#people who are more connected like your jewish partner having kids

[jewishbarbies]

Hey, I have read one of your recent posts about Oscar Isaac, and I wanted to ask about the acceptance of someone who's Jewish only on their father's side. Is it that crucial?

I'm asking because my partner is Jewish, while I'm not, but we both really want our future kids to carry the Jewish culture too. Do you think they will be excluded from the community or there can be some problems like that?

I think it generally depends on the denomination and community itself. If you raise your children jewish and you're apart of the community, i think they'll be considered jewish. either way, a lot of people will consider them jewish, but some denominations won't which is why it depends. ethnically, they will always be jewish. a jew is a jew is a jew. being considered religiously jewish has its own set of rules depending on the kind of judaism you'd like to practice. i'm not super knowledgeable on a lot of technicalities, so take this with a grain of salt, but it really all just depends.

[girlactionfigure]

THE HOLOCAUST WAS IN COLOUR

I woke up today in Jerusalem to the sound of a siren marking Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Memorial Day. The fucking Holocaust. This thing that's there. This thing that every Jewish kid has to learn about far too young. There’s no good age to learn about it. It takes away an innocence whatever age you learn.

It's a lesson of: actually - the worst shit can happen.

Actually - the worst shit did happen.

Actually the worst shit could happen again.

There is no objective proof of God - but Auschwitz did happen. It’s difficult to remain idealistic about human beings after that. If tales of individual acts of heroism that emerged from the Holocaust are supposed to give us solace and an after-taste of hope, the bigger question is what is it that makes these tales such anomalies?? What is it that prevented every person from being a hero? And why did it happen in the first place?

Visiting Auschwitz ruined part of me. It really did. Even before visiting, all that bullshit ruined part of me. I remember seeing images on TV as a kid and that ain't healthy. To see ghouls hanging on barbed wire. Piles of skeleton and flesh. I don't see how it can't ruin anyone if that's you and your kind they were gunning for. The idea that people murdered you because you were born you. The idea that your fellow countrymen turned round and said: actually you're not one of us. Or turned a blind eye, buttoned up their lips, gazed down in silence and left you to deal with it on your own. It's not like this puts joy in your heart. It puts something in your heart that I can't explain. It puts in your heart the sensation that some people don't want your heart to beat. And that's a confusing feeling for any heart: a nexus of emotions. A paralytic, existential moment. The loneliest heart, scarred by barbed wire and frost.

The fact that I can only trace my family tree back a few generations has always gnawed at me. I can only go back so far and then there's nothing. Just a black hole. Part of my connection with planet earth has been blotted out for good. I've been disinherited of my roots - from knowing the specifics of who I am and where I come from.

A few years back I visited Auschwitz - this massive shithole in Poland. And it's not like this death factory could have been a secret. There's no way. People knew. It's huge. It just goes on and on. And there's something weird about it. And you can't quite figure it out. And then you realise - it's all in colour. It's not in black and white. The images we're used to seeing of Auschwitz are black and white. And as horrific as those images are they provide a safe, historical distance. It appears a bygone world far removed from us. But it's here in colour and it's the same world we inhabit. The same air, the same trees, the same rain falling. And the human beings would have been in colour too, with red blood cells and capillaries and hearts beating like ours. They weren’t creatures from yester-year, they were modern human beings with the same body parts and feelings. And they were murdered by modern human beings who also had the same body parts and who probably loved their children and kissed their partners goodnight.

There's more I could write. I could write about mountains of shoes. I could write about piles of hair. I could write about buttons and cutlery and possessions that emerge from the mud in the rain. I remember having a stupid back and forth in my mind over some buttons I found which I put back into the mud. I had this stupid thought that maybe I should have "liberated" the buttons rather than leave them in that shithole - but then thinking that would be stealing? But would it be stealing if they'd been stolen by scum and were now being "taken back" in a spirit of love and solidarity by someone on their side? “Liberating buttons.” Stupid stuff. Ridiculous thoughts that you can somehow do something correct to rectify what happened here and bring some kind of harmony. In the end I left them. The buttons were stolen and they don't belong to Auschwitz - but they belong to the memory of what happened there - so they can at least continue to speak from the mud to anyone who sees them.

If I'm honest, part of me wishes I hadn't visited the place. I came away angry and it killed any absolute faith I have in human beings. As I say, individual tales of heroism and defiance aren’t enough to justify true optimism. They're a plaster to cover up the deeper sickness of who and what we are as a species. There's something worrying about human beings and our capacity for cruelty. A species whose children pick the wings off flies, combined with a propensity to herd mentality, is dangerous. It should trouble all of us. I don't know how we overcome it, keep it restrained, or collectively channel it toward a universally agreed direction that’s aimed at goodness.

If I have one reflection on whatever nonsense it is I'm writing it's this: I think there's a violence in human beings. There is violence in the human soul. There is violence and there is cruelty. But more than that there is fear. Despite our songs and poems, I'm not sure love is the most powerful force on earth. There’s a strong argument to suggest fear is the primary driving force behind the actions of the animal we call a human being. It's fear of freezing to death that causes us to build shelters. It's fear of going hungry that causes us to stock food. It's fear of being ostracised that causes us to ostracise others. It's fear of ridicule that breeds conformity. It's fear that causes people to keep their heads down. And when the moment of danger comes? When the tyrants enter? When the bullies arrive? It's fear that causes people to not speak up. To turn a blind eye. To let someone else take the bullet. People can bombastically jump on the bandwagon and say "never again" but it’s tough to find your voice when face to face with a bully. People can say never again but it’s tough to square up if someone has raised their fist and shown they will use it. It’s tough to be brave when the moment comes and there's so many thoughts going through your mind and your brain and adrenalin decides it's best to shut down and stay quiet for the sake of self-preservation. It’s tough to do good things in this world because the bad things are loud and scary and intimidating. It’s tough for people to rise above fear. There’s a reason why heroes are called lone heroes. They’re uncommon.

That's why it's good to be writing this from Israel where Jews are once again in their ancestral home, the place they forged an indigenous civilisation many thousands of years ago before the Babylonians and Romans forced them into exile. A place where they can ensure that "Never Again" is not left in the hands of a species that pulls the wings off flies. Google the Evian Conference - visit Auschwitz yourself - survival is not a game to be left in the hands of others or based on the strength of promises. Because there's always a chance that when the chips are against you and you call out to friends or others for help, you could be left hanging around wondering when they'll arrive?

And the answer might be:

Never. Again.

So. Anyway. It's 5pm. I need a piss. Then I'll probably eat some bread. A siren went off this morning. Just one final thought before I have a wee. I say that any absolute faith I have in human beings is lost. And that's true. Yet every day I experience such joy at existing. I love walking about, talking to people and connecting with souls cut from the same cloth. I like nature and I like looking at things and if I didn't love science so much I'd probably be a new age nut hugging trees and trying to kiss ants. Being alive is the most beautiful thing I've experienced to date.

And as embarrassed as I am to say it would you look at me trying to finish on a positive note?

Maybe there is something stronger than fear?

The persistant impulse to seek blessings in a world full of curses. The sheer chutzpah of life. The defiance. Not to vanquish the darkness, but to live in spite of the darkness. I can handle a world where Auschwitz took place if I also get to live in a world where there are people I love. I can handle a world where there’s horror if I also get to laugh now and then. And the fact that love, laughter and happiness can blossom in a world where the worst can happen - and has - must count for something. Deep down the impulse to go in search of life’s blessings is within all of us. It’s part of who we are. It’s why we get up each morning. We have to have faith that all will be well even when logic, history and common sense says otherwise. Actually it’s not even a question of faith. We have no choice. I think hope is hardwired into all of us. Deeper than fear. We are a creature that hopes. And sometimes, with the right wind behind us, at the right tide, we make those hopes come true. Sometimes, if you will it, it is no dream.

Lee Kern

This was written in Jerusalem in 2015 on Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Memorial Day

[theshortolivia]

Do you ever wonder who your real parents are

First, thank you for my first ask ever! It’s super cool that I exist to people I don’t face to face know.

I’m gonna assume that by ‘real parents’ you mean biological parents. (Just a note I would try to stop using the term ‘real’ when talking about biological relationships it might offend people). Anyway, I actually do know my biological parents! I have two moms, one of them is my biological mother, and my parents used a non-anonymous sperm donor and artificial insemination to conceive me.

I used to be really uncomfortable about the donor thing as a kid, it weirded me out that there was a stranger involved in my conception. But I love to talk about this now for education purposes and as a fascinating story most people as old as me don’t have to tell (a two mom family having a kid not from a previous hetero marriage in 2000? pretty rare at least where I’m from!) so here’s some further explanation:

When my moms decided they wanted kids they actually chose sperm donation instead of adoption because as a lesbian couple in 2000 Ontario, they would have been pushed to the bottom of the adoption list and it would have been really difficult to get a child basically. So they went with a non-anonymous sperm donor. (This is better than anonymous for a million reasons I could go into another time if you’d like I’d love to talk about it from my perspective as a donor baby!) My moms decided which of them would get pregnant based on who wanted to, health, and family health history. They chose the donor based on a multitude of things: someone who looked like my non-bio mom so I’d look like both sides of the family, someone with good genetics both health wise and characteristic wise (no diseases run in family and family are very smart, creative), and because this donor specifically provided much more information than other did, way more than required. He gave us a video of himself talking about why he chose to do this, family and childhood photos of him, extensive family history including professions and personalities, etc. Then on March 21st 2000 (I’d have to check with my mom but if I remember correctly this is when) at 10am my mom got artificially inseminated and I was conceived. (I think it’s super cool that I know my exact conception date and time btw). Fun (not so fun) fact my moms were common law partners (mostly same legal bindings as marriage in Canada) when I was born but my non-bio mom was not put on the birth certificate out of discrimination (a common law husband to a woman’s biological baby would have been placed on the birth certificate), so, to have legal guardianship over me she had to adopt me. To make things equal my bio mom disowned? me and they both adopted me together! In similar discriminatory fashion, my non bio mother did not originally get granted leave from work and they had to go to court to fight it because a man would’ve. (My parents are trailblazers they’re so cool!)

I can meet the sperm donor if I’d like, he allowed meet ups on his profile at the sperm bank, so once I was 18 I could meet him. I’ve never really cared to though since I don’t see him as anything other than half of my genetic information, i suppose it could be interesting to see what similarities we share since I’m studying genetics but that’s about it. I do think it’s really cool I know my genetics so closely because it’s all written down though. Im half European Jewish on his side and have his eyebrows, and a mix of his and my bio moms hair!

I also know of the other 5 I think? children whose parents used him as a sperm donor scattered around the North America, my parents were in contact with them when I was a baby not not really anymore though, I also don’t really wanna meet them cause they’re strangers to me? Like idk it’d feel kinda weird to make up some connection to them cause we have genetic info in common.

Thanks again for the ask, im pretty much an open book and it’s super cool that I can give my perspective’s answers for questions!

(Sorry this was so long winded and probably disorganized, that’s just how my neurodivergent brain be)

[katejyublog]

Top 6 Reasons to Unplug at Surprise Lake Camp

Digital devices are a distraction to all and an addiction to many. Scientific research has shown that technology interferes with everything from sleep to social skills to creativity. In fact, too much screen time can impact a child's ability to process emotions. 

Welcome to surprise Lake Camp, where social interactions are built in real-time versus online. Skills learned at camp level real-world, long-term impacts that will support campers as they involve into young adults. 

SLC is proud to be part of a growing number of camps that foster technology-free environment. This enables campers tp live in the moment and improve their social and critical thinking skills. At SLC, campers build relationship based on shared experiences. Identity is about who campers are as individuals - their authentic characteristics and value - not about many "followers" they have ore "likes" they receive. 

Here are SLC's top 6 reasons to embrace a technology-free summer:

1 Cultivate social skills: Making eye contact, feeling empathy, and engaging in conversation are skills that can only be gained in person. 

2 Enhance critical thinking skills: When campers rely on their own resources, they advance decision-making skills and internalize lessons at a deeper level versus an effortless online information grab.

3. Live in the moment: Gaming and social media platforms eliminate shared in-person experiences. There is no substitute for the positive chemical changes these experiences bring about in developing brains. 

4. Explore new activities: The internet tends to "serve" users what they are already interested in. Camp allows kids to explore uncharted territory and procure new skills. 

5. Connect with nature: Campers get to witness a star-filled sky as they sit around a campfire. On a hot summer day, they jump into SLC's spring-fed lake. It's not about "liking" a photo of a goat. Campers get to care for the goats. They can also collect eggs from our chickens and harvest vegetable that they planted 

6. Mitigate homesickness: Connectivity to the world at home can actually worsen the plight of a homesick camper. When campers unplug, they meet new friends, embrace new routines to trust our supportive staff. That is when the magic happen!

Learn about " A Day in the Life" at camp! Camp provides a safe environment in which kids engage and learn in a way that will prepare them for a healthy adulthood. Unplug, connect, and grow and Surprise Lake Camp! 

Help Your Child Make Lasting New Friendships With Surprise Lake Camp 

Surprise Lake Camp is a nonprofit organization that provides a home away from home for generations of young people. We believe in the value of community and friendships. Our Jewish values and identity shape our communication to nature. We're dedicated to helping young people unplug, grow, and develop values, confidence, and skills to last a lifetime, adding to SLC's storied history as the nation's longest-running Jewish sleepaway camp. 

At SLC, your child will have the chance to make and keep lifelong friends. Our campers live "10-dor-2," dreaming all year of the two months they spend here with their closest friends ever. If your child is new to camp, learn more about us on our Frist-Time Campers page. 

SLC is nonprofit organization that aims to provide beneficial camp experiences to as many children as possible. When you make a charitable gift, You give children life-changing opportunities. Partner with us to support camper confidence, growth, friendships, and Jewish identity . Donate today!

[jasonp01]

Top 6 Reasons to Unplug at Surprise Lake Camp

Digital devices are a distraction to all and an addiction to many. Scientific research has shown that technology interferes with everything from sleep to social skills to creativity. In fact, too much screen time can impact a child's ability to process emotions.

Welcome to Surprise Lake Camp, where social interactions are built in real-time versus online. Skills learned at camp level real-world, long-term impacts that will support campers as they involve into young adults.

SLC is proud to be part of a growing number of camps that foster technology-free environment. This enables campers to live in the moment and improve their social and critical thinking skills. At SLC, campers build relationships based on shared experiences. Identity is about who campers are as individuals - their authentic characteristics and value - not about many "followers" they have or "likes" they receive.

Here are SLC's top 6 reasons to embrace a technology-free summer:

1. Cultivate social skills: Making eye contact, feeling empathy, and engaging in conversation are skills that can only be gained in person.

2. Enhance critical thinking skills: When campers rely on their own resources, they advance decision-making skills and internalize lessons at a deeper level versus an effortless online information grab. 

3. Live in the moment: Gaming and social media platforms eliminate shared in-person experiences. There is no substitute for the positive chemical changes these experiences bring about in developing brains.

4. Explore new activities: The internet tends to "serve" users what they are already interested in . Camp allows kids to explore uncharted territory and procure new skills. 

5. Connect with nature: Campers get to witness a star-filled sky as they sit around a campfire. On a hot summer day, they jump into SLC's spring-fed lake. It's not about "liking" a photo of a goat. Campers get to care for the goats. They can also collect eggs from our chickens and harvest vegetable that they planted.

6: Mitigate homesickness: Connectivity to the world at home can actually worsen the plight of a homesick camper. When campers unplug, they meet new friends, embrace new routines and learn to trust our supportive staff. That is when the magic happens!

Learn about " A Day in the Life" at camp! Camp provides a safe environment in which kids engage and learn in a way that will prepare them for a healthy adulthood. Unplug, connect, and grow at Surprise Lake Camp!

Help Your Child Make Lasting New Friendships With Surprise Lake Camp

Surprise Lake Camp is a nonprofit organization that provides a home away from home for generations of young people. We believe in the value of community and friendships. Our Jewish values and identity shape our communication to nature. We're dedicated to helping young people unplug, grow, and develop values, confidence, and skills to last a lifetime, adding to SLC's storied history as the nation's longest-running Jewish sleepaway camp. 

At SLC, your child will have the chance to make and keep lifelong friends. Our campers live "10-dor-2," dreaming all year of the two months they spend here with their closest friends ever. If your child is new to camp, learn more about us on our Frist-Time Campers page. 

SLC is nonprofit organization that aims to provide beneficial camp experiences to as many children as possible. When you make a charitable gift, you give children life-changing opportunities. Partner with us to support camper confidence, growth, friendships, and Jewish identity. Donate today!

[ficsex]

in an ask you mentioned that fetishization can be positive. in my understanding, fetishization is an inherently bad thing, so if you're up to it, could you elaborate on that?

I can, but get ready for some early 20th century Jewish philosophy! :D

So, there's this guy named Martin Buber, one of the most famous Jewish philosophers, who posited a specific kind of existentialism: the theory of the I–It relationship and the I–Thou relationship (or Ich–Es and Ich–Du). Definitely read up on it, I'm going to do a shitty job of explaining it.

In essence:

The I–It relationship is a transactional, objectifying relationship. It's one where a person sees another being for what they are, and not who they are. There's no real connection between spirits, because each person only sees a representation of the other person in their mind.

The I–Thou relationship, conversely, is about seeing another being in truth, without any filters based on preconceptions, what they can do for each other, or what they want out of the encounter. It's the most true meeting, because you get to experience who a person actually is, instead of all of the mental and relational fog that we build around others.

Buber goes on to explain that I–Thou relationships are rare, and that each person may only have a handful of fleeting moments in their life where they get to experience a connection like that.

*****

Okay, so. What does this look like in practice?

(this explanation is mine, and is structured for ease and simplicity. Don't @ me, I know I'm deviating from Buber's purposes.) (He can @ me, you guys can't)

Imagine you board a specific bus for the first time. New job, new house, whatever. It's your first time on this bus line. You step on the bus, and there is a bus driver. You pay your fare and say thank you, and sit down. What kind of relationship do you have with this bus driver? It's an I–It relationship - your whole interaction is through a lens of purpose. They are there to drive you to their destination, you are there to pay your fare and be transported. There is no true connection there.

Now, imagine you take that bus every week day, for months and months, and you've started chatting with that bus driver. Now you know about their kids, what kind of coffee they like. They know about your job and what makes you smile. You like each other as people. This could be the beginning of an I–Thou relationship (Buber would disagree - whatever, it's my blog).

You had no way to develop that I–Thou relationship, though, if you hadn't interacted first through the I–It lens.

*****

"Mx. Ficsex, when do we get to the part about sex?"

Now, dear reader. Now.

*****

When it comes to sex and relationships, we often meet people through a lens of fetishization. The only reason you notice them is because they exemplify something sexual. They are a role or an object, but in the sense that Buber describes (and I bastardize).

We cannot control our desires. We can certainly control our behaviors, and we might be able to put in work to expand our view of what's considered "attractive", but we can't have a conversation with our subconscious to say "hey, I need you to turn off that fetish, please". That's a recipe for repression.

If you have a fetish for large breasts, you might view someone with large breasts as a role, as opposed to as a person. Their role is "sexy person that I look at". Their role is not "person who owes me sex" or "person I can demean" or even "person I can hit on", but your brain assigns them a box that they fit in, just like "bus driver" fits into the box of "I pay, they get me somewhere".

It's not that someone with large breasts is actually an object, of course, but the fact that they fit into the role of "sexy person that I look at" may be what connects you. Maybe it gives you a reason to say hello, or send a drink down the bar to them, or send the first message in OkC. This opens the door to a true and meaningful connection.

*****

This gets trickier when we discuss identities that are typically fetishized. I'm not going to go into the downsides of fetishization here (and there are many), as that would make this post a lot longer.

It can be empowering to be seen as sexual and desirable when you are part of a group that is frequently seen as deviant, undesirable, or non-sexual. It's not even a "well, no one regular likes me, so I guess I'll take someone gross who fetishizes part of my identity" (though that happens too). It's more "wow, this aspect of myself that society tells me / others is undesirable is a major turn-on for this person. If they are also a nice/good person that I get along with, this could work out really well for both of us!

(get ready for the thesis statement. drumroll, please....)

Fetishization is by nature dehumanizing, but that doesn't necessarily mean that there is no humanity to be found in potential connections. I–It relationships are all dehumanizing, to some extent, but we can use the "person as role" introduction as a foundation to create a "person as person" relationship.

If you are a person who is uncomfortable being fetishized at all, that is okay! You don't have to stand for it! I'm not being sarcastic, that is a genuinely good line to draw. But your point of view is not the only one.

There are trans women - especially older trans women - who are in relationships with men who are primarily sexually attracted to trans women (also known as chasers), and they can be good and healthy relationships. Yes, the relationship is built on an objectification of a marginalized identity, but the two people in that relationship have decided together that they are happy.

There are people missing limbs, either from congenital abnormalities or amputations, who have found love and companionship with people have have a fetish for their limb difference.

What is important to keep in mind is consent and power dynamics.

For example, race-based fetishization is almost always unethical, as it's based on a concept of privilege versus marginalization. So is fetishization based on cognitive ability, as it's based on being more powerful and able than a partner with an intellectual disability. People can't just say "I cannot control my desires", and use that to excuse bad intentions, bad practices, and bad behavior. But people can say "this aspect of a person attracts me to them, and puts them into a role of "sexy person I want to look at", and I therefore will see if I can get close to them.

*****

This post is getting way, way too long, so I'm going to cut it here now.

I want to wrap up by saying that this is ONE view, that I am presenting in ONE way. I am generally against the concept of fetishization, and only intend here to explain how it can be positive or powerful. If individual people with marginalized identities find value or desirability in being fetishized, that is not ours to police.

Enjoy my brutal butchering of Martin Buber's philosophy, and feel free to share nuanced takes in the replies.

[benevolentbirdgal]

A “brief” reference guide to modern Jewish denominations / Jewish Writing Advice / Jewish Identity / Jewish Reference Guide [graphic at bottom]

Writing a Jew or Jewish family? Aware that Judaism is not a monolith and want to honor that? Great! Need help with that? 100% cool - I’m here as your friendly (virtual) neighborhood Jewish professional to help. Just want to know more about Jewish denominations in comparison to one another? Also great! Fair warning - this is a long one. At least I included a graphic at the bottom?

Quick notes to acknowledge: As always, this is an American and Americanish perspective (and denominations as discussed here are MOSTLY relevant in the U.S. anyways). Additionally, the modern denominations as we think of them today really sprung from Ashkenazi communities in the 19th and 20th centuries. Most extant U.S. synagogues, day schools, and groups follow Ashkenazi customs and align with a denomination born of Ashkenazi tradition (aligning with the approximately 90% of Jewish-Americans who are Ashkenazi or Ashkenazi plus another community). Sephardi, Mizrachi, and other Jewish communities have their own traditions and jurisprudence. Most organized non-Ashkenazi communities in the U.S. identify as nondenominational but most closely compare in practice to orthodoxy, and many non-Ashkenazi Jews (especially outside of major population centers that may have other specific subgroup’s synagogues) are members of and very involved in Ashkenazi-originating movements, institutions, and synagogues. 

For the purpose’s of today’s discussion, we’ll start in the 19th century, because Karaites vs Pharisees vs Sadducees is a (his)story for another time. This also isn’t a history of how these denominations came to be-with the exception of some ultraorthodox groups, which may have sprung from the shtel a little earlier, all the below movements popped out of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I’m also going to list approximate percentage of the American Jewish population, and I’m going to (kinda) go in order from most to least strict/traditionally observant. 

Ultraorthodox (aka Haredi): The strictest, more traditional and expansive observance of the Torah, Talmud, and minhagim (customs). About 1% of American Jews are ultraorthodox. Ultraorthodox is not a unified movement. 

1a. Haredi, Satmar, and most other groups generally isolate themselves from the wider Jewish world and secular world.

1b. Chabad is also ultraorthodox, but specially seeks to interact with less observant Jews. I wouldn’t call it proselytizing, because they don’t seek to make gentiles Jewish, but they do try and find less observant Jews and bring them closer to Judaism, also establishes small synagogues around the country and world in isolated place. 

1c. Ultraorthodox are the most visibly Jewish attired group, wearing Kippahs for all men and boys and tichels (headscarves) and/or wigs for married women. Very modest attire for all. In Ashkenazi Ultraorthodox communities, men also tend to only wear black and white, hats in addition to their kippah (for grown and married men), and wearing tzitzit (a garmet with four corners with strings attached worn under a shirt with the threads sticking out). 

1d. Most likely to speak Yiddish or Hebrew as first language.

1e. No gender equality, very strict kosher, and intense community adherence to particular brand of Judaism.

1f. Communities generally led by a Rabbi and a Rebbetzin (Rabbi’s wife) as pair (rabbis are generally expected to be married).

1g. No female Rabbis, same-sex marriage, or intermarriage. Lots of children. Pretty much all boys have Bar Mitzahs, rarely do girls have Bat Mitzvahs. 

1h. Services entirely in Hebrew (except maybe the sermon).

1i. Only count matrilineal Jews and converts-Jewish father and gentile mother doesn’t count for them. 

1j. Very strict observance of prohibitions and commandments pertaining to Shabbat and holidays. 

Modern orthodox: Orthodox, but with some adaptations to modern life. Roughly 9% of American Jews. Also some division within modern orthodoxy (with some congregations being more liberal than others, particularly in regards to women and LGBTQ+ folks), but there are a couple of major organizations that most modox rabbis and congregations affiliate with one another through larger denomination movements (i.e. the Orthodox Union and the Rabbinical Council of America). 

2a. Modern orthodox Jews regularly interact with other Jews who are more liberal. They tend to live in more Jewish communities but no issues with interacting with outside world.

2b. Modest clothing and men wear kippot everywhere (when safe). Married women also usually cover their hair (with wigs or tichels). Men also typically wear tzitzit. 

2b. Gender roles, but progress being made. Handful of female rabbis emerging in 2010s/2020s. Whether women count in a minyan depends on the specific congregation and many modern orthodox shuls will have separate women’s prayer groups. The prevalence of Bat Mitzvahs also varies wildly congregation to congregation.

2c. Like ultraorthodox, communities are typically led by a Rabbi and his wife the Rebbetzin. Some acceptance of homosexual individuals as members of the community, but no same-sex marriage (some alternate ceremonies emerging). Like one out gay male rabbi. No intermarriage.

2d. Very strict adherence to kosher, would likely not eat at someone less kosher’s home.

2e. Usually have on the higher end of a “normal” amount of children. Services entirely in Hebrew (except sermon).

2f. Only count matrilineal Jews and converts-Jewish father and gentile mother doesn’t count for them.

Less traditionally observant than this is often known as “liberal Judaism” - around 90% of American Jews.

2g.  Very strict observance of prohibitions and commandments pertaining to Shabbat and holidays. 

Conservative: Brands itself as middle of the road Jewish movement. about 18% of the American Jewish population. No connection to conservative politics, most Conservative with a C Jews are liberal or moderate politically. Often called “Masorti” outside the U.S and hypothetically a unified movement under several connected organizations (i.e. the Masorti Olami and the Jewish Theological Seminary). 

3a. Gender equality. Female rabbis and LGBTQ rabbis definitely an acceptable thing, but not as common as with Reform or Reconstructionist. 

3b. Formally sanctioned ceremony for same-sex couples to wed under Jewish law since 2012 and affirmation ceremonies since 2006.

3c. Modesty in synagogues but comparable to regular American attire otherwise.

3d. Generally comparable family size to other American families.

3e. Kosher, but not as strict as orthodoxy. Many Conservative Jews have kosher homes but are willing to be more lax when eating out. Synagogues are always kosher.

3f. Services mostly in Hebrew, sermons and some prayers definitely in local language.

3g. Intermarriage is frowned upon, but many otherwise Conservative Jews will be married by a less traditional rabbi or justice of the peace to non-Jewish partners. Although Conservative rabbis do not perform interfaith marriages, many interfaith couples are in Conservative synagogues. In the 90s/2000s it was way less friendly to interfaith couples/families (laughs in having a goyish dad) but that has improved in the past 3-5 years substantially. 

3h. Observance of prohibitions and commandments pertaining to Shabbat and holidays is regulated but less strict than orthodoxy. Varies a bit by community. A good example to illustrate this is getting to synagogue on Shabbat:

By the book (not necessarily reflected by attendees): Orthodoxy says you have to walk there (no driving), Reform says it’s no issue to drive on Shabbat, and Conservative says you can drive but only to get to shul and back. 

3i. As with orthodoxy, only matrilineal Jews count. Most interfaith families with non-Jewish moms (or moms who converted post-birth of the kid), particularly those who want to participate in Conservative communities will convert the child as a baby so they can have a normal Jewish upbringing (beyond an extra blessing/prayer in the Bnai Mitzvah process and social awkwardness that oft accompanies interfaith families in Jewish spaces).

3j. Most dress comparably to others in geographic area (synagogue notwithstanding, see my other post). Men on the higher end of observant might also wear kippahs all the time as well. Outside of explicitly Jewish contexts, similar lifestyles to surrounding populations. Around the same number of children as in gentile families. 

Reform: Not at all traditionally observant. About 35% of American Jews. More or less a cohesive movement linked by organizations (i.e. Women of Reform Judaism and the Union for Reform Judaism).

4a. Reform Judaism is the largest group. It generally views Judaism through the lens of social justice, repairing the world, and cultural heritage as opposed to religious mandate. 

4b. Very big on personal choice in what one observes, I like to call it “choose your own adventure” Judaism. 

4c. Keeping kosher is uncommon. Some shuls aren’t even kosher.

4d. Reform services use the least Hebrew, although this is changing in some places. 

4e. Reform’s standard of Jewishness is 1+ Jewish parent(s) and raised doing Jewish things, regardless of which parent is Jewish. 

4f. Very feminist/egalitarian and welcoming to LGBTQ+ folks. Highest number of not-straight rabbis and female rabbis. 

4g. Intermarriage very common and can be performed by Reform rabbis. 

4h. Reform Judaism was way ahead of the curve in terms of LGBTQ+ rights and religion. The movement has had members advocating for homosexual rights (protection in housing, employment, civil marriage, and other nondiscrimination protections) since 1965 (finally passing formal resolutions in 1977), began proactively including/welcoming out gay rabbis in 1990, created same-gender marriage Jewish ceremonies in 1996/7, and has made resolutions explicitly including bi and trans people as well since 2004 (stuff earlier than that generally specified “gay and lesbian”). An additional resolution was passed in 2015 regarding trans and nonbinary inclusion, alongside guides to help congregations do so. 

4i. See #3j - also applies here. 

Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform, are the biggest and “standard” movements people will most typically list and identify with, most likely to appear in surveys and studies, are older than everything listed below. Modern Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform all started in the 19th century and some Ultraorthodox groups trace back further than that. I’ve outlined some practical differences, but the basic theoretical difference is that Orthodox considers traditional Jewish law (Halacha) binding and you can’t change it, Conservative believes it it’s binding but the community can change it, and Reform believes that it’s nonbinding. 

Some smaller movements: 

Reconstructionist - Newest even remotely well-known and organized movement, founded in the 1920s as an offshoot of the Conservative movement. I would describe it as “build your own adventure but Halacha matters (or at least some of it).” The first thing almost every recon Jew I’ve ever met has told me when describing reconstructionism is that they invented the bat mitzvah in 1922, which basically translates to “tradition matters but also egalitarianism.”

Maybe 2%-5% of American Jews today self-ID as Reconstructionist, but I would argue that a lot of nondenominal practitioners have philosophies fairly aligned with the recon ethos. 

Jewish Renewal: very small and relatively disorganized movement started in the 1960s. Attempts to bring Jewish tradition and modern sensibilities, hippie Jews who care about Halacha. Big on mysticism and music, doing Jewish enthusiastically, and a tendency towards more traditional observance in conjunction with progressive politics. Kind of the laid-back cousin of reconstructionism, although neither sprung from the other. 

(Cultural) Humanistic Judaism: “Non-theistic” Judaism for atheist Jews who still want a connection to their history, culture, and celebrations. 

Nondenominational - Nondenominational and post-denominational Jews are the fast growing group. Variety of liberal/non-traditionally observant beliefs and practices, but most will still contextualize themselves around the denominational scale.

[readerbookclub]

Hello everyone! It's time for another book list. This list is composed of books where characters have special powers/abilities. Let's dive right in!

Our first novel is the book that inspired this list! It was suggested to me in a survey, and I loved it immediately (thanks to the person behind that suggestion!). This newly released novel is a superhero story about so much more than just super powers. It's about race and what it means to be a young black man:

The Cost of Knowing, by Brittney Morris:

Sixteen-year-old Alex Rufus is trying his best. He tries to be the best employee he can be at the local ice cream shop; the best boyfriend he can be to his amazing girlfriend, Talia; the best protector he can be over his little brother, Isaiah. But as much as Alex tries, he often comes up short. It’s hard to for him to be present when every time he touches an object or person, Alex sees into its future. When he touches a scoop, he has a vision of him using it to scoop ice cream. When he touches his car, he sees it years from now, totaled and underwater. When he touches Talia, he sees them at the precipice of breaking up, and that terrifies him. Alex feels these visions are a curse, distracting him, making him anxious and unable to live an ordinary life. And when Alex touches a photo that gives him a vision of his brother’s imminent death, everything changes. With Alex now in a race against time, death, and circumstances, he and Isaiah must grapple with their past, their future, and what it means to be a young Black man in America in the present.

Our next book approaches the classic super hero story from a different perspective--the villain’s. 

Soon I will Be Invincible, by Austin Grossman

Doctor Impossible—evil genius, diabolical scientist, wannabe world dominator—languishes in a federal detention facility. He's lost his freedom, his girlfriend, and his hidden island fortress. Over the years he's tried to take over the world in every way imaginable: doomsday devices of all varieties (nuclear, thermonuclear, nanotechnological) and mass mind control. He's traveled backwards in time to change history, forward in time to escape it. He's commanded robot armies, insect armies, and dinosaur armies. Fungus army. Army of fish. Of rodents. Alien invasions. All failures. But not this time. This time it's going to be different... Fatale is a rookie superhero on her first day with the Champions, the world's most famous superteam. She's a patchwork woman of skin and chrome, a gleaming technological marvel built to be the next generation of warfare. Filling the void left by a slain former member, Fatale joins a team struggling with a damaged past, trying to come together in the face of unthinkable evil.

For our next book, we take a step back from the world of superheroes. Instead we turn to those who create these much-loved stories:

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon:

Joe Kavalier, a young Jewish artist who has also been trained in the art of Houdini-esque escape, has just smuggled himself out of Nazi-invaded Prague and landed in New York City. His Brooklyn cousin Sammy Clay is looking for a partner to create heroes, stories, and art for the latest novelty to hit America - the comic book. Drawing on their own fears and dreams, Kavalier and Clay create the Escapist, the Monitor, and Luna Moth, inspired by the beautiful Rosa Saks, who will become linked by powerful ties to both men. With exhilarating style and grace, Michael Chabon tells an unforgettable story about American romance and possibility.

In our next book, the character is not a superhero. But she does possess a special ability, a connection to the dead. (To be honest, it’s really hard to find standalone superhero books, so we had to switch it up a bit!)

Elatsoe, by Darcie Little Badger

Imagine an America very similar to our own. It’s got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream. There are some differences. This America been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day. Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered, in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family.

Being a super hero is cool and all, but most of us aren’t. Sometimes, you’re just a normal kid, living a normal life. That’s what our last book explores:

The Rest of Us Just Live Here, by Patrick Ness

What if you aren’t the Chosen One? The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death? What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again. Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life. Even if your best friend is worshipped by mountain lions...

Please vote here!

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[scarlet--wiccan]

hi! I hope this isn’t a dumb question or something you get a lot (i tried searching your blog to see if you’d answered it before so sorry if it is) but I’ve often wondered how billy (and tommy) are Romani when I’ve always thought it was believed that Rebecca and Jeff Kaplan were Billy’s biological parents? So wouldn’t he be the same race as them? And that the twin’s “souls” were just from Wanda’s and Visions kids, any explanation if you can would be super appreciated thank you!!!

I'm going to break this down in two parts-- first, what happened in canon, and what the text indicates about Billy and Tommy's nature; second, what this means for the characters in a meta sense, and I how I think readers and writers alike should approach the twins' relationship with Wanda and each other.

Wanda conceived twin boys with her then husband, the Vision, through a feat of magic which is, I believe, the earliest example of her apparent "reality warping" abilities. Much like her other instances of reality warping, however, this was an exceptional circumstance in which Wanda had become a vessel for magic powers greater than those she ordinarily possesses-- in this case, the combined power of six hundred and sixty-six witches. She only held that power for a moment, but it was long enough for her to make a a wish-- that she might start a family with her otherwise infertile partner. Wanda discovered that she was pregnant not long after, and the next nine months went off more or less without a hitch, ending with the birth of two healthy, seemingly ordinary baby boys-- Thomas and William. Although the Vision is considered to be their father, the children were, biologically, born of Wanda and Wanda alone, and take after her in every respect.

The children died tragically only a few years later, when they were still very young, destroyed by the demon Mephisto and his servant, Pandemonium. In her grief and desperation, Wanda sought out Doctor Doom, who helped her perform a ritual which would make her a conduit for something he called the "Life Force", so that she may use it to restore her children. This overwhelming power, combined with manipulation and gaslighting at the hands of her so-called allies, led to the catastrophic breakdown that we see in Avengers Disassembled and House of M. Once again, the reality warping that Wanda performs is the product of outside forces, and the results are unpredictable at best. Although she didn't realize it at the time, Wanda did succeed in resurrecting her twins, but rather than reconstituting their original forms, she caused them to be retroactively reincarnated, essentially making it so that they'd already been born instead of having to reform them. This is why Billy and Tommy are way older than they should be-- their current lives actually overlap with their originals. Billy, as a teenager, even met Wanda shortly before the Life Force incident.

So, it is true that the Kaplans and Shepherds are Billy and Tommy's biological parents, respectively, which is to say that Rebecca Kaplan and Mary Shepherd physically carried and gave birth to them. There's no indication that anything strange or supernatural happened during those pregnancies, but it is confirmed in Children's Crusade that the babies in question were reincarnations of the Scarlet Witch's lost sons. While there is a lot of talk about the "transmigration of souls" in Children's Crusade, there are also numerous indications that the twins are genetic duplicates of the original William and Thomas. We know that they are physically identical to each other, coloring aside, and other characters observe, on separate occasions, that they resemble both Wanda and Erik. Billy and Tommy sharing Wanda and Pietro's powers is frequently brought up as evidence of their relationship, and, at the time, the Maximoffs were canonically mutants, which means that their powers were genetic. If their powers are evidence of anything, they're evidence of a genetic connection. All of this is to say that, while the Shepherds and Kaplans are their birth families, Wanda is also their birth mother--the two incarnations are genetically, biologically continuous, not just spiritually continuous.

The cool thing about comics is that we can accept both of these things as true, even if that doesn't make any scientific sense. The manner in which Billy and Tommy were reincarnated was unconventional, even by fantasy standards, and it's basically a retcon of a retcon, written by somebody who might not have had a solid grasp on the Marvel timeline. It's messy, but anyone who reads cape comics needs to be good at suspending disbelief.

—

So, I usually look at Billy and Tommy's heritage and identity in one of two ways-- taken very literally, they each have three biological parents, and we should view them in a way which reflects all parts of that parentage; taken as a more of a metaphor, their origin is basically an adoption story. Wanda lost her kids as a young mother, and they were adopted by different families and reached out to her as young adults.

The neat thing is that Wanda, through Erik, is also Ashkenazi, so you don't have to lose or change any part of who the kids are to embrace their relationship with her. I'm not erasing any part of Billy's heritage by making Wanda his birth mother-- he is Jewish, and was raised in America by a Jewish family, but he also has Central European Roma ancestry.

It shouldn't require very much imagination to envision somebody with more than one ethnic background, especially since these communities do intersect and have shared history. Mutants and magic and reincarnation don't exist, at least not like this, but Romani people exist. Mixed kids exists. Adopted kids exist. This is a fantasy story, but those fantasy elements don't have to preclude any of the things I just described from existing, or from being visible, not unless we willfully interpret it as such. Remember, this is fiction. Fiction doesn't have to erase real groups of people who inhabit real parts of the world and were part of real history-- that is a choice that we make as real people who create or consume media.

There's a lot which could be said about the parameters of Romani identity, and what it means to have gadje parents, or be generationally removed from one's culture and community of origin, the way that Billy and Tommy are. I'm not the right person to explain that stuff, and I don't think it's necessary information for outsider consumption, at least not in this context. What I will say is that many members of displaced and diasporic communities can attest to having gaps in their family trees and disruptions in their cultural lineage, especially in the generations following events such as the Shoah or the Porajmos. For me, that's what Billy and Tommy represent, because that's who I am. I deserve to have space here, but more than that, I want people who care about these characters to care about the history they represent and be motivated to learn more and do better as allies, even if it is only within the sphere of pop culture. And part of that is looking at questions like these ^ and challenging the patterns of misrepresentation and erasure that many, many people in this fandom uphold. I'm extremely grateful to you, Anon, for approaching me so politely, doing your own research, and challenging your own conceptions. That's literally the only reason I was motivated to write all of this. I hope it's legible and that y'all get something out of it.

[h-sleepingirl]

Personal Reflection on Hypnosis and Magic

I was fairly obsessed with magic as a child. I grew up in a secular household -- my mother’s side was mixed Christian but she didn’t inherit the beliefs and my father’s side was Jewish but not observant. We did Christmas and Chanukah and Easter for a little while but just as a cultural practice; we never went to church or synagogue and we never even had conversations about God.

I liked fantasy novels a lot, and I liked Harry Potter, and for a bit of time around age 8 I was making a concerted effort to transform into a unicorn. I found sticks outside and pretended they were wands with the neighborhood kids. Fairly standard. It was no surprise that when I started wondering if I should attempt to connect to spirituality in some way as a teen I discovered Neopaganism and Wicca. It was a lot of shy reading in the 130 section at the library and keeping a Book of Shadows and learning how to meditate and all the bells and whistles of ritual and correspondences.

I remember sneaking outside and kneeling in the grass in the backyard under the moon, I remember going to Salem for the first time. I felt like sometimes maybe I was communicating with gods or divine powers but I never was able to buy in, despite completing my year-and-a-day dedication and making the actions a part of my life for several years, on and off. Starting to smoke weed in college refreshed my curiosity and reinforced belief to some degree, of course, but eventually, I had to come to terms with the fact that this wasn’t something I should force myself to do if I didn’t truly feel a connection to it.

But though I dropped the label and identification, the rituals of Wicca (and Feri witchcraft, which I had started exploring) had filled a role for me that childhood religion does for most. They became something I was comfortable conceptualizing, something that I had gained innate familiarity with, even if I ultimately eschewed the spiritual and metaphysical.

Hypnosis was never connected to that, for me; it felt sacrilegious to make an association between something that was supposed to be sacred and divine and something that was, for a long time, a shameful part of my sexuality. But it was around the same time that I was earnestly practicing magic that I began really studying and doing hypnosis.

A partner of mine at that time -- with whom I was doing hypnosis -- asked me, “Isn’t hypnotic trance the same thing as meditation?”

Naively, I vehemently disagreed.

--

The big-name NLP practitioners are obsessed with calling what they do “magic.” “The Structure of Magic,” “Frogs Into Princes,” etc. Their books are filled to the brim with the metaphor that people who use language effectively are wizards, because language is a representation of the world and has the capability to transform (or “trance-form,” as they say). 

I struggled with hypnosis for a long time -- both trancing others and being tranced myself -- for a variety of reasons. But one of them was that I always felt like other people wanted to do stuff with hypnosis, while I just wanted to do hypnosis itself. For a while even when I was more comfortable in my skin, I described myself as “boring” -- I liked things like fractionation and really deep trance and control, but I struggled with articulating if I had attractions to specific activities. Doll play? Sure, I guess that’s fun. Oh, is the induction over already? Ok…

This mirrored an issue I had while practicing Wicca -- spells were always meant to do something, invite love, heal, connect with the divine, whatever. But while I often wanted to do magic, I had a difficult time deciding on what to do with it. This was made even more complex when I realized I was likely stuck as a nonbeliever -- why did I sometimes return to the rituals, and what was I trying to achieve? How could I incorporate it into my life without feeling disingenuous?

Even up until a year ago, when I tried out tarot and kept asking the cards, “What is my relationship with magic?” -- twofold, looking for an answer (that never came), as well as to have the opportunity to simply try to read cards when I had no actual pressing questions I could think of (ironic).

Bandler et al, as well, work within a model where goals and change are the purpose of magic.

What I was seeking, the whole time, was not using any of these processes for anything, but simply to feel the thing I felt while doing them that was both difficult to illustrate and uniquely recognizable, unlike anything else.

Once I realized this, I used to try to describe it in hypnosis as that I wanted to focus on the induction, or that I didn’t care what we did, or that “change” wasn’t important to me. But that’s not accurate, either. Transformation, manifestation sates that desire when done in a certain way -- surely then I think that NLP perfectly describes my model?

My hesitation there is that I think for myself, it is the pure exhilaration from doing the thing that is what feels like the sweet spot, and it’s not dependent on what direction it goes, what form it takes, or what goal is being achieved.

For me, that feeling of “doing magic” and “doing hypnosis” are completely interchangeable. It is a pure thrill. It is a specific feeling in my mind and body that I can attempt to describe but can never fully enunciate. It changes and shifts but it is always recognizable on some level.

It is much more like doing recreational drugs than it is about prescribing something. Purely hedonistically, I am seeking a high.

--

I don’t believe in magic. I have had a handful of experiences in my life that have made me deeply question that at times, and they are experiences that I have never reconciled, but that is sort of besides the point. Nothing has ever pushed me into a place where I am able to fully embrace the concept that magic exists in any real sense.

But when I do hypnosis, it is impossible not to work within this model. How else am I supposed to describe what it feels like when I look at someone and know what they are thinking, or I just imagine my will suppressing theirs and their eyes flutter, or I think about what I want and my mouth starts moving elegantly in a way that makes it happen? In kinesthetic hypnosis, it is almost too much. My muscle memory is to do things like manifest energy flowing into and through my fingers, affecting my partner, and it was years of trying rituals like blue fire Feri meditations that made that so easy to feel.

It is not that I can make an easy statement like “hypnosis is magic.” It is not literally true. But as a metaphor, it holds a lot of potency. And magic is a powerful and ubiquitous metaphor; it is culturally ingrained in us in the stories we tell and our history. It is vague; there is no universal definition of it, which allows us to stretch it extensively and apply it wherever we feel it fits.

Metaphor itself is a type of magic, and this is one area where my thoughts about the metaphysical qualities of hypnosis shine through. Magic is about symbolism. We use objects, words, actions that we assign meaning to in order to manifest something. Herbs are purported to have affinities for different concepts so we include them in ritual -- and it’s not just that those affinities are inherent; there is meaning behind the correspondences that works best when we understand it. Similarly, when we are attempting to relate a concept to someone, we often do so indirectly, by telling a story, by creating metaphors or associations.

I don’t believe in magic, so to some degree, when I do it, that action is metaphorical. I am using actions that I don’t literally believe to hold any power in order to find a feeling; I am telling a story about a journey in order to find a real destination. This holds true to one of my beliefs, that symbols themselves hold little to no objective meaning. NLP and Alfred Korzybski say, “The map is not the territory; the word is not the thing; this is not a pipe; there is no objective truth.” Our entire world is made of symbols and metaphors that we all have to buy into in order to function as humans. We assign values to things that intrinsically have much different or nonexistent value -- prices, nostalgia, connotation. A magical symbol, in my eyes, is only as powerful as the connections we’re able to make with it in our minds. Color associations are symbolic. The action of casting a circle is symbolic. 

Words are symbols as well, and I do drink the Kool-aid with NLP on this, to some degree. I think about how words are dependent on a vast, intangible amount of variables in order to settle on their presumed, subjective interpretation by a listener or reader. We do this processing as well as thinking about our intent unconsciously, for the most part. If I assume that language is at least partially representative of our experiences and worlds, that gives communication a lot of power, and sure, yes, fine, that smells like magic to me, I’ll take your 20th tired book now Mr. Bandler, sir.

So to some degree the metaphor of magic is about things that are too big, or too grand, or too unknowable to talk about concretely. We often say something is magical when it is difficult or impossible to explain any other way. I can talk plenty about unconscious reading and microexpressions and altered states and language patterns and any number of artifacts that factor into hypnosis, but although it’s fascinating to know about them and helpful to consider and learn, I don’t often think about them when it actually comes down to it. I used to, but not for a while, and there is surely something to be said there for what “becoming experienced” means in both concepts.

It connects to when I think about what things we tend to call “magical” in hypnosis. When I respond without conscious effort, when something is “too fast,” when I feel like I can just purely make someone do something amazing. Sure, it can be easy enough to pick those apart and use academic language and explain them, but sometimes I drive myself insane trying to do that when I just want to say, “It’s magic; it feels like magic.”

--

After leaving my exploration of witchcraft for a while, I ended up adopting parts of it back into my life. I had more connection to the holidays on the Wheel of the Year than any others, really, and Wiccan ritual feels natural to me. I don’t call myself a witch, and I struggled for a long time looking for a label that fits what I do.

When I picked it back up, it was for a Samhain (Halloween) ritual to show my partner. It had been years, but I felt more comfortable casting a circle and doing all the things than I ever had been. I realized that my magic practice had begun to look a lot more like my hypnosis practice. I was speaking and acting unconsciously, simply filtering whispers of my intent through my words and actions. I had no plan and was following no script, but I knew what to do and say. We were both in very deep trance and we could feel the boundary of the circle as a physical thing, the air buzzing. It was the first moment that I had allowed a harmonious marriage between my knowledge of witchcraft and my practice of hypnosis, and I got the druglike thrill that I always seek. We sat in the circle for an hour, unbeknownst to us.

I did some searching to try to find if others had a similar experience or worldview. The best I could describe what I was doing was “psychological magic” or “witchcraft-flavored hypnosis.” I found very little; chaos magic and secular witchcraft were not what I was searching for.

Despite feeling a little lost, the experience reignited my desire for magical ritual. It has always been complicated to go through the motions that logically have no objective power to me, and saying that I give them power feels like a cop-out when I feel like I give them nothing. To some degree, equating it to hypnosis on any level feels like a crutch, but it’s one I’m used to; after all, there is plenty of me that doesn’t really believe in hypnosis, either -- “Hypnosis is bullshit.”

But “spellwork” became the most effortless thing in the world to me when it used to be so careful and unsure and measured. I take my props, I think about what they could symbolize, I think about how they connect to all the other ingredients available to me. I assign value and meaning through those connections and logic in a pattern my brain knows all too well. It is just like manipulation, and I use that to feel things. Creating rituals is just like giving a good suggestion; identify the message of the utterance and craft something poignant and poetic with the tools at hand to give it meaning. In hypnosis, the tools are your place in the story/trance, your vocabulary, the tone, the props, your history and the history of the person you’re with. In magic, the tools are the same, but possibly with a different flavor. A hypnotic tool is the logic that the word “deeper” is a sensory-rich word; a magical tool is the logic that clockwise motion can be equated to “more.” Both tools are malleable.

I mentioned poetry, and I think for me, one of the most important parts of good magic (and good hypnosis) is that it’s beautiful in some way. Wicca, like other religions, puts emphasis on reverence. Even many secular witches will be awed by nature and use that as a motivating force. Magic is not inherently naturalistic for me, even though I borrow the aesthetic. I don’t necessarily seek that kind of divine wonderment, but my attraction is adjacent.

--

My desires with magic are incredibly reflective of my desires with hypnosis -- power. Blind desire for power, whether to have it or have it taken away from me. It sounds evil to write it out, but at its base level it’s much less about anything but a simple feeling. It feels good and heady and awe-filled, and while on some level that’s sexually driven, I think it might also come from another, deeper place.

I still get uncomfortable when magical rituals feel too sensual, and there is a similar discomfort when hypnosis scenes feel too spiritual, but the latter is easier than the former. Generally, I still don’t know “what” to do when I do magic -- I only know “how” to do it. And not to mention “why” I would do magic if I don’t believe in it.

There’s a lot left that I haven’t reconciled. I suppose from a very broad lens, trying to codify the connections I feel between these two concepts is an attempt to make it easier to think about from a variety of different perspectives. I think about how I got over the phase of calling myself “boring” with hypnosis for only seeking feelings, not concepts, and think maybe that will help me with magic. I think about how I became more comfortable over time with my motivations to do hypnosis -- then less comfortable, then more comfortable. A key of my self-growth has always been recognizing and accepting my cyclical nature. (Wicca might say something about moon phases or a myriad of other natural cycles here; hypnosis and NLP might say something about patterns.)

To some degree, these kinds of explorations are valuable because they force us to limit our frames of reference as well. I barely touched upon connected ideas like religion or kink as a whole, how teaching and writing play in, my skill with self-hypnosis (surprisingly low) or connection to mesmerism/magnetism, and so much more. But it’s approaching nebulous concepts like this in a variety of different ways where we find answers, because often we don’t really even know what questions we should be asking.

--

I hope you enjoyed this piece! There was of course a lot I wanted to say and I’m very interested if this sparks any ideas or conversations -- when I first talked about this on Twitter, I was happily surprised how many folks had some similar thoughts or experiences and wanted to relate.

If you liked this writing and want to see more, you can find similar pieces available on Patreon or Gumroad; I write 6-8k words per month, sometimes academic and sometimes more exploratory like this. Please check it out! You can also get this writing as a downloadable PDF and tip through Gumroad, if you feel so inclined.

Thanks as always for your support, no matter what form that takes, be it monetary or simply reading through what I have to say.

- sleepingirl

[girlactionfigure]

THE HOLOCAUST WAS IN COLOUR

I woke up today in Jerusalem to the sound of a siren marking Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Memorial Day. The fucking Holocaust. This thing that's there. This thing that every Jewish kid has to learn about far too young. There’s no good age to learn about it. It takes away an innocence whatever age you learn.

It's a lesson of: actually - the worst shit can happen.

Actually - the worst shit did happen.

Actually the worst shit could happen again.

There is no objective proof of God - but Auschwitz did happen. It’s difficult to remain idealistic about human beings after that. If tales of individual acts of heroism that emerged from the Holocaust are supposed to give us solace and an after-taste of hope, the bigger question is what is it that makes these tales such anomalies?? What is it that prevented every person from being a hero? And why did it happen in the first place?

Visiting Auschwitz ruined part of me. It really did. Even before visiting, all that bullshit ruined part of me. I remember seeing images on TV as a kid and that ain't healthy. To see ghouls hanging on barbed wire. Piles of skeleton and flesh. I don't see how it can't ruin anyone if that's you and your kind they were gunning for. The idea that people murdered you because you were born you. The idea that your fellow countrymen turned round and said: actually you're not one of us. Or turned a blind eye, buttoned up their lips, gazed down in silence and left you to deal with it on your own. It's not like this puts joy in your heart. It puts something in your heart that I can't explain. It puts in your heart the sensation that some people don't want your heart to beat. And that's a confusing feeling for any heart: a nexus of emotions. A paralytic, existential moment. The loneliest heart, scarred by barbed wire and frost.

The fact that I can only trace my family tree back a few generations has always gnawed at me. I can only go back so far and then there's nothing. Just a black hole. Part of my connection with planet earth has been blotted out for good. I've been disinherited of my roots - from knowing the specifics of who I am and where I come from.

A few years back I visited Auschwitz - this massive shithole in Poland. And it's not like this death factory could have been a secret. There's no way. People knew. It's huge. It just goes on and on. And there's something weird about it. And you can't quite figure it out. And then you realise - it's all in colour. It's not in black and white. The images we're used to seeing of Auschwitz are black and white. And as horrific as those images are they provide a safe, historical distance. It appears a bygone world far removed from us. But it's here in colour and it's the same world we inhabit. The same air, the same trees, the same rain falling. And the human beings would have been in colour too, with red blood cells and capillaries and hearts beating like ours. They weren’t creatures from yester-year, they were modern human beings with the same body parts and feelings. And they were murdered by modern human beings who also had the same body parts and who probably loved their children and kissed their partners goodnight.

There's more I could write. I could write about mountains of shoes. I could write about piles of hair. I could write about buttons and cutlery and possessions that emerge from the mud in the rain. I remember having a stupid back and forth in my mind over some buttons I found which I put back into the mud. I had this stupid thought that maybe I should have "liberated" the buttons rather than leave them in that shithole - but then thinking that would be stealing? But would it be stealing if they'd been stolen by scum and were now being "taken back" in a spirit of love and solidarity by someone on their side? “Liberating buttons.” Stupid stuff. Ridiculous thoughts that you can somehow do something correct to rectify what happened here and bring some kind of harmony. In the end I left them. The buttons were stolen and they don't belong to Auschwitz - but they belong to the memory of what happened there - so they can at least continue to speak from the mud to anyone who sees them.

If I'm honest, part of me wishes I hadn't visited the place. I came away angry and it killed any absolute faith I have in human beings. As I say, individual tales of heroism and defiance aren’t enough to justify true optimism. They're a plaster to cover up the deeper sickness of who and what we are as a species. There's something worrying about human beings and our capacity for cruelty. A species whose children pick the wings off flies, combined with a propensity to herd mentality, is dangerous. It should trouble all of us. I don't know how we overcome it, keep it restrained, or collectively channel it toward a universally agreed direction that’s aimed at goodness.

If I have one reflection on whatever nonsense it is I'm writing it's this: I think there's a violence in human beings. There is violence in the human soul. There is violence and there is cruelty. But more than that there is fear. Despite our songs and poems, I'm not sure love is the most powerful force on earth. There’s a strong argument to suggest fear is the primary driving force behind the actions of the animal we call a human being. It's fear of freezing to death that causes us to build shelters. It's fear of going hungry that causes us to stock food. It's fear of being ostracised that causes us to ostracise others. It's fear of ridicule that breeds conformity. It's fear that causes people to keep their heads down. And when the moment of danger comes? When the tyrants enter? When the bullies arrive? It's fear that causes people to not speak up. To turn a blind eye. To let someone else take the bullet. People can bombastically jump on the bandwagon and say "never again" but it’s tough to find your voice when face to face with a bully. People can say never again but it’s tough to square up if someone has raised their fist and shown they will use it. It’s tough to be brave when the moment comes and there's so many thoughts going through your mind and your brain and adrenalin decides it's best to shut down and stay quiet for the sake of self-preservation. It’s tough to do good things in this world because the bad things are loud and scary and intimidating. It’s tough for people to rise above fear. There’s a reason why heroes are called lone heroes. They’re uncommon.

That's why it's good to be writing this from Israel where Jews are once again in their ancestral home, the place they forged an indigenous civilisation many thousands of years ago before the Babylonians and Romans forced them into exile. A place where they can ensure that "Never Again" is not left in the hands of a species that pulls the wings off flies. Google the Evian Conference - visit Auschwitz yourself - survival is not a game to be left in the hands of others or based on the strength of promises. Because there's always a chance that when the chips are against you and you call out to friends or others for help, you could be left hanging around wondering when they'll arrive?

And the answer might be:

Never. Again.

So. Anyway. It's 5pm. I need a piss. Then I'll probably eat some bread. A siren went off this morning. Just one final thought before I have a wee. I say that any absolute faith I have in human beings is lost. And that's true. Yet every day I experience such joy at existing. I love walking about, talking to people and connecting with souls cut from the same cloth. I like nature and I like looking at things and if I didn't love science so much I'd probably be a new age nut hugging trees and trying to kiss ants. Being alive is the most beautiful thing I've experienced to date.

And as embarrassed as I am to say it would you look at me trying to finish on a positive note?

Maybe there is something stronger than fear?

The persistant impulse to seek blessings in a world full of curses. The sheer chutzpah of life. The defiance. Not to vanquish the darkness, but to live in spite of the darkness. I can handle a world where Auschwitz took place if I also get to live in a world where there are people I love. I can handle a world where there’s horror if I also get to laugh now and then. And the fact that love, laughter and happiness can blossom in a world where the worst can happen - and has - must count for something. Deep down the impulse to go in search of life’s blessings is within all of us. It’s part of who we are. It’s why we get up each morning. We have to have faith that all will be well even when logic, history and common sense says otherwise. Actually it’s not even a question of faith. We have no choice. I think hope is hardwired into all of us. Deeper than fear. We are a creature that hopes. And sometimes, with the right wind behind us, at the right tide, we make those hopes come true. Sometimes, if you will it, it is no dream.

Lee Kern

This was written in Jerusalem in 2015 on Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Memorial Day

[pinkykitten]

oc - felicity ivy jones bio (peaky blinders)

Faceclaim: Keira Knightley (looks like mostly vera from the edge of love)

Character Profile

Full name: FELICITY IVY JONES

Nicknames or Aliases: Red, Ms. Red, Big Red, Scarlet

History of Nicknames: Her favorite color is red and that is what she named the love of her life, her club, Red. She also loves wearing red. She has long sharp red nails that she fancies and she is always wearing her red lipstick and occasionally wears her red clawed gloves, shoes or her favorite, her red suits. She doesn’t like anyone or wants anyone to know her true name and people are intimidated by this head gangster gal and very scared of her. She will hurt you if you show her disrespect by calling her her real name. She is also deep down terrified of people digging into her personal life.

Age: 30 or thirties

She is from London but she resides in Birmingham, England

Personality: sarcastic, flirtatious, teasing, annoyed 99% of the time, she acts a lot like helga from alantis the lost empire, Jessica rabbit and meg from Hercules, to the public and her crew she is a tough bad a*s that can handle herself but at home she is wreck and is falling apart, depressed, and has a tiny bit of ocd, she cries most days and has bags under her eyes which she covers up with makeup and she takes tokyo, prescription drugs, and drinks heavily. at home she lets her guard down and is a mess having breakdowns.

Likes: dancing and singing (she does this not all the time but whenever she wants she sings at her club), suits suits suits that is all she wears people, good expensive suits and shoes and hats, food and alcohol, cooking, loves her club thats like her child, money, boxing, guns and weapons, fighting, tokyo, jewelry, makeup, womens rights, and her girls

Family: Arlo Jones (father, deceased)

Seren Jones (little sister)

Relationship with characters:

Tommy Shelby - She met Tommy when her father and little sister moved to Birmingham to manufacture cars and start a new life. Through her father she met Tommy and they quickly became good friends. She didn’t mind anything about him she just took him as he was. They grew very close but ww1 came and unfortunately Felicity didn’t keep in connection with Tommy. Her letters to him dying until they were no more. They both went their separate ways until when Tommy came back he saw that Felicity had made a name for herself and started doing business with her and seeing her as a business partner. Another gang he could trust. They still do have a really close relationship and its like they never had lost contact but their business lifestyle and differences makes them not go further than friends. They are now good friends and Felicity looks up to Tommy and trusts him with everything she has. Also she is the one where Tommy gets his most amount of tokyo. Tommy is also a regular at her club and his men and whoever is friends with him or family is a friend to her. They are very sarcastic with each other and playful and very flirty. Tommy tells Felicity everything and Tommy is one of the very few people who knows the real Felicity and all her demons. He is the only one she allows to call her real name and he doesn’t call her red. They protect each other and are like thick as thieves. He has a lot of respect for her.

Luca Changretta - Everybody in Birmingham and in London know about Red and her men. Luca knew she had connections with Tommy and invited her to his office to talk about setting a plan to get back at the peaky blinders. She would never do Tom dirty like that so she over and over again tried to disagree and leave but Luca sat her on his desk (knowing she was lonely after just having broken up with red’s ex) and the two had sex, only that one time as Felicity was lonely and the moment was heated. Luca flirts with her and teases her which she hates as she doesn’t like to be taken advantage of. He comes to her club and she sings to flirtatiously to him. Luca find Felicity invigorating and captivating, liking a woman in charge. Where as Felicity finds Luca an annoyance and a pain.

Alfie Solomons - That is her ride or die boy. She and Alfie are like two peas in a pod and she is also very flirtatious towards him. she loves alfie and spends a lot of time with him. since red doesn’t believe in love she is always trying to pick out a girl for alfie to go with or to bang (unknown to her alfie wants felicity) red is like one of the men. They are also business partners. alfies rum is sold and given at the club red and felicity is one of alfies buyers. They a lot of times act like a married couple. Alfie sometimes gets cheesy with his who charming personality or charming with red but she gets very annoyed. alfie thinks felicity is cute but he doesn’t want to admit it but he is very afraid of red. he knows not to get on her bad side. Alfie along with tommy is also a person that knows about her past and inner demons but because of word and rumors and sometimes her depression slips out making alfie worry for her and care about her. also they get a long very well because felicity is a jewish convert and is more devoted to the religion than Alfie. She partakes in all the jewish holidays and traditions and yes dinners.

Michael Gray - he has a major crush on red. he is intrigued by her and honestly felicity finds it kinda cute. he is sorta shy around her but when he gets cocky with the gang business he then starts to be more forward with red. he may not know it but she respects michael and finds him attractive. he tries really hard with her. he finds her unique and cool. she is very protective of michael. she would also visit him a lot of times, cooking for him when he was at the hospital. they get close.

Harriet Gould - her ex. before the luca incident with his arrival and everything of him felicity was with a writer for the papers. he was a shy, and timid man. at first red didn’t want anything to do with him as he was asking questions about her success based on the club as he wanted to write an article about her. she didn’t want more news spread about her but with his begging and her finding him attractive and liking his determination she finally agreed. she also thought maybe by harriet spreading the news about her club her club would gain popularity. tommy of course did not like him and found him very suspicious and sketchy. red treated him kindly and good and soon the two became close. he had a peak into her life and also she opened up to him about her past telling him the truth and wanting him to write it down. he was her favorite person. unfortunately it was shown later harritet’s true intentions. the coppers obey and listen to red much like they do to tommy but a group of coppers were planning to go against red and needed someone to know insight things to steal the money in red’s club. like tommy has a vault for the money so does red except hers is red lol. she found at night they had broken in and stole all the money. furious she found out it was harriet and the coppers and killed the coppers, hanging their bloody beaten bodies upside down in their homes and thankfully she retrieved the money she lost. she tried to kill harriet but she couldn’t find herself to do the deed as she still loved him even though he stole from her and went against her. harriet played with red’s mind and made her trust him again and take him back. he also begged for his life and told red that he would publish the article about her club and her. thinking it was over and thinking he still loved her red allowed him to live with her. she then though caught him cheating and making love to another woman on her bed. feeling anger and having enough she shot both the woman and harriet in the head. she broke down and now is more mentally unstable then before. having more trust issues and not believing in love.

Arthur Shelby - he loves her cause she gives him the light of day and she is usually on arthur’s side and loves him. she gets arthur a lot. they have kissed once but because they both were drunk and high as a kite. arthur is very protective of felicity and she jokes a lot with him. she barely ever gets angry with him and he seeks her to find good advice and comfort.

John Shelby - when she can she acts like a total dweeb and idiot when she is with john. she likes to rile him up as she likes it when he fights and gets angry. they like to gush over guns and who has more bde. he is also kinda scared of felicity but she would never hurt him. plus one of his daughter wants to be like red and he doesn’t know how he feels about it but red is like the worst with kids so she like tries her hardest with his million children. since she is very rich and wealthy she buys the kids gifts every time she visits john. john can’t even keep up with it.

Finn Shelby - boi put your pee wee back in your pants. finn sees felicity as an old lady and jokes with her saying she is old. she usually is seen smacking him upside the head. she was the first one to buy him a gun and teach him how to shoot. oops. also one of red’s girls likes him and he loves coming to the club red to not only have a smoke, tokyo, and a drink but also he loves the girls and usually he gets some action there. but felicity checks the girl first before she has sex with the tommy shelby’s brother.

Ada Shelby - red looks up to ada actually. she wishes she could be as strong as her and could have that affection and life that ada has. she loves hanging out with ada. they are like sisters. they go shopping all the time and eat every where. felicity loves to buy ada things such as purses, dresses, makeup, jewelry and red is always playing matchmaker with ada. getting her men to take ada out to dinner. red likes to take ada’s son to races and unknown to ada red lets karl make bets. red is always there for ada and if ever ada should call or ask for red felicity would be there in a flash in a minute. ada is her girl and she is always there for her especially with freddie’s death and just through tough times in ada’s life.

Polly Gray - where to start. red sees polly as her idol, her goddess. red wants to be like her when she grows up heck now. she listens to polly and takes her advice because polly is usually correct in things. thats why is was odd to polly and out of the box behavior for red when red got annoyed and stood up for michael. as much as she loves polly she loves this gangster life more and feels michael is old enough to decide what he wants for himself. she feels michael was born for this life. polly saw red in the beginning as a threat and suspicious but quickly red proved herself to her that she was true and was a friend to the peaky blinders.

Grace Burgess - red doesn’t mind her. she sees her as someone who is kind and sweet yet can handle herself. what she doesn’t like is when grace starts asking questions and trying to interfere and mess up everything red built. red is a friend of tommy and to see him happy and love someone makes red happy for him and more at ease. red even sang for them at their wedding.

Lizzie Stark - red likes how blunt lizzie is and sometimes feels bad for her. red is sometimes annoyed by her and feels that tommy shouldn’t give signs or do something for lizzie if its not genuine.

Linda Shelby - OH MY GOD RED HATES HER AND HAS NEVER LIKED AGHHHHH

Arlo Jones - red and her father had a good relationship. it was like any father and daughter duo. arlo loved his girls and was very serious. he also loved cars. he passed away being war because he was drafted in the british army during world war 1. he taught red to stick up for herself and to work hard and when you work hard you get money and booze.

Seren Jones - red always took care of her baby sister. seren was always quiet but was always laughing and having a smile on her face. she would always love to play with her older sister. because of the war, her father’s death, and recent trauma seren was not mentally stable and was sent to an asylum. red takes care of her still and checks on her to which nobody knows about this (until later tommy knows, alfie and then red tells ada and harriet) red cares deeply for seren and will do anything to protect her sister.

BACKSTORY:

red was mostly raised by her father as red’s mother left the family when seren was a baby. red only remembers some things of her mother but not that much. through hard work arlo went to birmingham small heath to pursue his car manufacturing (this was around the time where in a couple of years tommy would be drafted). red had a good time in small heath yes it was dark and gloomy but she liked it. when she was at small heath she was goofy and silly always making jokes. she became friends with the shelby’s and all their friendships grew. in that time life was more lighthearted and red was more innocent not really caring or giving two thoughts about the darkest places. also in this time she wore dresses.

the day before tommy was to be drafted along with arlo and others, seren and felicity were out. red bought tommy a pin as a gift as she saw it in a store and liked it. they were walking by a group of worker men and the men called out to red and seren. the men were gross and dirty and were trying to take advantage of seren and red. they got a hold of the “pretty one” seren first but red fought them off of her and yelled at seren to leave and go far away. seren, horrified and scarred for life saw the men grabbing felicity and ripping her clothes off. seren fled as red protected her sister. the men took advantage of her in a stables and left red in the dirt like trash. from then on red was never the same. she wanted to tell tommy but tommy had so much going on his plate and he was going to war. red never told anyone the only person who knew was seren but red tried not to worry seren and said that it was nothing. that moment on red didn’t trust men and never wanted to be humiliated like that again. if this was a mans world she was going to become THE man (thats why her attitude she changed she now wore suits, she also wears suits because she thinks if she looks more masculine men won’t be attracted to her and what happened to her won’t happen again). red vowed to never be taken advantage like that again. from that moment on though the men spread rumors of felicity that she was a whore and that she had sex with every man in small heath. people didn’t like red which she grew to not care. she rather people were scared of her for what she could do. red wanted to make a name for herself so she started getting to work in creating her club RED.

her father went to war and felicity had to watch her sister and deal with her club and she learned how dirty this world really could be. she wanted money the clothes the men everything she wanted that lavish lifestyle. word came in that arlo had died in the war and that made seren go into deep depression. so from the war, the father’s death and what happened to red seren became mentally unstable and was forced into an asylum. red visits her everyday and vows to get her out someday.

because of what happened in red’s life, and all the responsibilities such as her men, her girls (the girls that work for red at the club), her sister, her father, everything, red has nightmares and she is addicted to drugs, cocaine, and an alcoholic. but her house and club are always in ship shape and so are her outfits because she has ocd which occurred after what happened to her. nobody knows her dark side and her inner demons and what she is really going through and that she is struggling.

now she has her lavish club RED (idk why but i always envision it looks like gusteau’s resturant)

she has a jazz band that plays at RED every night. anybody can sing there you just have to put your name, there are dance girls and singers. they sing whatever. the dirty part of the club, at day its a normal everyday club but by night you can do drugs there, illegal alcohol if you ask and the woman agrees and she gets paid there are rooms in the back or there to have sex. at night you can do whatever you want its a party city there. red could care less just as long as you don’t mess with the club and that she gets paid. red also does bets and racing as well like the shelbys and she does jewelry.

HER OUTFITS:

OC FOREVER TAGLIST: @witchofinterest, @chlobenet​, @abbysarcane​, @myocmultiverse​, @nkskywalker​, @whctsherncme​, lmk if you want to be on my permanet tag list or red’s tag list!

[teenslib]

IT’S FINALLY DONE! Every year, the Rainbow Book List Committee has more books to review, because literature is slowing getting queerer, and children’s and YA lit are at the forefront of that change. This year, our committee of 13 people had to review nearly 500 eligible titles, and 130 (well, 129) were good enough and queer enough to make the list. There were so many terrific books that we got a special dispensation to create TWO Top Ten lists--the first time the committee has done so! The Top Tens are below, and please visit the link above for the full list.

I’m proud of our committee’s focus on diversity--along lines of race, ethnicity, queer identity, and even genre. At least half of the Top Ten Books for Young Readers and seven of the Top Ten for Teen Readers are about characters of color, and most of those were written by authors of color. We also tried to feature as many different letters of the alphabet soup as possible. I’ve noted the racial and LGBTQIA+ rep for the books that I’ve read.

Here are the Top Ten Books for Young Readers:

Ana on the Edge by Sass, A.J. Ages 8 to 12. Sports Fiction/Figure Skating. MC is nonbinary and Jewish-Chinese-American. Ana is a champion figure-skater. She hates her new princess-themed program, but how can she tell her mother that, when it cost so much money? And why does it bother her so much, anyway? When she finds the word ‘nonbinary,’ she realizes why the program doesn’t fit, but she still has a lot of work to do repairing relationships that have suffered in the meantime.

The Deep & Dark Blue by Smith, Niki. Ages 8 to 12. Fantasy. One of 2 MCs is a trans girl, all characters appear to be Southeast Asian. A pair of twins flee after a political coup that puts their lives at risk. They decide to disguise themselves as Hanna and Grayce, two girls living in the Communion of the Blue, an order of weaving women who spin magic like wool. What one twin doesn’t know is that, for the other, being Grayce isn’t a disguise. This is a beautiful story about self-discovery, acceptance, and affirmation.

Drawing on Walls: A Story of Keith Haring by Burgess, Matthew and Josh Cochran (Illustrator). Ages 6 to 14. Biography. MC is a white gay man. This colorful picture-book biography traces the life and art of Keith Haring.

The Every Body Book: LGBTQ+ Inclusive Guide for Kids about Sex, Gender, Bodies, and Families by Simon, Rachel E. and Noah Grigni (Illustrator). Ages 8 to 12. Nonfiction/Health. Various identities and races included. Filled with self-affirming information, The Every Body Book uses inclusive language, illustrations, and facts to cover a number of important topics for young people including consent, relationships, gender, sex, puberty, and hormones.

King and the Dragonflies by Callender, Kacen. Ages 8 to 12. Realistic Fiction. MC is a gay black boy, his best friend is a gay white boy. King’s family–especially his father–have strong opinions about what it means to be a Black man, and they don’t allow for being gay. But King admires his friend Sandy for escaping an abusive home and living his truth no matter what. If King comes out, too, can his father learn to change?

Magic Fish by Nguyen, Trung Le. Ages 12 and up. Realistic Fiction/Fantasy. MC is a gay Vietnamese-American boy. A young Vietnamese-American boy literally can’t find the words to tell his parents that he’s gay, but cross-cultural fairytales help bridge the language barrier in this beautifully-illustrated graphic novel. 

My Maddy by Pitman, Gayle E. and Violet Tobacco (Illustrator). Ages 4-8. Realistic Fiction. MC’s parent is nonbinary, MC and her parent are white. My Maddy is a heartwarming story about a young girl and her parent. Readers learn that not all parents are boys or girls; some parents are just themselves. In this young girl’s case, that parent is her Maddy, a loving, caring parent who lives outside the gender binary.

My Rainbow by Neal, DeShanna, Trinity Neal, and Art Twink (Illustrator). Ages 4-8. Realistic Fiction. MC is an autistic black trans girl. Autistic trans girl Trinity wants to have long hair, but growing it out is too itchy! None of the wigs in the store are quite right, so Mom makes Trinity a special rainbow wig.

Our Subway Baby by Mercurio, Peter and Leo Espinosa (Illustrator). Ages 4 to 8. Adoption Non-fiction. MCs are white gay men, the baby they adopt is Black. Loving illustrations help tell the story of how an infant abandoned in a NYC subway station was adopted by the man who found him and his partner.

Snapdragon by Leyh, Kat. Snapdragon. Ages 10 to 14. Fantasy. Haven’t read this one yet, so I can’t comment on its representation. Snap gets to know the town witch and discovers that she may in fact have real magic and a secret connection to Snap’s family’s past.

And here are the Top Ten Books for Teen Readers:

All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by Johnson, George M. Ages 14 to 18. Memoir. Author/MC is a gay Black man. “Memoir-manifesto” is a well-chosen label for this book, which relates stories from the author’s childhood and young adulthood and contextualizes them within a queer Black experience. Although the author’s family is loving and supportive, pervasive heteronormativity, queerphobia, and anti-Black racism threaten his mental, emotional, and physical safety.

Camp by Rosen, L.C. Ages 14 and up. Realistic Fiction. MC and his love interest are gay Jewish boys. For Randy, going away to Camp Outland is a breath of fresh air, a time to be exactly who Randy can’t always be at school. But this year will be different. This year, Randy won’t be the flamboyant theater kid, this year Randy will be exactly the type of bro Hudson would want to date. Changing a thing or too will be necessary for Randy to succeed, even if that means leaving some friends behind.

Cemetery Boys by Thomas, Aiden. Ages 13 and up. Paranormal/Romance. MC is a trans Latino, his love interest is a gay Latino. Yadriel accidentally summons the wrong ghost in an attempt to prove himself a real brujo to his family who struggle to accept his gender identity. Though he thinks he is summoning the ghost of his cousin, he actually summons the ghost of Julian Diaz, and finds himself with not one, but two, mysterious deaths to investigate.

Circus Rose by Cornwell, Betsy. Ages 12 and up. Fantasy. One MC is white and one is mixed-race, one is a lesbian and one is questioning. Ivory and Rosie are twins and half-sisters, born to a bearded woman who refused to choose between her lovers, and raised in their mother’s circus. After a long foreign tour, they come home to find themselves under attack by religious zealots. As tragedy follows tragedy, will Ivory be able to save her circus family?

Elatsoe by Little Badger, Darcie  and Rovina Cai (Illustrator). Ages 12 and up. Mystery. MC is an aro/ace Lipan Apache girl. In this OwnVoices novel, Elatsoe is on a mission to discover who killed her beloved cousin, and why. If not for her cousin, then she is doing this for her people, the Indigenous Lipan Apache tribe. Elatsoe has the ability to raise ghosts from the dead, a tradition that has been passed down through generations. On this journey it will take vulnerability, wit, and the legends of her people for Elatsoe to understand all that is hidden in the small town of Willowbee.

I’ll Be the One by Lee, Lyla. Ages 13 and up. Realistic Fiction. MC is a bi Korean-American girl, her love interest is a bi Korean boy. Skye Shin dreams of becoming the world’s first plus-sized K-pop star, and a reality TV competition may just be her chance. To win, she’ll have to deal with fatphobic beauty standards, fierce competition, and intense media scrutiny–as well as unexpected attraction to one of her competitors.

Miss Meteor by Mejia, Tehlor Kay and Anna-Marie McLemore. Ages 14 and up. Magical Realism. (I haven’t read this one, but I think both MCs are WLW Latinas.) Lita is a star – literally. After falling to earth several years ago, she’s now living life as a teenage girl. When the annual Miss Meteor pageant rolls around, Lita decides to enter – but will her ex-best friend Chicky be willing to help her? Will the pageant help her forget about the past and imagine a new future? Lita learns that winning isn’t about being perfect, it’s about showing your true self to the world – even the parts that no one else understands.

You Should See Me in a Crown by Johnson, Leah. Ages 12 and up. Realistic Fiction. MC is a black WLW (woman-loving-woman). In this affectionate rom-com, Liz Lighty finds herself an unlikely candidate for prom queen at her affluent suburban school. Shy, awkward, Black, and low-income, Liz has never felt like she belonged, and she can’t wait to leave for her dream college. But when her scholarship falls through, it seems her last resort is to win prom queen, and the scholarship money that comes with it. Liz’s plan is complicated when new girl Mack decides to run for prom queen also…and ends up running away with Liz’s heart.

War Girls by Onyebuchi, Tochi.  Ages 12 and up. Science Fiction/Afro-Futurism. Both MCs are Nigerian, one is a WLW. In a not-so-distant future, climate change and nuclear disasters have made much of the earth unlivable. In the midst of war in Nigeria, two sisters, Onyii and Ify, are torn apart and face two very different futures. As their lives progress through years of untold violence and political unrest, battles with deadly mechs and cyborg soldiers outfitted with artificial limbs and organs, they are brought together again and again and must come to terms with how the war has impacted their lives.

When We Were Magic by Gailey, Sarah. Ages 14 and up. Contemporary Fantasy. MC is a white bi/questioning girl with gay dads, her friends are racially, ethnically, and queerily diverse. This firecracker of a novel follows a group of friends who attempt to correct the accidental murder of a classmate. When We Were Magic combines magic, friendship, and awkward moments to create a captivating story. Each character brings their own uniqueness to the strong group of friends, but despite their differences, their loyalty remains. Author Sarah Gailey has written another page turning novel, with the quirky strange content to boot.

[benevolentbirdgal]

“Thirteen″ Tips for Writing About Synagogues / Jewish Writing Advice / Advice for Visiting Synagogues

So your story includes a Jew (or two) and you’ve a got a scene in a synagogue. Maybe there’s a bar mitzvah, maybe your gentile protagonist is visiting their partner’s synagogue. Maybe there’s a wedding or a community meeting being held there. For whatever reason, you want a scene in a shul. I’m here as your friendly (virtual) neighborhood Jewish professional to help you not sound like a gentile who thinks a synagogue is just a church with a Star of David instead of a cross. 

Quick note: The are lots of synagogues around the world, with different specific cultural, local, and denominational practices. The Jewish community is made up of roughly 14 million people worldwide with all sorts of backgrounds, practices, life circumstances, and beliefs. I’m just one American Jew, but I’ve had exposure to Jewishness in many forms after living in 3.5 states (at several different population densities/layouts), attending Jewish day school and youth groups, doing Jewish college stuff, and landing a job at a Jewish non-profit. I’m speaking specifically in an American or Americanish context, though some of this will apply elsewhere as well. I’m also writing from the view of Before Times when gatherings and food and human contact was okay.

Bear in mind as well, in this discussion, the sliding scale of traditional observance to secular/liberal observance in modern denominations: Ultraorthodox (strict tradition), Modern Orthodox (Jewish law matters but we live in a modern world), Conservative (no relation to conservative politics, brands itself middle ground Judaism), Reconstructionist (start with Jewish law and then drop/add bits to choose your own adventure), and Reform (true build your own adventure, start at basically zero and incorporate only as you actively choose).

Synagogue = shul = temple. Mikvah (ritual bath) is its own thing and usually not attached to the shul. Jewish cemeteries are also typically nowhere near the shul, because dead bodies are considered impure.   

A Bar/Bat/Bnai Mitzvah is the Jewish coming of age ceremony. Bar (“son”) for boys at 13+, Bat (“daughter”) at 12+, and Bnai (“children”) for multiples (i.e. twins/triplets/siblings) or non-binary kids (although the use of the phrase “Bnai Mitzvah” this way is pretty new). 12/13 is the minimum, 12-14 the norm but very Reform will sometimes allow 11 and anybody above 12/13 can have theirs. Probably a dedicated post for another time. Generally, however, the following will happen: the kid will lead some parts of services, read from and/or carry the Torah, and make a couple of speeches. 

Attire: think Sunday Best (in this case Saturday), not come as you are. Even at very liberal reconstructionist/reform synagogues you wouldn’t show up in jeans and a t-shirt or work overalls. Unless they are seriously disconnected from their culture, your Jewish character is not coming to Saturday morning services in sneakers and jeans (their gentile guest, however, might come too casual and that’d be awkward).  1a. The more traditional the denomination, the more modest the attire. Outside of orthodoxy woman may wear pants, but dresses/skirts are more common. Tights for anything above knee common for Conservative/Reform/Recon, common for even below knee for orthodox shuls. Men will typically be wearing suits or close to it, except in very Reform spaces.  1b. Really, think business casual or nice dinner is the level of dressiness here for regular services. Some minor holidays or smaller events more casual is fine. Social events and classes casual is fine too.  1c. Even in reform synagogues, modesty is a thing. Get to the knee or close to it. No shoulders (this an obsession in many Jewish religious spaces for whatever reason), midriffs, or excessive cleavage (as I imagine to be the norm in most houses of worship). 

Gendered clothing:  3a. Men and boys wear kippahs (alt kippot, yarmulkes) in synagogues, regardless of whether they’re Jewish or not out of respect to the space. Outside of Jewish spaces it’s saying “I’m a Jew” but inside of Jewish spaces it’s saying “I’m a Jew or a gentile dude who respects the Jewish space.”  Outside of very Reform shuls, it’s a major faux pass to be a dude not wearing one.  3b. There are little buckets of loaner kippahs if you don’t bring your own and commemorative kippahs are given away at events (bar mitzvah, weddings). Your Jewish dude character not bringing or grabbing one is basically shouting “I’m new here.”  3c. Women are permitted to wear kippahs, but the adoption of a the traditionally masculine accessory will likely be interpreted by other Jews as LGBTQ+ presentation, intense feminism, and/or intense but nontraditional devoutness. Nobody will clutch their pearls (outside of ultraorthodoxy) but your character is sending a message.  3d. Tefillin are leather boxes and wrappings with prayers inside them that some Jewish men wrap around their arms (no under bar mitzvah or gentiles). Like with the kippah, a woman doing this is sending a message of feminism and/or nontraditional religious fervor.  3e. Additionally, prayer shawls, known as tallit, are encouraged/lightly expected of Jewish males (over 13) but not as much as Kippahs are. It is more common to have a personal set of tallit than tefillin. Blue and white is traditional, but they come in all sorts of fun colors and patterns now. Mine is purple and pink. It is much more common for women to have tallit and carries much fewer implications about their relationship to Judaism than wearing a kippah does.  3f. Married woman usually cover their hair in synagogues. Orthodox women will have wigs or full hair covers, but most Jewish woman will put a token scarf or doily on their head in the synagogue that doesn’t actually cover their hair. The shul will also have a doily loaner bucket. 

Jewish services are long (like 3-4 hours on a Saturday morning), but most people don’t get there until about the 1-1.5 hour mark. Your disconnected Jewish character or their gentile partner might not know that though. 

Although an active and traditional synagogue will have brief prayers three times every day, Torah services thrice a week, holiday programming, and weekly Friday night and Saturday morning services, the latter is the thing your Jewish character is most likely attending on the reg. A typical Saturday morning service will start with Shacharit (morning prayers) at 8:30-9, your genre savvy not-rabbi not-Bnai mitzvah kid Jewish character will get there around 9:30-10:15. 10:15-10:30 is the Torah service, which is followed by additional prayers. Depending on the day of the Jewish year (holidays, first day of new month, special shabbats), they’ll be done by 12:30 or 1 p.m. Usually.  After that is the oneg, a communal meal. Onegs start with wine and challah, and commence with a full meal. No waiting 4-8 hours to have a covered-dish supper after services. The oneg, outside of very, very, very Reform spaces will be kosher meat or kosher dairy. 

To conduct certain prayers (including the mourner’s prayers and the Torah service) you need a Minyan, which at least 10 Jewish “adults” must be present, defined as post Bar/Bat/Bnai Mitzvah. In Conservative/Reform/Recon, men and women are counted equally. In Ultraorthodox women are not counted. In Modern Orthodox it depends on the congregation, and some congregations will hold women’s-only services as well with at least ten “adult” Jewish women present.

In Conservative and Orthodox shuls, very little English is used outside of speeches and sermons. Prayers are in Hebrew, which many Jews can read the script of but not understand. Transliterations are also a thing.  In Reform synagogues, there’s heavy reliance on the lingua franca (usually English in American congregations). Reconstructionist really varies, but is generally more Hebrew-based than Reform. 

We’re a very inquisitive people. If your character is new to the synagogue, there will be lots of questions at the post-services oneg (meal, typically brunch/lunch). Are you new in town? Have you been here before? Where did you come from? Are you related to my friend from there? How was parking? Do you know my cousin? Are you single? What is your mother’s name? What do you think of the oneg - was there enough cream cheese? What summer camp did you go to? Can you read Hebrew? Have you joined?  A disconnected Jew or gentile might find it overwhelming, but many connected Jews who are used to it would be like “home sweet chaos” because it’s OUR chaos. 

In Orthodox synagogues, men and women have separate seating sections. There may be a balcony or back section, or there may be a divider known as a mechitzah in the middle. Children under 12/13 are permitted on either side, but over 12/13 folks have to stay one section or the other. Yes, this is a problem/challenge for trans and nonbinary Jews.  Mechitzahs are not a thing outside of orthodoxy. Some older Conservative synagogues will have women’s sections, but no longer expect or enforce this arrangement.   

Money. Is. Not. Handled. On. Shabbat. Or. Holidays. Especially. Not. In. The. Synagogue. Seriously, nothing says “goy writing Jews” more than a collection plate in shul. No money plate, no checks being passed around, even over calls for money (as opposed to just talking about all the great stuff they do and upcoming projects) are tacky and forbidden on Shabbat. Synagogues rely on donations and dues, and will solicit from members, but don’t outright request money on holidays and Shabbat. 

Outside of Reform and very nontraditional Conservative spaces, no instruments on Shabbat or holidays. No clapping either. Same goes for phones, cameras, and other electronics outside of microphones (which aren’t permitted in Orthodox services either).  11a. In the now-times an increasing number of shuls have set up cameras ahead of time pre-programmed to record, so they don’t have to actively “make fire” which is “work” (this is the relevant commandment/mitzvah) on Shabbat, so services can be live-streamed. 11b. After someone has completed an honor (reading from the Torah, carrying the Torah, opening the ark, etc), the appropriate response is a handshake after and the words “Yasher Koach” (again, Before-Times).

Jewish services involve a lot of movement. Get up, sit down. Look behind you, look in front of you. Twist left, twist right. A disconnected Jew or gentile visitor would be best off just trying to follow along with what an exchange student we had once termed “Jewish choreography.” Some prayers are standing prayers (if able), some are sitting prayers. It’s just how it is, although a handful of prayers have variations on who stands. 

[blogspersonal707]

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More ways to help Fritch, Texas after wildfires

–St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church Amarillo -Fritch Fire Volunteers — please note! The address for the multi-agency resource center — MARC — has changed. The new address is 308 Ridgeland, Fritch TX 79030. Please follow the Red Cross signs. –Toot’n Totum … Continue reading

Posted inAmarillo, Community, Fires, Lake Meredith, News, Panhandle, Texas, VolunteersTaggedamarillo, Amarillo Area Foundation, Benefit shows, Borger Texas, disaster relief, donate, donations, Fritch Texas, help, Hutchinson County, Hutchinson County Texas, Lake Meredith, May 2014, Pantex Federal Credit Union, Red Cross, St Andrews, Texas Panhandle, Toot n Totum, volunteers, wildfiresLeave a comment

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Showcase Your True Potential: How skill sharing can shape thousands of lives

Joe Yakeen Vinitha | Mentor & Business Coach

The first time I heard the word ‘trading-positions’ was during one of my mastermind sessions with enthusiastic entrepreneurs. One of the participants gave an example which used this word and I was like what… But I did not forget to learn that from her and now I do trading!

 While doing all the research, tips & trick of trading, I realized I was becoming a part of a much larger, much more humane community of sharing skills with anybody who wanted to learn just in an attempt to make their lives better. In a way to connect people through their interests on a similar ground, the difference being one person is already adept at the particular field and the others just interested to learn.

To be honest, the concept of sharing skills is not something alien. We have all grown up with it. Take every mother who has taught her child to cook or every father who helped his kid with their homework. Thanks to the internet, skill sharing has become even more popular, allowing people to connect online and benefit from a person and their skillset even though they are physically miles apart.

 As Moses de Maimon, a Jewish philosopher, better known as Maimonides, says: “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”

 Here's some more information on how skill sharing works, and most importantly, how it can benefit you, your career, and most importantly, the not so privileged.

 WHAT IS SKILL SHARING?

Skill sharing to put it in absolute layman terms is when people share their skills with others. While it can happen in a formal setting – like a classroom – it can also occur casually at meetups, community centres, and even in people's homes.

 For example, if you may be a freelance graphic designer who wants to learn social media marketing, you can agree to exchange design lessons for a tutorial in an online marketing strategy. Or, if you are a project manager looking to increase your web knowledge, you might take an online or in-person coding course.

WHY YOU NEED SKILL SHARING IN THE FIRST PLACE?

 Every person possesses a separate skill set which makes him unique. But the power of it is not keeping it confined, it's in sharing it. Call that friend who is weak in your favourite subject and help him out. Skill sharing is how we grow stronger as a team.

 It is said the strength of your team is the strength of its weakest person. So why not help them grow? There is only so much we can grow as individuals. Every sector in our lives we need a team to grow. Starting from our family, our primary and secondary education to our peer group and work life. Whether formal or informal, any successful project, be it big or small, has one thing at its core: effective collaboration,   and   you   cannot   achieve   that without knowledge sharing.

 “In our research on knowledge transfer, we have seen companies greatly disadvantaged, if not crippled, by knowledge loss. Certainly, some expert knowledge may be outdated or irrelevant by the time its possessors are eligible for retirement, but not the skills, know-how, and capabilities that underlie critical operations — both routine and innovative. Organizations cannot afford to lose these deep smarts” says Dorothy Leonard, the William J. Abernathy Professor of Business Administration Emerita at Harvard Business School.

 Here are 10 BENEFITS that you can get from sharing your knowledge:

 1.  It helps you grow

As Claudio Fernández-Aráoz put it, “The question is not whether your company’s employees and leaders have the right skills; it’s whether they have the potential to learn new ones”. We can only accomplish a certain number of goals with a limited skill set. But once we start learning new skills the opportunities for us are endless. They say you could learn something from everybody in your life. Let us make sure we actually do!

2.  It helps you stay motivated

Even among peers, skill sharing can play an important role to motivate you to get better at your skills and try to acquire new ones. Seeing your peers showcase their skills pushes you forward in healthy competition as well as a team effort for all of you to develop on your skills. We are all achievers on the inside. Sharing knowledge practices pushes you to become better at what you do while driving you at the same time to contribute with your own insights.

 3.Getting top talent access

“If you’re the smartest person in the room, then you’re in the wrong room” the saying goes. Knowledge sharing helps you get feedback and help with your projects from those more skilled or with a different set of competences. You can always reach out to your peers – you’ll be amazed at what they can teach you in no time. Not to mention the access to upper management expertise!

4.Recognition

So many recent studies underline the importance of recognition at work – it is one of the most powerful motivators and will highly contribute to both employee retention and engagement. Sharing your knowledge with others will give your talents more exposure, thus giving the people you interact with the opportunity to identify you as a valuable expert. Helping others can help you build your reputation. And that is a valuable asset!

    5.Generating new ideas

They say two heads think better than one. When different skills and experiences collide, eye- opening ideas and solutions emerge. The creative energy of brainstorming can generate faster and more relevant solutions to your current assignments, supporting you in successfully achieving your tasks. Tribal knowledge FTW!

6.Future leaders’ discovery

Sharing knowledge can be a great tool for everyone to PR themselves. All you need to do is to be permanently connected to the hot business topics and offer your expertise every time you can. When people are open to prove their value through their competence, it’s easier to notice the ones likely to organize people and to take initiative. The leaders of tomorrow are among those.

7.Limiting the skill gap

Your team is as strong as its weakest member. By sharing knowledge and talking about certain decisions and procedures, the new guys or juniors could easily acquire new sets of skills. Create an environment where everybody is encouraged to ask questions and help professionals in all your locations and job positions stay updated with the latest information in their field.

      8.Team cementing and silo breaking

Working as a team gives employees a sense of belonging. When employees, teams, and leaders share ideas and resources with each other, the feeling that they pursue a common goal becomes authentic. The feeling of being part of a functional and collaborative team boosts enthusiasm and empowers everyone to exchange knowledge, breaking down the silo mentality. This boosts employee morale and increases their work efficiency.

 9.Sense of purpose

There is a thin line between employees “sort of doing stuff” and those that have a sense of purpose. By creating an environment where people feel like their knowledge makes a difference, they will clearly see how their work fits in the bigger mission of the organization. Work without purpose is no work at all.

10.Operational efficiency

That is perhaps the most important thing. Sharing knowledge increases the productivity of your team. You can work faster and smarter, as you get easier access to the internal resources and expertise within your organization. Projects don’t get delayed; people swimmingly get the information they need in order to do their jobs and your business fills the bill.

The “Knowledge is Power” adage is long dead as the new reality of the workforce has taught us that sharing knowledge is beneficial to everybody.

Moving one step ahead, I wonder how exciting it would be if we could also earn from our multiple skills!

HOW TO DO THIS AS AN INDIVIDUAL?

Helping others should be a natural extension of every capable individual’s responsibilities. Unfortunately, it does not come as easy as you would think. As privileged and able people, we often get too caught up in operations or our own problems to give people the help they need. However, in the last year, I’ve realized that most of my best clients, partners, and relationships have come from me helping someone for free and for a cost when required.

So how does someone share their multiple skills to the world? We’re all busy with our day-to- day lives, earning a living and eking an existence on Planet Earth.

But if you are willing, there is always some way. Helping others by sharing my multiple skills is something that brings me immense joy; hence I have shared 7 broad services which you can share with the world for free and for a cost:

    1.Professional services (Consultants, Engineers, Marketers, Chefs etc.,)

There are professional service providers as a company, but we are focusing of individuals who have these skills to offer these services. May be, you are in job offering these services, still you would want the world to know your skills for others to connect with you to receive those services form you.

 This is where a mobile app like nettworkk would help!.

 2.Home repair (carpenters, Roofers, Electricians, etc.,)

 In this ‘aggregators’ age, we have aggregators most services including food, taxi, products(amazon.com) and home repair services. Though these app provide customers with more options to choose from, the huge commission these aggregators take from the service providers really hits big on them.

 An app like nettworkk connects customers directly to you instead of them coming through aggregators.

 3.Software Services (Product managers, Solution architects, Developers. Testers etc.,)

Most of the college student eye a software job during college. Hope you agree. If you are trained in the latest software and aptitude skills, there are more chances of you getting through the campus interviews. So, there is always a huge availability of software professionals, testers and currently product managers. Interestingly, there are professionals with multiple skills, say., they are proficient in Java platform, cloud architecture as well as in big data. But they can’t be handling projects in all of them. They could only go by what their company project demands.

 It would be great if they could have a platform like nettworkk which could help them connect with people who are looking for people with these skills to offer projects.

4.Creative services (Writers, Graphic Designers, etc.,)

 It takes real skills and talent to master creative skills. Most people get into these services with seer love and passion for arts. They love colours, literature, imagination, and a sense of WOW in their work.

The speciality of creativity is that it is the basis of all innovation. Creative services need not be limited to arts but could be applied to almost any work including Engineering, Carpentry, Education... you name it!

5.  Personal care (hair stylists, massage therapists, etc.,)

Personal care services have always been close to individuals as we visit at least one personal care service in a month. Especially, working men and women. These services are always in demand and people who provide these services do it with love and care.

As they work physically close to the clients, they develop a sense of connect and client look to a particular service person if they get used to their service.

6.Health care (Doctors, Physio therapists, Nurses etc.,)

If these is a service which requires more inter connectivity with the community is Health care. As there are multiple disciplines in health care including various speciality Doctors, Physio therapists, Nurses, and various lab technicians, they all must be connected to refer the patients to the right specialists.

7.Coaching Services (Online coaching, Private tuition, Sports & Games etc.,)

The most steadily growing industry is the online coaching industry. Due to layoffs and insecure job environment, most of the professionals turn to online coaching to get themselves updated with the latest technologies, strategies, and other required skills.

Here I remember these famous words by American evangelist, Billy Graham who says: “We’re not cisterns made for hoarding. We’re channels made for sharing.” Obviously, what good is any skill if someone decides on hoarding it? The skill would die along with the person that hoards it and is not able to be passed on generation to generation.

Coaching service including sports & games have always been sort after wherever one needed expert guidance. Someone whom to they can go-to for re-evaluating themselves and fine tune their existing skills or learn new skills.

WHERE DOES NETTWORKK COME IN ALL THIS?

NETTWORKK provides you with a platform to share, showcase, and adapt skills with as ease as our day to day social media affairs. The steps for this are easy, create a profile, mention all the skills you can offer for free and for a cost and wanted services for free and for a cost.

NETTWORKK provides an easy connecting ground for people of all strata and ages to bond with each other based on their skills offered and wanted. And you get matched right on your mobile. No more advertisements in classifieds and social media ads!

Say., if you are software developer working in a software company, you are mostly like to introduce yourself as a software professional. What if you have multiple skills which you could offer for a cost. Say., you are also a competent chess player and you are willing to provide online chess training to people who are interested. You might not have thought about providing this service unless someone pokes you related to chess.

That is where a platform like nettworkk becomes essential. You can also offer free services, say., you are passionate about playing a music instrument, but not keen earning from it. You might keep you instrument playing passion live by teaching people for free or playing for free. Just to keep that passion… LIVE!

The most exciting feature of this nettworkk is that you can add as many as 10 skills which you can offer for a cost and 10 different skills which you can offer for free! Sounds exciting?

Start communicating and showcasing what you are good at, share it with the world and make a difference while you earn extra income!