First words are tasty. #baby #babystagram #babiesofinstagram #reading #knowledgeistasty
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
DEAR READER
Claire Keane

Kiana Khansmith
dirt enthusiast
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
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Alisa U Zemlji Chuda
Aqua Utopia|海の底で記憶を紡ぐ

izzy's playlists!
h
noise dept.

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occasionally subtle
Show & Tell
sheepfilms
Mike Driver
almost home
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@glitterypixycat
First words are tasty. #baby #babystagram #babiesofinstagram #reading #knowledgeistasty
Helping Aunt Shirley play solitaire. She almost won! #baby #babystagram #babiesofinstagram #helping #thebesthelpers
Waiting with grandma at his cousin's photography studio for his first set of portraits. #baby #grandma #babystagram #happybaby - - - - - Today is I don't even know what, except its a Tuesday in July. This vacation has been draining in so many different ways, most especially it being the first trip to an unfamiliar place sleeping in an unfamiliar bed for the baby - he's adapted well even through teething and his normal schedule being tossed out the window (mostly due to teething). We'll be heading home soon. Back to Daddy and Nova and familiar beds with familiar pillows. And then we should be back to regularly scheduled things.
Prompt #8
Dream-Catcher
6/18/17
Journal Prompt
The composer Gustav Mahler famously said “Tradition is not the worship of ashes, it is the preservation of the flame.”
In your opinion, what is the flame that we seek to preserve as we rebuild the traditions of Gallifrey on earth, and what ashes must we leave behind?
If you post your response, please tag us– we enjoy hearing our members’ opinions.
Hey, it’s me. You might not remember me but I was once your whole world then we drifted apart. I miss you, I hope you do too. You’ve been in my thoughts lately and I haven’t been sleeping. I know I haven’t crossed your mind at all and that’s okay, I just wanted to let you know that I’ve been hurting quite a lot. Hurting in your absence, your apathy, and your silence. Everything feels missing without you; conversations, early mornings, late nights, and myself. I no longer have someone to share pictures of the sunset or thoughts with. My mind keeps wandering and it’s exhausting me, I’m tired and I want it to stop. I want everything to stop. I want peace. I feel you everywhere and I see you in everything. Every stranger looks and sounds like you. I feel helpless. I miss you. I’m sorry life got in our way. I hope you’re doing well.
a.o.k. “write a letter to someone you haven’t been talking to.” (via wistful-feelings)
The Word on Friday
Write, draw or create inspired by: unrequited.
May Journal Prompts!
Day 10 of my 31 day Journal Challenge: Quote of the day
do not remove caption please
more advice from austin kleon
Journaling ideas
Feel free to reblog! Let’s inspire others, too. I wrote down a few journaling prompts:
- What do different colors mean to you?
- One song as a journal page - the catch here is that you can’t write the lyrics
- An art/photo gallery of your inner self
- Similarities between you and your favorite character
- Confess something - but not directly
Journal Prompts: 15 Things to Collect in Your Journal.
1) tea tags- line them up and describe what you thought of each flavour.
2) tea and coffee stains- Write over each one a bit about what it was and where you were when you drank it.
3) Pressed flowers- Write where you picked them, try to identify what kind of flowers they are.
4) Postage stamps- Line them up and describe what each was affixed to.
5) Buisiness cards from restaurants you’ve visited- describe who you were with and what you ate.
6) Post cards (even local ones)- describe where you were and what you thought of it.
7) Sand and Dirt smudges from parks and beaches (affix with glue)- describe who you were with and give a point form about the adventure.
8) Daily horoscopes from the newspaper- write about how right or wrong the prediction was.
9) Fruit stickers- line them up and label which fruit each came from.
10) Samples from your favourite art supplies- give a short description of the style and model.
11) Paragraphs you’ve written for school- highlight parts you are proud of and add thoughts where you left some out.
12) Labels from your favourite foods- describe why you like it, how you eat it, and how often.
13) Tags from new clothes- describe why you like it, try to draw what it looks like on you or an outfit you will pair it with.
14) Nail Polish- make a few splotches of your most used colours and label them accordingly.
15) Receipts- Cut off just the top part with the name of the business printed on it, write a little about what you bought and when, and who you were with at the time.
150 Self-Discovery & Reflection Journal Prompts
1. What is going well in your life right now?
2. Think of the last time you had a really great day. What was the best part of it?
3. Write about a time you felt brave.
4. How will you enjoy creativity and nature today?
5. List as many things as you can that make you happy.
6. How can you take a break today?
7. When is the last time you lost track of time? What were you doing?
8. What is the last thing you created that you were proud of?
9. When is the last time you were excited? What was happening?
10. When do you create the best results or make the best decisions in your life?
11. How do you enjoy spending your free time most?
12. What are your greatest strengths?
13. What values are most important to you? Are you living true to these values? Why or why not?
14. If you could make a difference in the world, what would it be?
15. If you had no fear, what would you do?
16. What is the biggest barrier between you and your full honesty in journaling?
17. What would you do with $10 million?
18. Write a letter to your teenage self.
19. What have you learned today that will make tomorrow better?
20. What are you most grateful for?
21. What would you do if you had no fears?
22. Do you own things, or do things own you?
23. What happens when you let go of expectations?
24. What are you currently worrying about?
25. Who are you?
26. Who do you want to be?
27. Write about a difficult time in your life when you showed strength.
28. What makes you unique?
29. Write a letter to someone who has supported you through the most difficult time in your life.
30. What do joy and wellness look and feel like to you?
31. What qualities do you look for in a friend?
32. List your accomplishments and successes.
33. Who made you feel good in this past week?
34. What activities make you feel energized?
35. Reflect on the happiest moment of your life and write down how you felt, what you heard, etc.
36. What is your most treasured possession and why?
37. What is the greatest life lesson you’ve ever learned?
38. How do you feel about your body?
39. Do you consider yourself a victim of your circumstances or a survivor?
40. How does journaling help you?
41. If you could run away, where would you go? What would you bring with you?
42. What are two unforgettable moments in your life?
43. Share your innermost secret; something you’ve never told anyone before.
44. What is one thing you can do today to improve your health?
45. What is the driving force in your life?
46. What is your personal motto?
47. Write a letter to someone you need to forgive.
48. What are you angry about?
49. How do you want to be remembered? What do you want to be remembered for?
50. Choose a number and write a gratitude list.
51. What do you need right now?
52. Who or what means the world to you, and why?
53. Share your favorite positive affirmations.
54. What are you passionate about?
55. Reflect on an old photograph and write about it.
56. Write your own obituary.
57. How do you manage stress?
58. How does it feel to be the age that you currently are?
59. What does authenticity mean to you?
60. What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? Who was it from? Why is it the best?
61. Do you practice any time management techniques? If not, do you think you could benefit from some?
62. If you could relive any experience in your life, what would it be?
63. Are you addicted to social media? Honestly assess yourself.
64. Reflect on some of the changes you’ve seen in yourself over the last 5 years.
65. What is your earliest childhood memory?
66. Write a review of a book or movie that had a huge impact on you.
67. What does growing older mean to you?
68. What is your guilty pleasure?
69. Write a letter to your future or current child.
70. Look in the mirror and write about what you see.
71. Where do you see yourself in 5, 10, 20 years?
72. Write about your family members.
73. Why is it important to embrace your inner child?
74. What excites you about your future?
75. List 5 short-term and long-term goals. Explain the steps you’ll take to achieve each of those goals.
76. Share your bucket list.
77. What bad habits do you have?
78. Write about the place you grew up.
79. Discuss an important and controversial topic that is relevant in the world right now and explain your stance on it.
80. Write a letter to a pre-teen about body image.
81. How do you maintain your mental, physical, and spiritual health?
82. Are you honestly happy with how you have lived your life so far?
83. What do you really, truly want?
84. How can you amplify what you’re currently doing in your life?
85. How can you make someone’s day today?
86. What are you currently fighting or resisting?
87. What does life want from you?
88. What do you need to give yourself permission to do? Write a permission slip for it, as long as it is healthy.
89. What do you want to learn today?
90. What would happen if you forgave yourself for doing something you regret?
91. How can you do more?
92. How can you do less?
93. Do you ever get in your own way? How?
94. On this long journey of self-discovery, what do you hope to achieve or find?
95. What do you think shaped you into the person you are today?
96. Knowing that you must let go of some things in order to move forward, what do you need to let go of?
97. Is there anything you need to get off your chest? Write it out.
98. When do you feel free and the most confident?
99. List questions you need answers to.
100. When you’re old and gray, what do you hope you remember about your life?
101. Do you have depression or anxiety? If so, write about what it feels like, what it looks like, etc.
102. What is motivating you to journal for self-discovery?
103. Write a list of people you can trust or go to in times of need. Note contact information.
104. If you lost everything, what would you do? Where would you go?
105. If you knew you had a month to live, who would you call? What would you say? What would you do?
106. How is your relationship with your parents?
107. What is your dream job or profession?
108. What is your stance on religion? Do you consider yourself religious?
109. What is the most outrageous thing you’ve ever done?
110. What is worse: never trying, or trying and failing many times?
111. What is the worst thing that’s ever happened to you?
112. What would you change about your body?
113. What does success actually mean to you?
114. How do you express your anger? Is this a good or healthy manner of expression?
115. If you had 3 wishes, what would you wish for?
116. List some of your favorite songs and note why you like them.
117. Do you have any sexual fantasies?
118. What is the biggest mistake you’ve ever made?
119. Write a letter to someone you strongly admire.
120. Do you procrastinate? When? What could you do to stop procrastinating?
121. What are your weaknesses?
122. Describe your favorite season and why you like it.
123. Write about how your sense of style has changed over the past 5 years.
124. What is the meaning of life?
125. What is your life’s purpose?
126. What are you currently craving?
127. What is something you would love to do, but aren’t sure if you can do?
128. When do you feel the best about yourself?
129. When do you feel the worst about yourself?
130. Who are you not?
131. How does your intuition or conscience speak to you?
132. What aspect of your life do you need support in?
133. What gave you great joy today?
134. Did you feel lovable today? Why or why not?
135. What expectations of yours haven’t been met recently? Why or why not?
136. When you think about your future, how do you feel?
137. Write about some of the negative things your inner critic says to you, and then disprove them with rational thoughts.
138. If your life could be summarized or exuded in one word, what would that word be?
139. Write about a moment experienced through your body. It could be making love, eating breakfast, laughing, etc.
140. What couldn’t you live without?
141. What does unconditional love look like to you?
142. What do you wish others knew about you?
143. If your body could talk to you, what would it say?
144. What do you love about life?
145. What emotions do you feel or associate with confidence?
146. What are some things you’d like to say no to?
147. How can having a positive attitude change your life?
148. Write a pep talk to yourself for use the next time you feel upset or depressed.
149. Write a letter to your future self.
150. What have you learned by journaling for self-discovery?
Bullet Journal Pages
Basic
Future planning
Index
Yearly
Monthly
Daily
Weekly
Trackers
Weight
Exercise
Grade/assignment
Mood
Habit
Savings
Gratitude
Blog stats
Water
Study
Car maintenance
Sleep
Period
Dreams
Weather
Lists
A-Z - Make a list from a-z of things that inspire you, you love, your favorite _____. Whatever you want!
Movies - Watched/to watch/favorites/review
TV shows - Watched/to watch/favorites/review
Books - Read/to read/favorites/review
Foods/recipies - What are your favorite foods? Favorite recipes? Any recipes you want to try?
Words - Favorite words, words that inspire you, words you love the meaning to.
Favorite blogs - Make a list of your favorite blogs.
Places - Make a list of places you’ve been to/want to go to. For more creativity draw a map and color in these places!
Currently - What are you currently listening to, reading, watching, feeling, doing, eating, needing, wanting?
Things to try - Want to try some new restaurants, crafts, projects, etc?
Happy - Make a list of things that make you happy.
Sad - Make a list of things that make you sad. Maybe add things that you do to feel better.
Firsts - First kiss, date, job, house, car, concert, vacation, thing you do in the morning, thing when you get home, teacher?
Rainy day - What are things you like to do on a rainy day? What do you eat/drink? How do you feel?
Bored - What are things you do when you’re bored? Ideas for the next time you’re bored?
Wants/needs - What are things you want? What are things you need?
Songs/artists - What are your favorite songs?
Bucket list - What are things you want to do before you die.
Advice - What is your favorite advice you’ve given? Received?
Relax - What are ways you relax?
Questions - What are questions you want to know the answer to?
Fears - What are your fears?
Funny - What are some funny things that have happened to you? What are things you find funny?
Games - What are your favorite games? What are some games you want to play?
DIY projects - What DIY projects you want to try?
Playlists - Create some playlists for your moods.
Colors - What are your favorite colors? Color schemes?
Smells - What are your favorite smells?
What I learned today - What is something you learned today? Maybe do this by month/week/day.
Flowers/plants - What are your favorite flowers/plants? What’s their meaning? Draw doodles of them.
Admire - Who are people you admire?
Things you can’t leave the house without - Or a what’s in your bag list.
Drinks/beverages - What’s your favorite drink? Any drinks you want to try?
Childhood memories - What are some of your favorite childhood memories? Memories in general?
Stationery - What is your favorite stationery? Pens, notebooks, etc.
I hope you all enjoy these prompts! I might add some if I think of more! X
Journal Challenge: Create a Life Plan
Day 3: Group your goals into categories
Work • Get a graphic design job • Blog • Website • Online business • Fashion line • Lookbook video • Publish a book/e-book (illustrator, workbook, personal development) • Own an office • Own a car • Own a gallery • Youtube
Lifestyle • Cook Filipino dish • Try Malaysian food • Paint 5 canvases • Read 5 self-help books • Save money
Travel • London • Paris • Greece • Italy • Japan • Korea
Fitness • Swimming • Running
Skill Attainment • Improve social skills • Meet 3 people and be friends with them • Waking up early • Reading
Fun Goals • Snowboarding • Snorkeling • Skydive • Ride a hot air balloon
Monk Week: Martial Art Attack Generator
A special attack generator for the monk in your D&D party! Roll 1d100 on each table and put them together to create your monk’s secret technique!
edit: I missed the opportunity to put “Owlbear” instead of “Bear” in Table B. For best results, use Owlbear instead.
I got Raging Crocodile Throw
STANDING WIZARD TECHNIQUE!…. that sounded more epic in my head.
So how does one go about training elite, loyal fighters in a non-abusive environment?
By… not abusing them?
I know that the whole “training for martial combat is inherently abusive” is a popular concept, but it doesn’t work that way. Normal training is a slow process, and elites are the culmination of a process every single martial artist goes through. They are the ones who worked the hardest, who went the furthest, and continued long after everyone else stopped. An elite is the one who devotes their life to their art. From a martial combat perspective, you want the trainees who want to be training. You get your trainees to engage and commit to their training without forcing them because they already want to be there, and it not only works… it work better. I know. It’s an amazing concept, you get better results without abuse.
There are no elite warriors who were not once willing participants, wholeheartedly devoted and dedicated. Who ate, and breathed, and slept, and dreamed their training, who made it a foundational aspect of their whole life. A core aspect of their identity.
They became an elite because they wanted to be and because they worked hard for it. They passed all their tests, ground their way out through the muck and the dirt. Through the sweat, the tears, and the frustrations. Who celebrated their successes and mourned their failures.
Every training program will have a different metric for what makes someone capable of entering the ranks deemed elite. However, there are very specific general metrics for requirement which most follow. They will be people considered at or near the top by their instructors, who are experienced, and who have already completed the basic requirements. They will be martial artists who are in the highest belt rankings before this training or soldiers who made it through Basic with distinction and, perhaps, have field experience where they have shown a solid track record. They will be volunteers. They will be the ones previously identified as the best of the best by other trainers and commanding officers. They will either be chosen from the field or asked to apply. Offered, not ordered. Then, they will be “trained” as in they will undergo a stress test of their physical and mental limits that serves as their training.
When I say phrases like “considered near the top”, “shown exemplary skill”, and “served with distinction”, I don’t mean raw talent in someone untested. Raw talent is nothing but potential, and potential is worthless in someone who will not or is uninterested in making the most of it. These are the people who have already proven themselves, often above and beyond the call. They are chosen now because they have the potential and the drive to reach an echelon (often highly specialized) beyond that of the average trainee.
If you learn nothing else, learn this: any elite candidate is a classic overachiever.
One of the major purposes of normal training is to push a trainee beyond what they believe is physically and mentally possible for them to achieve. The extreme version of this is, well, it’s extreme. The point isn’t toughness, though. That’s far too simplistic and silly in concept. The point is to create a situation for the trainee to realize their true potential, that breaks all the boundaries of what they believed to possible. This is why high end of martial arts often feel like magic. Whether it’s staying awake, active, and functional for a full seven days, breaking nine bricks in a single strike, or bending a steel rod with nothing but their throat, you’re seeing someone who has a far better grasp of the true human limits than the average person.
Outside the real world, most authors are attracted to “abusive training” due to the angst factor. They often make the mistake of assuming that regular training is abuse (and taken to the wrong extremes, it can be), and mistake the purpose behind the extremes. They also think one can skip the boring, technical aspect and jump straight to those extremes. Again, mostly for the angst factor and to create a sub category of the trope Cursed with Awesome, which i like to call: Victimized Into Herohood.
In the real world, the theory behind abusive training isn’t that abuse makes you stronger (though many abusers and some abuse survivors have this outlook), it’s that the threat of death and desire to survive will make the subject work harder. That the desire to live is universal, and that it’s as good as the desire to learn. You’ll find this method used in cults, because its purpose is to ensure a specific kind of loyalty.
In the real world, that doesn’t get you past the bare minimum. So, all that abuse is just to get past the first mental hurdle for basic training. Do not mistake basic training for elite training. Never do this. You’ll find far more abuse (if it happens at all) happening at the beginning of training rather than at the end. You’ve got to learn to flap before you fly and expecting someone to achieve FTL by chucking them off a cliff is pretty damn silly. No one would expect a prospective student to be a black belt on day one.
The confusion, I think, most people have is with the intensity of the physical training. You will ask them to push beyond their physical limits, but that’s not abusive. They also consented to it first. Your working with someone who wants to be training, who has committed. You don’t put a gun to their head to say, “do this or die.” The point of pushing in this environment is not to break them, but rather to show them that they can do more than they realize.
Extreme training works best when the other person wants to be there. You will never be able apply more pressure or drive to someone via outside sources than they can apply to themselves.
Dragging some random schmuck off the street and beating the shit out of them misses the point. When we’re talking abusive training, it’s purpose isn’t to make you tougher, it’s purpose is to convince the trainee to commit. If they aren’t inclined toward it anyway, then they’re a bad candidate. The end point of the abusive outlook is to get your trainee to the point where they’re a willing candidate. That doesn’t produce elites though. Elites come from trainees who want to excel, not the ones who just want to live.
You cannot make an elite from a trainee who isn’t willing.
You can’t do it. 90% of an instructors job is to provide structure and opportunity for students to excel. That’s it. They teach, yes, but the student has to choose to learn. Being the best or competing for the opportunity to be the best, requires a step even beyond the choice or desire to learn. It takes real, honest to god commitment, devotion, sacrifice, not to mention time and energy. After all, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it think.
Like with anything else, an elite is born from the trainees who worked the hardest in basic training. The ones who pushed themselves, the ones who maybe struggled in the beginning but kept at it, the ones who were up late practicing their techniques after everyone else had gone to bed, and the ones who proved themselves in the field or to whatever criteria qualified them for this next step. You don’t get elites through abuse. You get elites through willing candidates, and then just train them the normal way. Elites aren’t training or talent, so much as they are personality. These are the people who want to be there, they’re willing to commit and do whatever they have to do to win. You put them in competition so they build each other up, then you cull. By culling, I mean removing the weak and sending them back to where they came from. Usually, these will be returning them to the positions they already occupied. You know, how it normally works?
The mistakes the inexperienced make when writing training is that they often believe:
1) That all martial combat training is what you get from training Special Forces.
2) That the Special Forces training is what makes them elite.
No, Special Forces training itself is the culling process. The point isn’t to instruct, so much as it is to test the limits of the trainee and how far they can (and are willing) to push themselves. These are people who have already proven they excel in regular combat environments, they exceed beyond the expected limits. They have been trained, they are now taking the next step.
Martial Training is a process involving multiple stages, it takes time, investment, and a great deal of energy. The creation of an elite or an elite unit doesn’t happen overnight, or over a few weeks, or even months. It starts with molding the raw materials through the basics. Then, if they prove themselves worth the time/show their mettle, they get to try passing the tests where you’re kept awake and active for a week straight.
The true point of extreme training is to push the student far beyond the point they believe to be their upper limits. Our minds instill false expectations and false limits based on our beliefs, our understanding, and our desire for self-preservation. The point is never to break and remold, but rather to introduce the trainee to their true capabilities.
However, the trainee needs to be willing to push themselves. They are the ones who do the heavy lifting, they are the ones who are taking control over themselves, and they are the ones who are breaking down those mental and physical limits within themselves in order to reach new heights. It cannot be done to them, they must do it themselves.
Everyone has the potential to be an elite warrior, they all receive the same training. The question is: will the individual choose to put in the effort and make the necessary sacrifices?
Understand these are active choices, made by people who want what’s being offered to them and are chasing it because this is what they want to be. This is not a choice made for them. They are not the victims of it. It is not a burden thrust upon them. They chose to take it up, then they turned around and pursued excellence with a vengeance so intense it makes the rest of us cry.
The highest echelons of any martial art or martial combat is almost entirely an internal battle. You are your own worst enemy, and you need to break past your own beliefs about yourself. It is a battle for self-actualization, fire forged in blood, sweat, tears, and competition. This is the aspect of high level training that is most often disregarded because it sounds hokey. It’s true though.
Elite training is there to teach us that the false limits we set for ourselves are our greatest barrier, and these beliefs keep us from reaching our true potential.
Regardless of anything else, the end goal of both abusive scenarios and non-abusive scenarios are the same. The only difference is their methods and the initial willingness of their participants. This is also why the holdouts are the ones who die in the abusive scenario. No amount of forcing will ever compete with the willing.
-Michi
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