#psychological shift

[thatcoyoteonline]

whenever I can't fall asleep, I imagine myself curled up in a dark, warm ocean cave with my big tail tucked around my nose. none of the bigger, scarier sharks can hurt me, and nothing from the real world can hurt me either.

[incoherent-squawking]

Transspecies Mental Transition Through Conceptual Displacement

(387 words, 2-4 minutes)

Disclaimer that I barely know what I’m talking about, this is based on the introduction of Thinking Through Seawater by Melody Jue (media theorist). I thought her ideas were applicable to nonhumanity to I decided to write about it! 

Conceptual displacement, in this context, is to think about the world differently by recontextualizing anthropocentric concepts (or concepts we tend to think about in anthropocentric ways) into nonhuman settings. Jue’s specific method of doing this is to displace common technological terms into the ocean, “submerging” them, to see how our understanding of them shifts when they are placed in a different environment. For example, the term “storage” can be recontextualized by thinking of what it would mean in the ocean: seawater would be the storage medium, so perhaps “storage” refers to the sediment that collects on its floor, being slowly reshaped into something new.

So how does this relate to nonhumanity? I propose practicing this kind of conceptual displacement in an effort to mentally transition or connect with a theriotype/phytantype/kintype/etc. Think almost as a form of meditation. Throughout our everyday lives, we are constantly bombarded with anthropocentric concepts that can contribute to feeling disconnected or distanced from our identities. By practicing this method, we can relate these concepts back to how we might think of them if we were theriform or raised/socialized as our identity(ies). In this way, a “desk” can become “a place in which to work” can become the territory of a wolf. “Screen” can become “a flat panel of visual information” can become the horizon line. “Doors” are now oceanic cliffs, “reading” is now sensing through mycorrhizal networks, “fashion” is now to create and use to your advantage. There are endless possibilities.

I know a lot of us do this to a lesser extent already, what with referring to “beds” as “nests”, but I wanted to think of it a little more conceptually. And I know this would likely be impossible to do constantly (in fact I would instinctively advise against it), as it took me a long time just to come up with some of those examples, but I think just spending time in this lens every once in a while can really shift your perspective, even if temporarily.

Be a little closer to your identity. Think inhumanly.

- Hallow

[mushroom-filled-unknownentity]

Honestly, I envy beings & creatures that have psychological/mental shifts.

I've never had one but I want to and I envy those who have/have had. Ik it doesn't make me any less valid as an alterbeing/alterhuman. I get that. But this isn't about my validity as an alterhuman.

It's about the feeling that I'm seemingly missing out on.

I want to know what that's like.

I want to have that animalistic & instinctual shift. I want to be in that headspace. But I don't think that I will. Which is the sad part, I suppose.

In other(, cheerier) news, I've confirmed that I'm dragon hearted! It checks out honestly.

Just look at all the rocks, shells, and soda tabs I have...

I also understand my therianthropy to be not just identifying as/being a lynx but also being hybrid/a shapeshifter. Or, at least wanting to be lol. Checks out considering that I'm also kemonomimi.

[rexculidae]

leaving home for a weeklong trip right when you’re starting/in rut is not for the weak

it makes me so anxious my god

i just want to nest

[autopaybump]

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[seagle-brush]

Hi, I’m Brush, and I’d like to share a part of my identity with you all.

Like many other folks, I, too, had a “wolf phase''. In the 7th grade I was obsessed with wolves-- I drew a ton of wolves and werewolves alike, watched loads of documentaries about them, and actively advocated for their mistreatment in storybooks through word of mouth (to anyone that would listen to me) and through abridged parodies of my own takes on fairy tales with wolves in them to have a happy ending. What I wish I realized sooner was that I had my first phantom shifts before my supposed wolf phase around a year prior-- a light brown tail, tipped with hairs of grey and cream, an elongated snout, two set ears, and an almost unbearable reaction to rabbits, squirrels, waterbirds and deer. I also would “pretend” that I was a wolf during gym class while doing track and field to make myself last longer, subconsciously “lope” like a wolf, do wolf vocalizations, and would have unbearable urges to track creatures in the snow or to hide somewhere in the mountains.

Once 8th grade rolled around, I switched schools and was thrown into a completely new environment. This was a rich-kid school-- a school for the somewhat wealthier preppy students. I felt like I didn’t belong, and did not want to call attention to myself, so I started to mask who I was. Gradually gone were the howls, the barks. The innate desire to catch rabbits. I stopped talking to people about my thoughts and feelings on this topic, and blended in with the crowd. I also started to scoff at other people who claimed to love wolves, or had a “spirit animal” as one, because nearly everyone loved wolves now. Wolves now rose to the top in terms of popularity in animal media. The herbivores were no longer represented, the other carnivores cast aside, and the wolves had far overstayed their welcome. From media to art pieces, everywhere I looked was wolf.

It wasn’t until springtime in my 10th grade year that I heard of the therian community. I believe I was looking up “clinical lycanthropy” and some therian blog popped up-- or it could have been an otherkin blog. It does not matter much. But what mattered was that I dove deep into the rabbit hole of therians, and joined PD’s discord server in July of 2020. And within that rabbit hole emerged a part of me that I was never able to put into words before: I had always been a therian.

I identified, and still do identify, as a steller’s sea eagle (after one too many dreams about me catching fish in my talons, my love of high places (and pursuing them) ever since I was small, and always being able to fly with wings and have tail feathers in my dreams), a sika deer (the lush places in Taiwan would trigger my deer senses, and grasslands were always so comforting to me). I also identified as a feline at the time. However, something wasn’t exactly right. This third identity didn’t exactly fit me. I had strong hunting urges, and I was something larger on all fours-- no, definitely not a leopard. I then tried out the cheetah label, since I was always a bit skittish, and that they were so canine-like in the fact that they lacked the ability to unsheathe claws and defend themselves properly alone, but that didn’t fit either. A regular housecat also did not fit. So what was I?

I finally stumbled upon a realization at work sometime around November of 2021. I was behind the register when my subconscious drifted toward a snow-filled place. A place that was cold. A place with mountains. A place where sika deer also roamed and the place where Steller’s sea eagles flew. Hokkaido. I drew a shuddering breath and my eyes suddenly teared up. What was going on? Why did such a word evoke such strong emotions within me?

My mind then raced to an intense scenario. I was on a steady chase. My paws fled across the underfoot of snow. Tongue lolling, chest almost burning, my ears drew back from the intensity and anticipation of the chase. The creature was near. I nearly caught on to it too.

I then snapped back to reality. The customer in front of me was waiting patiently. After I bagged her items and apologized, I then came to terms with what I was, for what I am-- and no one can tell me otherwise.

I am an extinct species that once resided in the northern region of Japan. I was in the countryside and lived within the mountains with the sika deer and boar. Alongside my other theriotypes, I am also a Hokkaido wolf.

What are you?

[theenglishnook]

Metanoia means a deep shift of heart, mind, and spirit—more than regret, it’s a full reorientation toward a truer path, sparked by faith, awakening, or profound insight, transforming identity and purpose.

METANOIA