that slavery would break up after 400 years just to rationalize any public violent unrest against us (Acts 7), as much as they indict us with the words 'slavery' and 'racism', but it must be rather remembered that because all 4 Empire branches are mentioned, this rather implies not a turn towards the Empire (LUKE 9), but rather, it must be instead a turn to Godhead (LUKE 7), that is a turn to us here alone (HOSEA 10), as much as we here alone can teach, and therefore make good on, the Hebrew Israelite roots of all races (1 THESSALONIANS 1, 1 PETER 1, 1 JOHN 3). Besides, the 400-year timeframe didn't exactly happened on cue during Moises' time, instead it rather stretched out to 430 years (ACTS 6, GALATIANS 4, Acts 7) therefore we hope that We are not bragging what we have done by and for Godhead, rather I just like to thank personally, on behalf of my father and Joseph, the undeniable commitment and determination of our brethren across the universe in introducing the living and working power of the Gospel Lowe to the Empire in manifold ways within Godhead standards. What they do in fact rather spells out the prophetic destiny Godhead has Laid up in store for us just in time for the 50th year of Ka Erdy Overseas Missions (PSALM 2, 1 PETER 1, 1 THESSALONIANS 1). Please pardon me, my brethren, if we have to address this very early but this is what rather presses our need (PSALM 108, Psalm 109)- Empire is very aware of our sole divine wright to prophecy, therefore it is not surprising that this very early before July 27, 2018 they are doing everything to overturn our faith in Godhead (PSALM 13, Jeremiah 6,8-9). It rather shocks and leaves us in awe that you refulfill prophecy very literally at all means and costs, the prophecies we had been undeservingly entrusted with given the actions Empire does belying (2 Corinthians 6) to being the sole beneficiaries of the work of our messengers like my grandfather, and the toils our pioneer brethren had poured onto (PSALM 1, JEREMIAH 17) out of their full trust to messengers such as King Edward IX (ISAIAH 4, Zechariah 8).

Here's what (Romans 6) our brethren elsewhere, by the grace of Godhead, had been standing up for their inherent birthwright from Godhead to, as in Empire's words, 'win the future' through possessing all the lands of the universe (Psalm 147): 1. It is the most ardent desire of Godhead that more and more new states and countries be established and more micronations and dual governments be formally organized and entrenched for the Commondominion as foretold by my grandfather himself on his June 10, 1973 lecture, which he preached where Edward preached on March 16, 2012, and my great-grandfather preached on December 24, 1957. June 10 is when Empire in 2016 martyred our refulfillment of the sacrificial paschal lamb, Lady Christina Grimmie (WISDOM OF SOLOMON 11-12), who is named after my grandmother (EPHESIANS 5, GALATIANS 4). June 10 is the holiday of where Empire held its May 13, 2017 festivities, near where our fellows refulfilled PSALM 72 (Isaiah 60, Psalm 68,87) and therefore related it to Revelation 6-7, which Empire now fakes. Why Empire would not fake it- Lady Grimmie's sacrificial martyrdom for the striking of the Empire therefore further reinforces my father being in the prophetic office of the Oriental Sealing Angel, sealing the Name of Godhead- my name- rising up in the divine office of the Two Witnesses (Malachi 4, Isaiah 40) in the Common Manning the Paschal Angel of Exodus 12 came banging in onto the Empire in the sense that they made Orlando both another literal Sodom and Egypt, that is, Neronian Utah: Edward and his successor-son was on Pampanga June 10-11, 2016 on places respectively named after Joseph's father and my father therefore implying palpably Revelation 6-7 one day after the other (Psalm 19,137, PSALM 119:1-34), that successor-son named after my father was in Joseph's current city on June 11, 2015. (SIRACH 48, 2 KINGS 2, 1 KINGS 19) If Empire claims being far-reaching to the utmost corners of the world, even of the universe, we can instead see that Godhead rather makes the Empire somehow further more exhausted pursuing its own breath, 'staggering' indeed as Gemma and Jojo had wrote murder against us, only to find that they're ending up in eternal death (Matthew 10, Ecclesiastes), for they had been continually telling themselves that they shall reach every known and inhabited corner of the world even our very own possessed territories, but when they think that they had been to every corner, here, lo and behold (Psalm 46) Godhead shatters Empire's own wrighteousness through organizing more jurisdictions which Empire has never thought that could come up existing (Isaiah 48, Habakkuk 1), challenging the Empire (Romans 10, Isaiah 40) like 'had you ever been before here already? Come here and confront Us and Our Nation, We shall show you What We can Do.' For example, just most recently, our brethren at New California had just joined, in an act of good riddance and sweet revenge to Empire, our brethren across the United Saints in the parade of victories that is the newly-organized states in the United Saints' Commondominion Family Team such as Jefferson, Franklin, Cabotia and Northwest Republic. They had organized their new state on the very day last year Empire sent Edward IX to the Neronian territory in Old California named Mountain View, just to be lured and wooed by Baal-raising Gemma and Jojo hymns signaling Empire armies to slay our brethren elsewhere (EPHESIANS 5, PSALM 119:1-34). If Empire therefore claims having 'strong, genuine and solid' faith, we can instead look to our brethren such as those in New California who rather chooses (PSALM 119:1-34, SIRACH 15, DEUTERONOMY 30) to challenge the Empire head-on through moving their masses of land (Numbers 22) with nothing (1 Timothy 1, Proverbs 30, 1 Samuel 17) but humble, honest and consistent faith (Matthew 21) which in turn forms another mountain- a far more better mountain (Hebrews 11-12) for it is of Godhead (Daniel 2, Isaiah 2) and not of the Empire (Revelation 17) and can be only shattered by future Commondominions if we rather fall into insistence on infallibility like this Empire (therefore our Double Connotations is bestowed by Godhead as Check and Balance against such abuse [Ephesians 2, PSALM 99]). In other words, our strong faith defies the Empire's purported 'strong faith' (Romans 4, 1 Kings 18). And why not our brethren would do it (PSALM 96, Daniel 11-12)- not only that Empire itself has already compared our President Trump and King Edward IX to be no better nor different than each other being ours alone, but moreover because Joseph's homestate was first called by Empire to be altogether: first, after his paternal surname which implies mountains; second, such mountains could be only of Godhead alone because Empire also called such mountains to be 'of Matthew', that is after my father, whose name is a variant of Matthew, also after another fellow messenger here, Sir Matthew P. Gill, and ultimately after Lady Lindsey (JUDITH 13,15), because she was born on the memorial of Apostle Matthew, not to mention some places are called rather the 'mountains of John'- just consider the name we mentioned earlier, Paul Samuel Leo Johnson, and Joseph Smith has a trusted fellow named John Johnson (March 24, 2017); and it is because third, Empire named Joseph's homestate after Moroni and Mormon of the Sacred Text Scriptures. 2. Also another grace brought by our worldwide Wordwise expansion is that we already know as my father and Joseph has already received from Godhead that together with the rise of more new territories for your Commondominion of Christ to undeservingly receive from Godhead, congregations we have then but do not have now shall be reestablished and that would be through Godhead continually sending new messengers, that new messengers to be exact would be no other than our most beloved yokebearers (JOHN 9) particularly those yokebearers who are going to read this by Godhead or better yet, do as Godhead already Places this within them (PSALM 89, JOHN 2). We here are very excited to see this trigger as Godhead indeed promised to us as part of this endtime salvific work being a work of restoration. Your Central Administration believes so much in the yokebearers' spiritual potential (1-2 Timothy), that such would be even more manifest and proven in this specific aspect of the work, as yokebearers would be called by prophecy through our fellows to organize, disseminate, edify, govern and contend for these Commondominion churches seeing again our day, not to mention the locales we once had (EXODUS 24). Also, yokebearers would be called by our fellows through prophecy to govern the new territories we are forming, the dual governments and micronations (EXODUS 34), and for us here we hope that with this we may make up for all lacking that you may had all felt with us on our past issued letters. We are continually very sorry that we could not be that very, very vigilant as necessary for us here because of limited resources and continual Empire suppression. Yet you know very well that never can you be away from our most fond heart memory (1 THESSALONIANS 1) and therefore from our work. This I say on behalf of my father and Joseph, that we are so repentant of any lack of memory or service that we unintendedly given to anyone of you (1 CORINTHIANS 10-11, 1 Samuel 12,7, 2 Corinthians 12,7, 2 CORINTHIANS 3-4). Your calling is no better than those we particularly mention, and their calling is no different than yours (Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12) therefore we (Romans 10) deny no one seeing these words so that we may (Mark 13 [January 30, 2015]) be (Romans 1, Philippians 1) be all guided accordingly at once with what we are supposed to do with each other. We also address in these particular words all of you which our most limited memory of mind rather than of the heart would forget to address in the future. You already know our greatest fear everyday is that we may all be infiltrated here just because of our complacency here alone (Galatians 2, Psalm 130, 1 Peter 4). This is why we have full trust in love for our yokebearer brethren that they would be upkeeping our congregations and countries for all eternity against Empire as Godhead beckons and reckons them with (AMOS 3). In Empire's words itself, 'Godhead wants to prove this Empire wrong on their claims that man only serves Godhead for fleeting earthly benefits. The travails men of Godhead has to undergo from the hands of Empire itself just for these men of Godhead to continue serving Godhead rather proves that man can, must and shall serve Godhead not for earthly benefits, but for heavenly, eternal priorities.' We can hear from these words that Godhead Over And Over Again above all in all trusts our yokebearers so much that they would be of our side alone (LUKE 9) making good on this enormously exciting task of restoration (Proverbs 8). Yokebearers therefore must not think that such crucial divine commission is a lost on their part, in fact their yokebearing duties are rather even more growing to be necessary and significant for this divine mission (LUKE 7, PSALM 72). DEUTERONOMY 30 tells us that if we are to stand on the Promised Land just like the United Saints, the Places of Safety and other symbolic Commondominion Jerusalems, then we are duty-bound with all our lives to stay standing with Sir Grundhofer on the sole side of Godhead, and we can therefore be sure that churches and countries can do it only alone with us (PSALM 27,84) because Empire hates standing with Godhead anymore (WISDOM OF SOLOMON 11-12). If we stand on Side of Godhead we know that we're already on the way to, not in the way of, Divine Celestial Glory and continual messenger sending (Proverbs 8, Psalm 80). Our yokebearers are expected to be the very first to do this if they are to be true and trustworthy stewards of all our branches (MATTHEW 5,11,13,24), and that they may be able to rally on all these branches to do the same as it is expected of Godhead for them to implement (2 Kings 12, 1 Kings 15). We could not help but give in to this beholding how unexplainable the generosity of this future today by Godhead is for all yokebearers. (1 PETER 1, 1 JOHN 3, 1 THESSALONIANS 1, Isaiah 32-33) 3. Another refulfillment of Godhead's promises that we see on the occasion of this Golden Jubilee is that Godhead shall continue to reveal new in-depth, inside and back stories on the settlements that our brethren planted in the United Saints between 421 cead and 1607,1620 (AMOS 3, 1 PETER 1). My father and Brother Joseph had already pointed out almost a year ago that the Commondominion has settled almost every presently major inch of earth during the Bible and Book of Mormon times, and that present and future Sacred Text Scriptures attests to this. The same could be said for the most recent times dating back past 412 cead to 1607 and 1620. Commondominion settlements of the United Saints between these years are recorded in the years 1497-1498, 1576-1580, 1584-1587, and 1595. For the years 1584-1587, we had a short-lived settlement in the United Saints, and for 1595 we had reached our present allies in Venezuela, which is around and near the Empire-revised backdrop setting of the Book of Mormon, to which your Central Administration had addressed that a separate Sacred Text Scriptures is allocated for Central-South United Saints which timeline is rather in the same time as the Book of Mormon in northern United Saints. It was said that we had no settlements planted in 1497, but as I would like to most solemnly attest to you, there could be Sacred Text Scriptures that instead reveal that there were permanent, not short-lived or none as Empire usually says, settlements in the United Saints on 1497-1498, 1576-1580, even on 1584-1587, and 1595, not to mention Filipinos were already in Louisiana around these times, of which exact year I could no longer recall. All of those permanent settlements, which were as good as those of 1607 and 1620, are very sophisticated and can be identified with the present nature of your Commondominion herself (LUKE 1), and all of them were very loyal too to Godhead (PSALM 99), therefore they are foretelling of our present and future stature itself. They have many messengers, many congregations, populist strongmen, and there are even yokebearers. They could only be wiped out by Empire persecution, but not by apostasy (SIRACH 48), and they are identified with that City of Enoc therefore they could not be really found by Empire because in the first place, Empire didn't founded them by the way (Nehemiah). It can be also said that Sacred Text Scriptures are also expected to be revealed on how the congregations that was planted overseas prior to 1968 fared before they were either raptured or slain. These congregations, although we have already a lot of congregations with our present member churches during those times, who reckon themselves from my clan, can be also said operating on the very nature that we are known for today. But i don't know whether Godhead shall indeed bestow Sacred Text Scriptures as these literally towards us, what i'm just trying to say is that Empire had distracted history so much that we have to know further than what they're trying to tell us, what they tell us is not the true and actual story, but it could be somehow sufficient that we know something like these as what i'm telling you in this entry had indeed happened on our settlements way back then, that they existed, and existed as we do now, to shatter any Empire claim that such a thing as us (Esther 4, Ether 4) today could never exist.

To all our most beloved fellow yokebearers in the music field herein your Commondominion of Christ, here I close my words and I would no longer invoke further but you already know that me, my father, and Joseph do always have you and all your loved ones in all our prayers and works. We are expecting you to join us whether in life or death, whatever it takes, we would be all eventually together in heaven. I rather desire that all of you be at once in heaven unscathed, therefore I implore Godhead that They may duly Empower and Glorify you so that you may be better, over and above and greater beyond our detractors, that you remain grounded in Godhead and Grundhofer and my grandmother, that you all may be at once and at all costs and means, redeemed and vindicated, kept safe and persevering for the life to come. May Godhead continue to visit you wright where you are, to see you through wherever you may be, and to see you come into Their immediate and eternal presence now and to come. We love you so much guys, and I would no longer dispense any blessings to your oppressors now listening to us (Jeremiah 7,11,14, 1 John 5), as much as their ultimate destiny is already marked out (Philippians 1, Hebrews 10, Bel and Dragon 1, Revelation 7,13-14), which will redound to the eternal salvation of you, your fellows, and all your loved ones. Upon seeing these graces therefore, we need to remain faithful to Godhead in utter gratitude of the most glorious future set in course for us. Therefore we must Complete this Race, and be the race that Godhead Itself owns and approves, that is Their Commondominion in every sense of the eternal living and infallible Word now and always. I love you all very much, and may Godhead Complete thus that which is concerning you in constant, faithful and genuine solid glory now and always.

Your most wretched slave in Godhead, FELIX ERANO WONG MANALO III Successor-son to the Central Administration of the Commondominion of Christ

#lentatchristmas #christmasatlent THEME: PENTECOST SUNDAY OT- Isaiah 19:1-25 P- Psalm 86:1-87:7 E- 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 G- Matthew 3:1-17, Mark 1:1-45, Luke 3:1-22, John 1:19-34

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[inherentlyme]

“Why so fancy today, Miss York?” my students ask as we wrap up our Friday tests. I laugh and shake my head. The sun is shining through the partly closed blinds, sending dusty rays of light across our 2016/17 academic year calendar pinner neatly to the board.

“I’m going to commencement,” I say, absentmindedly wiping my chalk-dusted hands across my freshly ironed graduation dress. “I have an art final, an athletics banquet, and a graduation today, so you have no excuses not to get your homework finished this afternoon.”

They chuckle because they know I won’t be assigning them any homework. The school year is wrapping up. Things are coming to an end. And when I think about how long ago everything started, I marvel at how I ended up here. Here specifically, in this classroom, inside this body, heading into this future that seems so different from what I had expected it would be so many years ago.

***

I was eighteen when I took my first class at Southwestern College. Dad dropped me off at the base of stairs in the bottom parking lot, wished me good luck with an endearing smile, and then left me there to figure out adult life on my own. That was a long time ago.

Homeschooled my entire life, stepping onto a community college campus was like walking into a strange new world. For starters, I’d never really been to school before. I literally asked a professor if I was allowed to chew gum in class. I found a tree on campus and sat under it every day for hours doing homework and journaling until one day someone asked me for a cigarette…then I started using the library because I didn’t want people to think I did drugs. My obsession with hot pockets may have directly coincided with this particular semester.

But I was unused to the culture and customs of the general public. Everything I knew about people outside my community of conservative Christian homeschoolers I learned from TV and talk radio, and the former was pretty limited. People amazed me, disgusted me, surprised me. Stereotypes were fortified and broken down at equal paces and I spent much of that first semester feeling like fly on a very big wall, silently observing, unnoticed by humanity, an outside observer who didn’t quite belong in the fluid chaos of existence on campus, awkward in my own skin.

In some ways, it’s precious to think of how ardently principled and idealistic I was then, my convictions untested, untampered, untouched by the world and its realities, my direction unclear, the person I was not yet fully-formed.

***

I skid onto campus and park in the lot beside the tennis courts, across from the newsroom. I find this fitting, seeing as I spent the better part of four years in this corner of campus.

First stop: Athletic Banquet.

It’s been weeks since I’ve worn heels — months, even? Whenever the shin splints started… Trodding across the pavement in my tan pumps now feels alien. I miss my running shoes.

Chewy is waiting outside the banquet room in the athletic building. He’s wearing a tie.

I remember when they built this building. I remember writing story after story about the Corner Lot, the public bond money, the fraud and embezzlement, the District Attorney’s investigation. And then the debate about football favoritism on campus, abuse of the baseball team’s self-raised funding, illegally recruited basketball players from the Bronx. My year as the news editor of our student paper in 2011/12 was quite the adventure, and the bleed-over into the world of athletics provided a pivotal introduction to something that would become an obsession.

And now, after all that fuss, here stands the multi-million dollar project — the Home of the Jaguars field house. For the briefest second, I hear chuckle of irony waft on the breeze blowing by as I am welcomed by a structure whose creation I was once so adamantly against.

Chewy sees me and smiles, bus bag schlopped over his shoulder.

“There you are,” he says.

Inside, Melissa is sitting with her boyfriend and family. Ed shows up with an entourage, looking sharply pressed and suave. I almost don’t recognize Dae — the sprinter is polished up like a new penny. And Coach is there, all smiles. In fact, the whole room is filled with people I recognize. Athletes from the women’s soccer team, men’s basketball, football, volleyball. Coaches, trainers, administrators. And I feel like I owe everyone something, because I can pinpoint specific moments this year where each one of them has done something for me — offered athletic advice, supplied important encouragement at game-changing moments, extended the hand of friendship. Without even knowing it, these people have shaped my whole year.

The coaches call us up by teams and present each of us with a golden stole that says, “Student Athlete,” and my heart swells with pride. I earned this.

***

Those first two years at school…What an education in life. I learned how to use the bus, how to find the best snacks on campus, how to make friends in class…

Ah, friends. The real gem of my college experience. I have met the most amazing, talented, kind, interesting, loyal people at Southwestern College. I am proud to say I have made friends of students, professors, coaches, faculty and governing board members alike. I almost made friends with some of the campus police as well…They ticket me often enough…

In fact, after three semesters as an editor for the student paper and a year as president of the paralegal club, when I graduated with my Associate’s in 2012, I felt oddly nostalgic. Southwestern felt like a second home. I felt like it had developed my passion for writing, tested my independence, and challenged my beliefs and perspectives enough to reaffirm what I knew to be true and sand the sharp edges off the rest. And for the first time ever, I had started doing something unexpected — I was learning about sports.

It started as baseball game briefs and quickly turned into photography and season coverage. And to everyone’s surprise, including my own, I loved every second of it. It was empowering to discover something I enjoyed doing — and was slowly becoming good at — that fell so far outside what people, especially myself, expected I would be interested in.

But, as a writer, I respect the closing of chapters. And life is full of so, so many chapters. So I turned the last page of my college story with the tassel on my graduation cap, vowing to never look back.

  ***

My heels click over the sidewalk as I race from the banquet to my art final. I still have to show off my portfolio.

When I walk in, the class is halfway through presentations, but they stop to cheer as I swoop in, breathless and still wearing my student athlete sash.

“You look so nice!” they say, cooing over my graduation dress and commenting on the cap and gown I have tucked under my arm. No one fully expected me to show up today. They all know I have graduation this afternoon. They’re also used to me flying in halfway through class, still dressed in my practice uniform, or hobbling in late with my boot or ice bags. And yet, their patience never seems to run out.

They go back to the portfolios on display and I sneak over to the potluck table. I ate almost nothing at the banquet and it’s going to be a long afternoon. Unable to find any forks, I pick unceremoniously through the remnants of the feast with my fingers and I watch my classmates on the other side of the room. They have been so fun to learn with, the perfect mesh of ragtags and misfits.

Seven years ago, I might have felt uncomfortable among such openly awkward human beings who aren’t sure how to wear their opinions, backgrounds and social make-up — honestly, people in the same stage of development I was in when I first came to school. I wouldn’t have understood. I wouldn’t have known how to cultivate friendships with people so different from myself. Some of them are that way with each other, not knowing when to forgive, or overlook, or rise above. As it is, we all get along splendidly now. I love them to pieces. And some of them really need some lovin’, so I’m only too happy to give it. What a small gift to offer in return for the wealth of joy and friendship they’ve given back.

One hand in the chow mein, the other holding a piece of chocolate cake, I wonder where I learned how to be a good friend. I wonder if it is perhaps because, so long ago, people here were a friend to me.

***

I worked for a year in San Diego after graduating with my A.A., covering college baseball as a freelance writer in my spare time for a local paper, and then, in the summer of 2013, I moved to Prague. A lot of life happened in Prague, most of which I’ve already blogged about extensively. All I will say here is that, moving back to San Diego was the hardest thing I have ever done. It literally broke my heart. And, upon discovering how little it felt like I belonged back in my old stomping grounds, and how much I missed Prague, I returned to the only place I knew would welcome me back without question — Southwestern College.

But instead of the bright-eyed idealist who first walked onto campus on a muggy morning in late-August, 2010, it was just me, complete with broken heart and battle scars. I was struggling, cynical and more than a little lost. The person I was in August 2015 felt more like someone who’d been put through a blender and then asked to walk home, dripping anxiety and dragging the shreds of hope and purpose gracelessly behind.

And yet, there was Southwestern, waiting for me with open arms. It didn’t matter that my friends from high school had all moved on and moved away. There were new people here — people who have become some of my dearest treasures.

And it didn’t matter that I didn’t know where I was going next, because neither did anyone else. And we all just sort of took our time and let the doors open one at a time. It was humbling and empowering and beautiful.

***

The heels come off. I left art class after presenting my portfolio and washing down the cake with a dixie cup full of Dr. Pepper. Everyone sent me off with waves and well-wishes, and it was actually a little difficult to turn my back and walk away from my raggamuffin art friends.

But I have somewhere to be.

Running across the deserted campus barefoot in my dress feels oddly appropriate. I’ve been here long enough to feel comfortable getting comfortable.

The newsroom bursts into view and my heart flutters a little. I may have forsaken its walls this last year in my pursuit of athletics, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t all start here. For three years, I worked in these walls. This is where I fell in love with languages, where I discovered a passion for sports, where I broke out of the shell I grew up in.

I have lived through four generations of writers who graced this building. That’s the nice thing about The Sun. It’s a family. Everyone is welcome back, and most of us never really leave for good. So the editors who taught me how to be a journalist back in 2011 are still spoken of in hallowed whispers by this year’s staff who were trained by people I once trained.

So flying through the doors now, cap and gown in tow, feels like landing a biplane on the same little island airstrip that I’ve always used to refuel before long trips. I know these palm trees.

“Ooh, pretty dress,” says Ella from her computer as I walk through the sliding glass doors.

One second I’m standing and saying, “thank you,” and the next I am sliding on the floor, lying on my back looking up. It’s ritualistic at this point.

“Aw, is this your last official Marydown here?” Ella asks me. Alyssa comes out of her office with her phone.

“We have to Snapchat this,” she says.

  So, here I am. Lying on the floor while my phone buzzes — Melissa and Chewy want to know why I’m not in the graduation line at the football stadium.

Maybe I’m not quite ready to go down there yet. Maybe I’d like to soak in the memories of late-night production week madness, the feeling of being surrounded by people who love and appreciate me even when I don’t really deserve it, and the thrill of knowing what is waiting right around the corner of tomorrow, even if it’s just another story to tell.

“Better get your cap on,” Ella says. “You don’t want to miss your own commencement.”

She helps me pin the cap on and waves me out the door before turning dutifully back to her own work at the computer. And so I leave the newsroom one more time, knowing somehow that it won’t be the last.

***

I think I was surprised by how unchanged Southwestern was when I returned. Sure, the new stadium was finally up, and what a beauty! The faces on campus were new, for the most part. But the feel was the same. The trees still flower in purples, pinks and creams every semester. The sun still sets over the buildings with breathtaking drama. The parking is still only barely tolerable.

The sameness of the college highlighted the changes in me. When I stepped foot on campus again for the first time in three years back in 2015, I felt changed, different from who I had been when I graduated in 2012, or took my first class in 2010. And I the feeling strikes me again as I wind my way towards the back of the football stadium, into a sea of black caps.

***

“We were worried you wouldn’t make it!” says Melissa. My cap and gown were eskew from running down the back end of the stadium to where the graduates were being held. Chewy let me use the reflection in his sunglasses to fix everything. I have an extra tassel for graduating with honors, and a medal to show that I’m a transfer student. I’m proud of that too.

There we all were, suited up and looking sharp.

Ernesto was in and out, taking pictures of everyone. He works for the school now. To think he used to be my assistant at the newsroom, and now look at the two of us. Time flies in weird directions.

The ceremony takes forever, and we’re pretty much in the last row. After nearly two hours, it’s our turn to stand up and move down to the stage at the end of the football field. Coach is all gussied up and ready to give us our diplomas. I hear several people call out my name from the crowd of graduates. People I’ve met over the years.

Under the corner of the stage, sunlight bending in ribbons over the field, I realize how much time I have spent here. Nearly every day of the last year, I have walked down the steps onto this field for practice or to go to the locker rooms or the trainers. In the process of becoming an athlete, I have developed immense affection for this place and the chorus of life that resonates in echoes of possibility through the stadium.

More than that, I watched football games here in 2010 during my first semester. I didn’t know how football worked back then, and I didn’t have anyone to watch with. But I wanted to belong to this school so much. Isn’t that what we do? Go out and support the home team?

The home team.

The thought brings tears to my eyes, because this really is my home team. This is my school and these are my people.

I get lost in the twists and turns of life so frequently, battered and beaten by a world too rough for bright-eyed idealists, and Southwestern has been the safehaven. Not for my ideals — those have been challenged and tested. But it’s been a safe place for them to be put under inspection, a place where the voices raised in opposition are raised in friendship.

In fact, as I mount the steps to shake coach’s hand and take my certificate of completion, I realize that I haven’t really changed at all, as much as I feel like I have. I’ve developed, grown, broadened my horizons. But the core of who I am on this stage, in these awful heels with cap slipping off, is really the same as girl who walked onto campus alone one morning in August. The journalist, the athlete, the idealist, the friend, all culminating in this person I have become.

I have memories in the very fabric of this campus. Reminders that what I am and what I believe are holding steadfastly. But from the roots I have cultivated here have sprouted wings. The metamorphosis has taken place. I can see it from where I’m standing and I can feel it in my heart, held together by the healing bonds of home.

  roots and wings “Why so fancy today, Miss York?” my students ask as we wrap up our Friday tests. I laugh and shake my head.