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biggest-gaudiest-patronuses · 3 years

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I suspect quite a few people on this site don’t realize they are struggling with the effects of chronic trauma. In particular I think more people need to learn about the symptoms of C-PTSD.

Distinct from general PTSD, Complex PTSD is caused by prolonged, recurring stress and trauma, often occurring in childhood & adolescence over an extended period of time. There are many risk factors, including: abusive/negligent caregivers, dysfunctional family life, untreated mental/chronic illness, and being the target of bullying/social alienation.

I’m not a mental health professional and I’m not qualified to diagnose anyone, I just remember a million watt light bulb going off in my head when I first learned about C-PTSD. It was a huge OH MY FUCKING WORD eureka moment for me—it explained all these problems I was confused and angry at myself for having. The symptoms that really stood out to me were:

Negative self-perception: deep-seated feelings of shame, guilt, worthlessness, helplessness, and stigma. Feeling like you are different from everyone else, like something is fundamentally ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ with you.

Emotional avoidance of topics, people, relationships, activities, places, things etc that might cause uncomfortable emotions such as shame, fear, or sadness. Can lead to self-isolation.

Learned helplessness: a pervasive sense of powerlessness, often combined with feelings of desensitization, wherein you gradually stop trying to escape or prevent your own suffering, even when opportunities exist. May manifest as self-neglect or self-sabotage. (I remember watching myself make bad choices and neglect my responsibilities, and having no idea why I was doing it, or how to stop myself. Eventually I just stopped caring, which led to more self-neglect.)

Hyper-vigilance: always feeling “on edge,” alert, unable to relax even in spaces that should feel safe. May be combined with an elevated “flight” response, or feelings of always being prepared to flee. (I used to hide important documents and possessions in a sort of emergency go bag, even when I was living alone and there was no logical reason other than it made me feel “prepared.”)

Difficulty regulating emotions: may include mood swings, persistent numbness, sadness, suicidal idealization, explosive anger (or inability to feel anger and other strong emotions), inability to control your emotions, confusion about why you react the way you do.

Sense of foreshortened future: assuming or feeling that you will die young. Recurring thoughts that "I'll be dead before the age of 30/40/18/21 etc." As a teenager I used to joke darkly that I didn't plan to live past 30—not because I planned to end my life, but because I simply couldn't imagine myself alive and happy in the long-term. I couldn't imagine a meaningful future where I wasn't suffering.

Emotional flashbacks: finding yourself suddenly re-experiencing feelings of helplessness, panic, despair, or anger etc, often without understanding what has triggered these feelings. Often these flashbacks don’t clearly relate to the memory of a single event (since C-PTSD is caused by repetitive events, which can blur together), making them harder to identify as flashbacks—especially if you’ve never heard the phrase “emotional flashback” and don’t know what to look for. For years I just filed it under “sometimes I overreact/freak out randomly for no reason, probably bc I am just a terrible human being.” (It turns out there was very much a reason, it was just hidden in the past. I have since learned to be kinder and less judgemental towards myself.)

There are other symptoms too, here are more links with good info.

I’ve been meaning to write this post for awhile, because I’ve noticed that a lot of the people I interact with online have risk factors and experiences similar to mine. These include:

growing up in a dysfunctional household

having caregivers who do not fulfill basic emotional needs (do not provide consistent positive attention, encouragement, support, acceptance, communication, a sense of safety and security)

on a very related note, experiencing neglect or abuse at the hand of caregivers or other adults. I also want to emphasize the significance of emotional abuse, since it is hard to recognize, easy to ignore, and utterly rampant in so many communities. In general, family dysfunction, abuse & neglect are quite difficult to identify when you are a child/teen and that is the only “normal” you have known.

(For example, in my family it manifested as an emotionally absent father I was vaguely frightened of, constant nagging from a hypercritical mother, and a house full of people who yelled and screamed at each other. It took me years to realize I grew up in an abusive environment, because there was no physical violence, because I participated in the fighting, and because my behavioral problems made me the family scapegoat. And I internalized that guilt: I thought I was the problem. But no—I was a child, and I deserved not to grow up in a household full of anger and fear and negativity. You deserved that too. You deserved to grow up safe and loved and treated with kindness.)

anyway back to more risk factors:

being neurodivergent or chronically ill (especially without receiving proper treatment/support/accommodation)

being queer (especially in a conservative or undiverse community, or without the support and acceptance of family & friends)

being the target of bullying or harassment (from peers, teachers, authority figures, irl, online, etc)

being isolated or alienated from peers, from family, from your wider community.

growing up with chronic anxiety, discomfort, pain, fear, or distress caused by any of the above and more.

There are many other experiences that can cause chronic trauma, but these are some particularly common ones I see people in my own community struggling with. And I want more people to be aware of this, because we’ve been taught to ignore and second-guess the significance of our traumatic experiences. We’ve been taught to feel guilty for our own pain, because “other people aren’t struggling, so I shouldn’t either” or (contradictorily) “other people have it worse, so I shouldn’t complain.” But that’s not how it works—you are not other people, and you deserve to have it better. We all deserve better. We deserve to be happy. We deserve not to be in pain.

I used to think I couldn’t have a trauma disorder because (I argued in my head) the things that happened to me weren’t that bad. And then I spent five years in therapy learning to accept the full extent of my issues. I’ve since learned that trauma comes in many forms, and can happen quietly, invisibly, silently, chronically, and usually without the survivor being aware of the long-term repercussions of what they are surviving. That revelation comes later, after you have survived and must instead learn to live.

Finally, no single type of trauma is more real or harmful than any other. Severity is measured by the way the individual is affected, and the same situations affect different people in different ways. Because no one gets to choose how their brain reacts to trauma. No one gets to choose their hurt—otherwise there would be a hell of a lot less hurting in the world.

We can, however, choose to seek help. We can learn to recognize when something is wrong, we can learn when to reach out to professionals, and we can learn to educate ourselves on our injuries.

And gradually, we can learn to heal.

(posts like this brought to you by ko-fi supporters)

#The way things are is not the way things will always be. So I have learned to trust.#i...i accidentally spent 4 1/2 HOURS writing this what the FUCK #long post #not a shitpost #serious post #mental health #c-ptsd #complex ptsd #trauma #ask to tag #i need to take a break and drink some tea #maybe with the fancy new tea biscuits i just bought #they have pecans and honey. i like honey #pecans are gross though except apparently in biscuits. these biscuits are really good #anyway let me know if you're worried I've misspoke or misrepresented anything here #again i'm not a professional. i'm just a person in therapy who has spent the last few years learning about and healing from complex trauma #and i wish i had known all of this years sooner. but i know it now so i'm putting it out there #bc i hope it helps someone dealing with the same things i dealt with.#i know things now that were painful to learn. and i will use them gently with great care #i wish i hadn't suffered the way i suffered. but since i have--how miraculous if i could use it to prevent others from suffering the same #that's the best thing to do with pain i think. turn it into something warm and blazing and try to use it to keep others warm #pain is like fire that way. you can burn yourself and others with it. or you can tame it and keep it in a jar and use it as a guiding light #For the Love of All the Fucks please notify me of typos

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multicolouredbeanbag · 4 years

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Tl;dr: I classified teenage bounty hunters characters into Harry Potter houses as a personality study bc I could NOT stop thinking ab the show !!!!

Sterling is a Gryffindor primary + Slytherin secondary

Blair is a Ravenclaw primary + Gryffindor secondary

April is a Hufflepuff primary + Ravenclaw secondary

This is LONG but bear with me….. also spoilers ahead:

The methodology I used was the sorting hat chats website, a more in-depth construction of the hp houses that breaks your characteristics down into both a PRIMARY and SECONDARY house. Your primary addresses WHY you do things (motivations, values, framing of world) and your secondary addresses HOW you do things (your methodology, tactics, approach).

Keep in mind this is my interpretation of these structures, and I am open to criticism and thoughts, in fact PLEASE send them along bc these characters rule my life!!

First up, Sterling:

Sterling’s secondary is very obviously Slytherin. Slytherins are fundamentally IMPROVISERS. They are adaptive, go-with-the-flow individuals who are able to leverage opportunities that a situation might throw at them. There are so many examples of this but the one that sticks out to me most is S1E10 the Sour Patch scene. She notices something is off ab Twin!Mom almost immediately and loses her phone. Her solution is ingenious: cajole her kidnapper into letting her go to the bathroom, where she 1) maxes out her credit card so that Blair will get a notification 2) leaves a hidden message for her using the sugar from the sour patch candies.

Couple other examples:

When she (and Blair) spreads a rumor about the condom wrapper so that the rumor can’t get traced back to her (S1E1)

When she tries to “own her sins” and, realizing that this worked for her because no one believed that the condom wrapper was hers, went along with the idea that the whole thing was a joke — frankly excellent strategic move that would have protected her. Of course, she gave in afterwards because she saw that April was going to take the fall but this is relevant to her primary not so much her secondary (more on this later) (S1E2)

Post-college party (S1E3), she spins a bad situation (her public drunkenness, a low) into a great one (story of redemption, being closer to God) by riding her peers’ reactions up and back into fellowship. Definitely unplanned, but so, so smart.

Sterling’s primary is probably a Gryffindor. She has a strong internal moral compass and sense of right and wrong that she cannot help acting upon.

Examples:

S1E2, when she confesses that the condom wrapper is hers and rejects her own strategy (even though she had been winning!) because she couldn’t let April take the fall for her. It didn’t matter that April had been threatening her, that April kind of got herself into this bad situation, because April hadn’t done it.

S1E5: Sterling ultimately CANNOT bring herself to attack Craig Wu, because she felt it was wrong. This cost her school the tournament, and the brief period of camaraderie that she’d had with April, and a bit of herself (because Sterling IS a super motivated person who does want to win— just not at the expense of her morals)

Basically at the end of the day, Sterling has a set of morals that she feels really strongly about. I even think her confidence within her own relationship with God is an example of this—the community is teaching her all these Christian values of purity but Sterling is still like NO, I know what’s right, and I know that being a good person means more to God. It is very difficult for her to defy her own internal convictions, regardless of what the community around her is saying.

Note: I did consider Sterling as a possible Hufflepuff primary, which would have meant that she values people/community/fairness, which seems in line initially. The difference between Gryffs and Puffs is slight but significant: Gryffindor is idealistic, willing to sacrifice social harmony for what they believe is right. They are internally driven. Hufflepuff is allegiant to their group, taking input from the community. They are externally driven. Basically, how much can other people influence your decisions?

Sterling’s intuitive morality includes concern for the community/people, but at the end of the day, I think that Sterling will make the “right” choice according to her internalized moral intuition about who deserves what, even if it might hurt people she cares for. Her morality interacts with Blair’s in a very interesting way - not to get too much into it but Sterling ends up being more confident internally while Blair is more of a tester/scientist, willing to research externally in order to affirm/reject her beliefs ab the world. Inadvertently Blair is more prone to existential crises (see ghostgate S1E5).

So overall, Sterling is a kickass character with a strong sense of right or wrong even though she can be conniving/tactical/sneaky in her means!! I am so sorry that this turned out so obsessively long, and I’m not done yet — so I’ll put up the next part tomorrow! We haven’t even rly gotten to how the characters interact with each other, because UGH. Their personality traits bounce off each other so well. Ok thank u for reading please drop ur thoughts PLEASE

Part 2 Part 3

#teenage bounty hunters #sterling wesley #blair wesley #april stevens #tbh #character analysis #hp houses #sterling x april #maddie phillips #did i write this instead of doing... anything today? yes #head empty cept 4 these girls who live in my mind rent free #i honestly adore sterling she's so excellent #i think if she were to be actually sorted she would probably end up in gryffindor #definitely present in her personality more #and she would probably want to be in gryffindor more too #choice matters!!!

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readingontheroof · 6 years

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actually i have more questions but you can just answer in your own time, i'll send different asks so u can spread it out if u want [waving hand emoji] anyway i'm interested in how u think the enneagram types approach independence and freedom differently?

lmao thank u for spreading them i appreciate it

I’ll just go type by type for organization’s sake

1s--I think they’d mostly view independence as like “sticking to your guns” as in not wavering from your rule book/principles/values/etc despite life challenges, people disagreeing, etc. I think freedom would be something they’re kind of fundamentally uncomfortable with because they might view it as sort of unsettling/anxiety inducing bc they then lose what they’ve built their identity on. With integration to 7, they have a better understanding of freedom, and are likely to conceptualize it as something they give themselves, by “letting go.”

2s--I think they’d see independence as a kind of intimidating/unappealing concept bc they’re likely to either see it as something they’re bad at achieving or something they don’t understand the appeal of. It’s with integration to 4 that they get a better idea of their own distinct identity separate from community/other people, and they start to hone their idea of individuality. They’re likely to see freedom as interpersonal, eg I think a lot of 2s see freedom as when they’re with people they can be “free” with instead of with people that make them feel insecure.

3s--I think 3s see independence as a main goal, and view it as intrinsically tied to their success. The more successful they are, the more independent they are. and the more they can take care of themselves, the more they’ve proved themselves. I think they can get kind of unhealthily wrapped up in this, and it’s with integration to 6 that they can understand how dependence/trust in other people can be valuable/healthy. I think they view freedom as this concept of a future when they’ve so proved themselves that they’ve kind of reached the ending point. I don’t think they think too hard about this, because 3s essentially see life as a constant exponential increase in success and if they don’t stay on that track they’re failing, but they have this vague concept of Proving themselves, at which point freedom is achieved. However I think in reality freedom is achieved for them when they gain a sense of intrinsic worth, independent of the outside world + expectations + achievement.

4s--I think 4s view independence as tied to their identity and individuality. It’s something very internal for them, it’s about having their own sense of self, separate from other people and the world. I think they view freedom as something tied to thought and expression, they view freedom as being able to “be themselves.”

5s--I think 5s view independence as being very internal as well. I think 5s are def the most independent type/the type that values independence the most, at least on this very literal, internal level (rather than on like a financial or physical level like a 3). 5s view independence as being able to exist/having a honed identity/sense of thought completely separate from/resilient to the outside world and other people. I think 5s view freedom as being very tied to this independence, they view freedom as the ability to escape any situation, often by receding into themselves.

6s--I think 6s have a hard time with independence, and view it basically the same as what I've described for 2s, except more specific to certain people rather than the community as a whole. I think they view freedom as threatening the way that 1s do, I think they like to be dependent on people and gain a better relationship to it with integration to 9, where they might begin to view freedom as an internal thing, about internal peace and separation from the outside world and other people.

7s--I think a lot of 7s have a very strong sense of independence, and view it as very tied to their freedom. They tend to define their independence as their resilience and ability to be easy going in any situation--their ability to have a good time and remain unbothered even as life gets really bad. I think that freedom for them is about their ability to do whatever they want, whenever they want, regardless of rules/the world/their situation. I think that their concepts of both independence and freedom can be unhealthy for them, because they often are not built on real freedom, because of their tendency to lead toward escapism and avoid actually addressing their problems.

8s--I think 8s view independence as very power driven. A healthy 8 will view independence as their ability to control their own life and choices/ability to support themselves, but many 8s seem to feel as if their independence is threatened when they cannot control other people's lives as well. Their idea of freedom is analogous to this, they tend to feel free when they can control their own life, but some feel like they are losing freedom purely because they cannot control aspects of their life which are not theirs to control.

9s--I think 9s tend to view independence as very internal as well. I think they tend to view it as something they can achieve by always remaining neutral and at peace, regardless of outer turmoil. I think they view freedom as the ability to achieve this, similar to 5s.

#anon #answered #mbtiask #enneagram #Anonymous

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cool2020calendar-blog · 4 years

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July 2020 Calendar For Holiday & Work Schedule

July is the second month of summer and is known for its warm air. The best movement in July is to chill by a plunge in the sea or pool, swing in a lounger and look at get-togethers on a pre-summer night.

July is the most sultry month of the Northern Hemisphere and, regardless of what may be standard, it is seen as the coldest month in the Southern Hemisphere. July is the thing that maybe stood apart from January of the Northern side of the equator in the Southern side of the equator.

The second half of the year starts with July. In various workplaces, the assessments made around the beginning of the year are sketched out and the course is broke down. July is in like the way the comprehensive length of inquiring about decisions taken for the new year. You may even need to do a little cure. Since you may be gone in a general sense speedier, or more conceded than you orchestrated.

July is close to the immense piece of various festivals and there are various inspirations to experience this month flooding with fun. Because of each and every outside activity, coastline parties, weddings, national events and a wide degree of good occasions in July, you can be to some degree hard to contribute noteworthiness with each event.

HISTORY OF JULY

July was from the beginning of the great importance of Quintilis in the Roman timetable. It was the "fifth" month of the year until January and February were joined into the timetable in 450 BC. It got its entrancing name from the Latin word for fifth. Later the name was changed to Julius to pay tribute to Julius Caesar who was considered on July 12.

July is the standard time length known as "fence month," the shut season for deer in England. The satisfaction of England's High Court of Justice Trinity Term occurs on 31 July. July is in like the way the time wherein the races happen for the Japanese House of Councilors, held at standard among times and displacing half of its seats. In Ancient Rome, the festival of Poplifugia was adulated on 5 July, and Ludi Apollinaris was held tight 13 July and for a couple of days a brief range later. Everything considered, these dates don't identify with the progressed Gregorian timetable.

The name of the seventh month of the year – July – was given by the Roman Senate in 46 B.C. out of thankfulness for ruler Julius Caesar.

July is the most blasting month in the Northern Hemisphere all around. It takes after January in the Southern Hemisphere.

A touch of the time the sweltering, wide stretches of July are known as the "dog extended lengths of summer".

There are various countries which have their Independence Day during the hour of July. These set the United States, Belarus, Venezuela, Argentina, Belgium, the Bahamas, and the Maldives. The national days for France and Canada occur in July too.

It is a section of the time called the Hay month considering the manner in which that the grass dries out by excellence of a nonappearance of a tempest and can be made into a feed.

July's birthstone, the ruby, is reliably associated with fulfillment, love, centrality, and steadfast quality.

The regular develop of the great importance of July is the water lily, symbolizing joy, capriciousness, and sweetness.

No month completes on a general day of the week as July close to on the off chance that it is a ricochet year when January achieves everything considered.

More US presidents (seven) have passed on in July than in some other month.

The outdated British called July "Heymonth" or "Maedmonth" recommending haymaking and dales blooming.

JULY HOLIDAYS IN THE UNITED STATES

Opportunity Day (July fourth)

Opportunity Day 2020, generally called Fourth of July, is an association event observed yearly on July fourth. It is the acknowledgment of the dispersing of the solicitation of the self-rule of the United States of America from Great Britain in 1776.

On April 19, 1775, during the Battles of Lexington and Concord (Mass.), the fundamental shots were released among pioneers and British troopers, starting the American Revolution. After these first military conflicts, the strain among Britain and her American pioneers continued mounting. By then, on July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress controlled for self-rule from Britain.

Following two days, on July 4, the Congress authenticated the last draft of the Declaration of Independence, which had been made by Thomas Jefferson and changed by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. On July 8, the basic open researching of the Declaration happened at the Pennsylvania State House (genuinely Independence Hall) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Later that for all intents and purposes indistinguishable day, various readings occurred in Trenton, New Jersey, and Easton, Pennsylvania.

In the United States, Independence Day is an association event everything thought about celebrated with walks, shows, sparklers and picnics, and fire burns. Various people show the American standard outside their homes or structures. If Independence Day falls on seven days' end, by then the last Friday or following Monday will be an event. As this is a Federal event, not only will schools and libraries be closed. Most government and state working circumstances will correspondingly be closed and there will be no mail send on Independence Day.

In general Day of Friendship

The International Day of Friendship is a United Nations (UN) day that supports the activity that coordinated effort plays in actuating congeniality in various social solicitations. Before the 30th of July was recently nitty-gritty as the International Day of Friendship by the General Assembly of United Nations in 2011, the central thought for a day of the association began from Hallmark cards during the 1930s, various years back. It was from the beginning celebrated on second August, the day was, as they say, seen incredulously by general society as a business work out, offers of family relationship day cards didn't take off in Europe and by the mid-1940's the day had ended up being unsafe in the USA. The probability of a day to regard family connections was, in any case, understood by different countries in Asia where it remained a standard custom to hold a day for complimenting affiliations and the exchanging of headways between buddies.

The basic World Friendship Day was proposed for 30 July 1958 by the World Friendship Crusade, a general crucial affiliation that fights to connect with a culture of the comprehension through affiliation.

Because of the creation pervasiveness of electronic life all through the world, there has been a huge development in watching World Friendship Day and International Day of Friendship online similarly as in system practices in close to structures arranged for get-together ones of different establishments.

If you are an "all around sorted out" person who reliably says interest is fundamental, attempt to experience this day with your mates (by structure new memories)! You ought to just check this day on your July 2020 calendar printable!

National Parents' Day

Gatekeepers' Day lauds the monstrosity of the development of trustworthy youth raising in family life dependably on the fourth Sunday in July. Families are the most minor unit of the general people and a significant human establishment. The need of a family is to be as one through boundless love and responsibility.

Watchmen's Day was set up in 1994. In a time span where society ended up being genuinely self-devoured, President Bill Clinton meant congressional focuses to watch Parents' Day needing to move family duties and parental responsibilities. Kept up by the Unification Church, Senator Trent Lott passed on the bill into the senate and the National Parents' Day Coalition was made to help Parents' Day by dependably picking 'Watchmen' of the Year' at neighborhood, national and state levels. The Coalition similarly ensures informational activities for protects and might want to drive the dependable idea of family by enabling consistency among wedded couples, and of marriage between youngsters.

National Parents' Day isn't a day of gift-giving. Gifts are starting at now permitted on Mother's Day in May and Father's Day in June. The best way to deal with a watch this day is achieving something fun by contributing noteworthiness with your kinfolk. It's in like manner of key giant that you cause them to appreciate the entire they are revered and saw.

This year in 2020 National Parents' Day will be commended on July 26th 2020, Sunday.

In case you have to experience this novel day with your family or bring a journey through a huge field of cordial recollections, you may put a sign on your printable timetable.

Certainly UNDERSTOOD BIRTHDAYS IN JULY

July 6, 1946 – George Walker Bush who is the past (43rd) President of the United States was considered in New Haven, Connecticut.

July 10, 1856–Nikola Tesla who was a Serbian-American pioneer, best known for his advancement of substituting stream electrical systems was imagined in Smiljan, Austrian Empire (clearly in Croatia).

July 18, 1918–A Nobel laureate, Nelson Mandela who was the man submitted for toppling politically-grasped racial detachment and joining the country of South Africa was imagined in Mvezo, South Africa.

July 21, 1899–Ernest Hemingway who was a Nobel Prize-winning American essayist was considered in Cicero (legitimately in Oak Park), Illinois.

July 26, 1943–Mick Jagger who is a recognized entertainer, lyricist, craftsman, on-screen character and the setting up individual from 'The Rolling Stones' was considered in Dartford, England. July 6, 1907–Frida Kahlo who was a prominent Mexico.

#2020calendar july2020 july2020calendar

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learningrendezvous · 6 years

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Science and Society

SYMBIOTIC EARTH: HOW LYNN MARGULIS ROCKED THE BOAT AND STARTED A SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION

Directed by John Feldman

Explores the life and ideas of Lynn Margulis, a scientific rebel who challenged entrenched theories of evolution to present a new narrative: life evolves through collaboration.

SYMBIOTIC EARTH explores the life and ideas of Lynn Margulis, a brilliant and radical scientist, whose unconventional theories challenged the male-dominated scientific community and are today fundamentally changing how we look at our selves, evolution, and the environment.

As a young scientist in the 1960s, Margulis was ridiculed when she first proposed that symbiosis was a key driver of evolution, but she persisted. Instead of the mechanistic view that life evolved through random genetic mutations and competition, she presented a symbiotic narrative in which bacteria joined together to create the complex cells that formed animals, plants and all other organisms - which together form a multi-dimensional living entity that covers the Earth. Humans are not the pinnacle of life with the right to exploit nature, but part of this complex cognitive system in which each of our actions has repercussions.

Filmmaker John Feldman traveled globally to meet Margulis' cutting-edge colleagues and continually asked: What happens when the truth changes? SYMBIOTIC EARTH examines the worldview that has led to climate change and extreme capitalism and offers a new approach to understanding life that encourages a sustainable and symbiotic lifestyle.

DVD / 2018 / (Grade 8evel: 10 - 12, College, Adults) / 147 minutes

CELLING YOUR SOUL

Directed by Joni Siani

An examination of our love/hate relationships with our digital devices from the first digitally socialized generation, and what we can do about it.

In one short decade, we have totally changed the way we interact with one another. The millennial generation, the first to be socialized in a digital world, is now feeling the unintended consequences.

CELLING YOUR SOUL is a powerful and informative examination of how our young people actually feel about connecting in the digital world and their love/hate relationship with technology. It provides empowering strategies for more fulfilling, balanced, and authentic human interaction within the digital landscape.

The film reveals the effects of "digital socialization" by taking viewers on a personal journey with a group of high school and college students who through a digital cleanse discover the power of authentic human connectivity, and that there is "No App" or piece of technology that can ever replace the benefits of human connection.

DVD / 2017 / (Grades 6-12, College, Adult) / 48 minutes

CRACKING CANCER

Directed by Judith Pyke

A clinical research trial at the Personalized OncoGenomics Program is changing the way scientists think about the future of cancer care.

Six years ago Zuri Scrivens, the mother of a toddler, was very ill with incurable breast cancer that had spread to her liver and lymph nodes. Today Zuri has no signs of cancer, not because of a miraculous new cancer drug, but thanks to a diabetes medication.

CRACKING CANCER follows a group of patients with incurable cancer on a trailblazing journey through a highly experimental clinical trial at the BC Cancer Agency in Vancouver called POG -- Personalized OncoGenomics.

The trial compares patients' normal DNA -- each cell's complete set of instructions -- with that of their tumors, to find the genetic mutations causing their cancer. Zuri's cancer driver was a mutation that caused a very high growth factor. The team plowed through decades of data to isolate which drug in all of medicine, not just cancer, might block that growth factor. They zeroed in on a diabetes medication. Zuri received the drug and standard hormone treatment. Within 5 months, her cancer became undetectable.

POG offers a radical new way of treating cancer, not according to where it originates in the body, but rather as a disease of genetic mutations. Thousands more will join the trial, all hoping for their own salvation, all helping science to crack the cancer code.

DVD / 2017 / (Grades 10-12, College, Adults) / 44 minutes

DANGEROUS IDEA, A: GENETICS, EUGENICS AND THE AMERICAN DREAM

Directed by Stephanie Welch

Examines the history of the US eugenics movement and its recent resurrection, which uses false scientific claims and holds that an all-powerful "gene" determines who is worthy and who is not.

There is a dangerous idea that has threatened the American Dream from the very beginning. It is a strong current of biological determinism which views some groups, races and individuals as inherently superior to others and more deserving of fundamental rights. Despite the founders' assertion that "all are created equal," this idea was used to justify disenfranchising women, blacks and Native Americans from the earliest days of the Republic.

A DANGEROUS IDEA: GENETICS, EUGENICS AND THE AMERICAN DREAM reveals how this dangerous idea gained new traction in the 20th century with an increasing belief in the concept of an all-powerful "gene" that predetermines who is worthy and who is not. The film reveals how this new genetic determinism provided an abhorrent rationale for state sanctioned crimes committed against America's poorest, most vulnerable citizens and for violations of the fundamental civil rights of untold millions.

Featuring interviews with social thinkers including Van Jones and Robert Reich as well as prominent scientists in many fields, A DANGEROUS IDEA is a radical reassessment of the meaning, use and misuse of gene science. Like no other film before it, this documentary brings to light how false scientific claims have rolled back long fought for gains in equality, and how powerful interests are poised once again to use the gene myth to unravel the American Dream.

DVD / 2017 / (Grades 10-12, College, Adult) / 106 minutes

BLUESPACE

Directed by Ian Cheney

Contrasts sci-fi ideas about terraforming Mars with the state of NYC's waterways, and questions the viability of colonizing Mars before making our own planet sustainable.

Could humans live on Mars? Would we want to? Emmy-nominated filmmaker, Ian Cheney, provides insight into our currently unsustainable relationship with our home planet by examining the sci-fi speculation of "terraforming," or making another planet Earth-like, by altering its atmosphere. He calls on a multifaceted brain trust to process this big idea including a desert camp of Mars hopefuls, a bevy of sci-fi writers, Hurricane Sandy survivors, the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club, and a who's who of astrobiologists and earth scientists. BLUESPACE makes a strong case for taking better care of our water-rich planet so that future generations won't have to resort to interplanetary colonization.

At times whimsical and funny, serious and poignant and always stimulating, this is a unique exploration of current thinking about the origins and evolution of life and its relationship to water.

DVD includes both the original 73- minute version of the film and a 54- minute classroom version.

DVD / 2016 / (Grades 10 -12, College, Adults) / 73 minutes

FUTURE OF WORK AND DEATH, THE

Directors: Sean Blacknell, Wayne Walsh

In this provocative documentary, worldwide experts in the fields of futurology, anthropology, neuroscience and philosophy consider the impact of technological advances on the two certainties of human life: work and death.

Charting human developments from early man, past the Industrial Revolution, to the digital age and beyond, The Future of Work and Death looks at the astonishing exponential rate at which mankind creates technologies to ease the process of living. As we embark on the next phase of our 'advancement,' with automation and artificial intelligence driving the transformation from man to machine, the film gives a shockingly realistic look into the future of human life.

Featuring a host of knowledgeable but endearingly eccentric experts including author Will Self, futurist Gray Scott, transhumanist Zoltan Istvan, and neuroscientist Rudolph Tanzi, The Future of Work and Death is profoundly insightful, often surprising, and always engaging.

DVD / 2016 / 89 minutes

ANTIBIOTIC HUNTERS, THE

Directed by Bruce Mohun

Scientists are hunting urgently for new antibiotics -- a challenge that is taking them to some remote and unusual places.

Increasing resistance to antibiotics has been called the most pressing global health problem of our time. Medical experts are predicting a post-antibiotic era, in which people will die of infections easily treated just a few years ago -- unless we find more of these miracle drugs.

THE ANTIBIOTIC HUNTERS follows drug researchers as they investigate the slimy green fur of sloths, the saliva of Komodo dragons, the blood of alligators, and the bacteria in British Columbia caves and on the ocean floor off the coast of Panama -- all part of the urgent hunt to find the building blocks of new antibiotics.

DVD / 2015 / (Grades 7-12, College, Adult) / 44 minutes

DEATH BY DESIGN

Directed by Sue Williams

Debunks the notion that electronics is a 'clean' industry by revealing the human and environmental cost of electronic gadgets that are designed to die.

Consumers love - and live on - their smartphones, tablets and laptops. A cascade of new devices pours endlessly into the market, promising even better communication, non-stop entertainment and instant information. The numbers are staggering. By 2020, four billion people will have a personal computer. Five billion will own a mobile phone.

But this revolution has a dark side that the electronics industry doesn't want you to see.

In an investigation that spans the globe, award-winning filmmaker Sue Williams investigates the underbelly of the international electronics industry and reveals how even the tiniest devices have deadly environmental and health costs.

DEATH BY DESIGN tells the stories of young Chinese workers laboring in unsafe conditions, American families living with the tragic consequences of the industry's toxic practices, activists leading the charge to hold brands accountable, and passionate entrepreneurs who are developing more sustainable products and practices to safeguard our planet and our future.

From the intensely secretive electronics factories in China, to the high tech innovation labs of Silicon Valley, DEATH BY DESIGN tells a story of environmental degradation, of health tragedies, and the fast-approaching tipping point between consumerism and sustainability.

DVD / 2015 / (Grades 7-9, College, Adults) / 73 minutes

PLANETARY

Directed by Guy Reid

A provocative and breathtaking wakeup call - a cross continental cinematic journey that explores our cosmic origins and our future as a species.

We are in the midst of a global crisis of perspective. We have forgotten the undeniable truth that every living thing is connected.

PLANETARY is a provocative and breathtaking wakeup call -- a cross continental, cinematic journey. The film takes us from one of the truly extraordinary events of our civilization, space travel, and looks at how this gave us a totally different perspective on the Earth. It is a humbling reminder of the near-incalculable breadth of our impact on the earth, intellectually challenges us to reconsider our relationship with our home and the urgency to shift our perspective -- to remember that we are planetary.

Featuring interviews with thirty renowned experts including astronauts Ron Garan and Mae Jemison, celebrated environmentalist Bill McKibben, National Book Award winner Barry Lopez, National Geographic Explorer Elizabeth Lindsey and Head of the Tibetan Buddhist Kagyu school, the 17th Karmapa, Janine Benyus, Wade Davis, Joanna Macy, PLANETARY takes viewers on a cinematic journey to experience our world like never before.

DVD / 2015 / (Grades 7-12, College, Adults) / 84 minutes

GROUNDSWELL RISING: PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN'S AIR AND WATER

Directed by Renard Cohen

Documents the opposition from both sides of the political spectrum to the ubiquitous practice of fracking for natural gas, and the health and environmental reasons behind it.

GROUNDSWELL RISING gives voice to ordinary folks engaged in a David and Goliath struggle against Big Oil and Gas. We meet parents, scientists, doctors, farmers and individuals across the political spectrum decrying the energy extraction process known as fracking that puts profits over people. This provocative documentary tracks a grassroots movement exposing dangers to clean air, water, and civil rights.

GROUNDSWELL RISING shows how fracking has contaminated drinking water and jeopardized health and quality of life. Homeowners near wells suffer from respiratory ailments and property devaluation. Reina Ripple, of Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project, chronicles mounting ailments related to fracking. A former industry employee shows skin lesions and edema obtained while working with fracking waste.

Grassroots efforts have achieved bans, moratoriums, and referendums on fracking. Stanford University Professor Mark Jacobson paves the way forward globally with his Solutions Project for 100% renewable energy. Transcending the genre of environmental film, GROUNDSWELL's passionate stories inspire and empower.

DVD / 2014 / (Grades 7-12, College, Adult) / 70 minutes

IRON MINISTRY, THE

By J.P. Sniadecki

Filmed over three years on China's railways, THE IRON MINISTRY traces the vast interiors of a country on the move: flesh and metal, clangs and squeals, light and dark, language and gesture. Scores of rail journeys come together into one, capturing the thrills and anxieties of social and technological transformation. THE IRON MINISTRY immerses audiences in fleeting relationships and uneasy encounters between humans and machines on what will soon be the world's largest railway network.

DVD (Color) / 2014 / 83 minutes

PARTING GIFT, A

Around the world, people donate their bodies to medical science and education. Unlike with organ donation, these donors gift their entire corpse to a medical school, and thus become silent teachers after their death in the hopes that somehow someone learns from their body what they can otherwise not learn from it while they were living.

A Parting Gift follows first-year medical students in the Anatomy Department at Dublin's Trinity College as their education is enriched by direct contact with donor remains. It provides a rare glimpse into the educational process and the emotional process students go through in preparation to learn from the deceased.

DVD / 2014 / 144 minutes

CERN

By Nikolaus Geyrhalter

Multi-award winning director Nikolaus Geyrhalter (HOMO SAPIENS, OUR DAILY BREAD, ELSEWHERE) delivers stunning imagery and fascinating insight into the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Inside the immense Large Hadron Collider, operated by world-renowned research organization CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), the big bang scenario is recreated in search for the smallest particle.

Including interviews with the leading experts who operate and maintain this gigantic Big Bang machine, the film provides fascinating insights into this complex experimental research institution and the quirky geniuses behind the scenes.

For those who do not know a proton from a neutron, CERN provides a chance to learn more about physics from the best and brightest in the field.

Featuring some of the world's leading physicists, including: Beniamino Di Girolamo, Tatuso Kawamoto, Yves Schutz, Pauline Gagnon, and Christophe Grojean.

DVD (Color, Closed Captioned) / 2013 / 75 minutes

DRONES IN MY BACKYARD

Directed by Alan Snitow

How comfortable should Americans be with the growing use of drones by all segments of society?

DRONES IN MY BACKYARD is a funny and scary video mash-up about the coming of aerial drones to the United States.

One day a drone appears in the filmmaker's backyard, hovering over his head. It's the catalyst for an extended meditation and free association on the presence of drones in war-making, the role of drones in surveillance, and the thrill of flying when you put on goggles to see what the drone sees.

Whether it's the Predator, the Argus, or cute little Hummingbirds, drones of all shapes and sizes are flying to a rock and roll beat. We see them following us...and listen to the incessant buzzing of cameras overhead.

DVD / 2013 / (Grades 7-12, College, Adult) / 13 minutes

EXTREME BY DESIGN

Directed by Ralph King Jr. and Michael Schwarz

In a Stanford multidisciplinary, project-based course, student design teams are building a better world...one product at a time.

EXTREME BY DESIGN follows Stanford business, engineering and medical students as they work in teams, using design thinking methods, to develop products and services that serve the needs of the world's poor. One student team works on a breathing device to keep babies alive in Bangladesh. Another seeks a way to store drinking water in Indonesia. The third team project is to design an IV medicine infusion pump.

It's all part of the Design for Extreme Affordability course inspired and launched by the Stanford d.school. The film begins on the first day of the course and ends eight months later as one group of students returns to Asia to test their device amid plans to launch a startup.

At a time of unprecedented global challenges EXTREME BY DESIGN shows the power of human-centered design in creating innovative, effective and sustainable solutions to the complex problems facing us.

DVD / 2013 / (Grades 6-12, College, Adult) / 57 minutes

LIFE APPS: FAVELA FARM (BRAZIL)

Directed by Rodrigo Mac Niven

In Brazil can Pedro build a Life App to help the secret world of urban farms and gardens in Rio's shanty towns?

Pedro is part of a collective of young people in Rio de Janeiro working on new mobile phone technology. Social network apps can serve a dual purpose: They can increase awareness about a cause, and enable users to take action. Social apps help users feel they're making a difference. Pedro goes to Rio and meets Cadu and Dinho, who work on community projects in the Mare and Alemao favelas.

The massive and uncontrolled growth of favelas is a major environmental issue in Rio. In Alemao and Mare alone there are more than 200,000 people, with few proper facilities. Cadu and Dinho are taking Pedro to meet young people from Rio's North Zone, learn about their lives, and research the possibilities for a new "Life App" that can help with green business initiatives in the favela community.