#maybe i'm just old and have been watching anime for a long tine

[physicstaff]

this is not going to be articulate but i've been thinking about it.

i feel like a lot of people believe they're winning some kind of morality olympics by not consuming any media that contains dark or disturbing imagery and that's. really stupid to me. dark and disturbing media has been present since the beginning of storytelling and watching or reading it does not automatically mean you condone everything that happens within the story. people watched fucked up shows and read fucked up books and watch fucked up movies all the time and for a variety of reasons. it also does not mean the author condones everything happening in their story. in THIS case (made in abyss) it does bc the author is a fucking pedophile. however, if i watch a slasher horror movie, it does not mean i condone going out and killing people for funsies. if i read a book in which the main character is a soldier in a war going on, i'm not pro-military. if i watch a show where someone is abused in their backstory, i'm not enjoying their abuse or fetishizing it or anything like that. i'm watching a story play out. some of you sound straight up puritanical with your arguments and it doesn't bode well for media literacy or censorship of the media. the show doesn't need to be banned and people who have watched it shouldn't be getting fucking death threats. it's a fucked up cartoon made by a gross people but how many of you even knew about the author before this happened? i've been aware of the show since it came out and this is the first time i'm hearing most of this. do you research the entire plot of something as well as everyone involved in its creation before you watch it to make sure absolutely nothing bad happens or do you go into it like a normal person, to discover the story?

[amvfromthemountains]

Shed Your Old Antlers

 Source: Pinterest (original photo source unknown)

This past spring and summer, I've been seeing a mature bull elk on our property. I see him about once or twice a month. Elk are special creatures to me – even though they are as common as deer where I live, I still get excited every time I see one, especially if it's a bull. It seemed rare to me that a lone bull elk would be so comfortable grazing in the meadows on our property with me and my partner standing outside on our porch watching him. Out of curiosity – and just for fun – I researched what the elk spirit animal might symbolize. (I don't exactly believe in spirit animals or mysticism, but I do believe that God – or the Universe or whatever Higher Power you believe in – finds ways to speak to us that catches our attention.)

The bull elk that has frequented our property this year

What I found deeply intrigued me, and I didn't expect the profound meaning of my findings to manifest in my life in such a powerful way. I'm not going to share the details of how this applied to my personal life, but I wanted to share the general ideas of what I found.  

According to https://www.universeofsymbolism.com/elk- symbolism.html,  

"Elk spirit animal appears in your life to take you on a sacred journey - a trek to embark upon a deeper sense of self - a spiritual journey in which you leave old ideas that no longer serve the greater purpose in your life."

"The quest of the Elk is to be the greatest version of self, to be the embodiment of the higher self."

"To receive this gift from the Elk spirit you must be ready to give up your old ideas, and embrace a new way of perceiving and surrendering."

The concept of casting aside old ideas, old beliefs, old thoughts and old habits and adopting new beliefs reminded me of how male elk – as well as other members of the Cervidae family such as deer, moose, and caribou – shed their antlers every spring to grow a new, bigger, and better pair. Young deer and elk's first sets of antlers are quite small and simple, sometimes only consisting of a single tine.

A young bull elk, or “spike”, with his first set of antlers. I took this picture from our back porch in November 2018.

Each year they grow older, elk’s racks become bigger and more complex, adding more tines each season. Similarly, when we are children and teenagers, we may have very basic, simplistic beliefs about the world and ourselves; and as we grow older, those core beliefs become more complex. They also become stronger, able to defend us from the "predators" of doubt, fear, and insecurity. 

Just as the elk must shed his antlers every year to make room for the new pair, so must we be willing to cast aside our old beliefs, thoughts, and habits that no longer benefit us in order to make room for new ways of thinking and perceiving. 

When we finally do shed our old rack of beliefs and thinking patterns, we might at first feel naked and vulnerable, just as an elk or deer might feel when he first drops the very things that protected him. But it is in the act of letting go that change and growth are possible.  

Maybe you've been holding on to a belief that needs to be shed. Maybe you've believed for so long that you'll never amount to anything great, or you'll always be depressed or anxious or addicted, or that you'll never be able to get out of a toxic relationship. Today I challenge you – shed your old antlers. Cast them aside, and start growing a bigger and better rack. Keep growing into the best version of yourself. 

Source: Pinterest (original photo source unknown)