Category: Creativity

/ˌkrēāˈtivədē/ noun. the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work. “firms are keen to encourage creativity”

You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day

You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day

“You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)” is an excruciatingly honest memoir from Felicia Day about her quirky childhood, gaming addiction, cultural attitudes online, and life long struggle with anxiety and other mental health issues.

She reminded me a great deal of Jenny Lawson in her straight forward presentation of difficult topics and also in her exuberant storytelling style. And, in many other ways, she reminded me of myself.

Being a female gamer is hard. There, I’ve said it. Not only do your female friends not want to play video games with you, but your male friends never really accept you as a legitimate gamer. You’re kind of stuck in this twilight space of “this is what I love to do” but society doesn’t agree that it is appropriate for you to do.

Now, unlike the early days of MMORPGs, many more women play video games, and I’m sure that I’d make more female friends if I tried. But, back then in the fall of 2000, when I first got into EverQuest (one of the predecessors of WoW, the game that Felicia played), many more men played female avatars than actual women played. That’s just how it went.

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I loved that Felicia addressed this female gamer white elephant, so to speak. There are few people who really talk about it, but it’s something that I’ve been dealing with for a long time.

I loved her cheerful attitude, even when things got tough: “My story demonstrates that there’s no better time in history to have a dream and be able to reach an audience with your art. Or just be as weird as you want to be and not have to be ashamed.” pg 19 ebook. That’s a pretty powerful lesson and one which artists and dreamers everywhere should know.

Felicia admits that she has very few hands-on skills, something which I also have in common with her. In this passage, she’s joking about ordering coffee: “…I’m determined to enjoy the liquid indulgences of modern life. Might as well take advantage of it all before the zombie apocalypse. I have no practical skills; I’m fully aware that I’ll be one of the first ones “turned.” Instead of learning motorcycle repair or something else disaster-scenario useful, I’ll order the drink I want until I become a shambling corpse.” pg 17 ebook.

I’ve thought about my librarianship skills and book reviewing abilities in that same light. If something catastrophic happens, I’m kind of screwed.

I mean, yes, there have been favorable depictions of librarians after the apocalypse (Station Eleven comes to mind) but really, what good could I do for people struggling to survive or myself? While we’re on the topic of librarians, I also enjoyed that Felicia’s first “job” was working for her aunt, a librarian. She said about it: “No job since has left me feeling so well rewarded.” pg 67 ebook. Aww….

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Chapter Five: Quirky Addiction = Still an Addiction (How my obsessive personality steered me into a twelve-hour-a-day gaming addiction and an alt-life as a level 60 warlock named Codex) pg 85 ebook, was my favorite.

Gaming addiction is an actual thing. I’ve known multiple people who dropped out of college or lost their jobs because they couldn’t stop playing video games. I’ve also known people whose relationships started or ended because of it too. It seems silly for people who don’t have any interest in video games, but it can be as destructive an addiction and as real as anything else- drugs, sex, whatever.

Felicia nails the siren call of video games in this passage: “When we graduate from childhood into adulthood, we’re thrown into this confusing, Cthulhu-like miasma of life, filled with social and career problems, all with branching choices and no correct answers. Sometimes gaming feels like going back to that simple kid world. pg 93 ebook.

That’s it, really. Do the quest, get the reward, and repeat. Real life is never that simple or straight forward.

Though she felt like she wasted a lot of time, Felicia managed to break free of her addiction and channel her passion into the hugely successfully series: The Guild. I had never watched it, but after reading this book, I binge-watched every episode. She managed to take the culture, friendships, and craziness that is online gaming and turned it into a compulsively view-able series. I loved it.

If you haven’t had a chance to watch it yourself, I highly recommend it. One of the overarching points of this book, and the television show, is that not only can you overcome hurdles that held you back from the life of your dreams, but you can use the very thing that was the stumbling block to move onwards. Well done, Felicia, very well done.

One last little bit that I wanted to include in this review, because it rang so true for me, was Felicia’s thoughts about her struggles with mental illness. She says: “I couldn’t trust my own mind anymore, which was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced. pg 170 ebook.

When your own internal filter, your brain, is compromised, you feel like you can’t trust yourself ever again. It’s as simple and as terrifying as that and, unless you go through it yourself, there’s not really any good way to explain what’s happened to you or why you’re so afraid.

If you’ve ever had any struggles with anxiety or mental health issues, you may really enjoy this memoir. Also, if you enjoy online gaming or want to understand one of your loved ones who does, you may like this book. Some read-alikes: Nerd Do Well by Simon Pegg, Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms by Ethan Gilsdorf, or Just a Geek: Unflinchingly honest tales of the search for life, love, and fulfillment beyond the Starship Enterprise by Wil Wheaton.

Thanks for reading!

Following Your Path by Alexandra Collins Dickerman

Following Your Path by Alexandra Collins Dickerman

Following Your Path is about using tarot cards and meditation in order to communicate with your psyche. I was particularly excited about this book because that’s the method that I use for my own meditations and writings. This book is a treasure trove of mythological symbolism and fairy tales. I enjoyed much of it. But, I felt as if Alexandra guides the reader almost too well.

She breaks down the cards into their various pieces and encourages reflection on each piece of the Tarot artwork in a sort of automatic writing process (write down the first thing that comes to mind when you look at “blank”).

I felt like she was depriving the reader of the richer experience of pathwalking into the cards themselves.

If I were to write a manual, perhaps someday, I would leave the meditations themselves as completely open ended with plenty of blank pages for writing. So, more like: “Here is the card. Walk through it as if it is a doorway. What do you see?”

It may be difficult to believe, but the mind fills the space with “something”. The endless writing prompts for the small details really aren’t needed. But, I could see this book being very useful for true beginners who are unsure of the way or don’t yet trust or know their own inner worlds.

Another small criticism, Alexandra has the reader starting their journey into the major Trumps (the minor cards aren’t even presented) and she starts her study with the Fool rather than the Universe. But, I suppose it doesn’t really matter the order in which you explore the cards. The fact that you’re doing it at all is what is important.

I loved this explanation of the psyche in the introduction by Jean Houston: “The psyche is not unlike an archaeological dig in which different civilizations, stories, and interpretations may be revealed at each level. Unlike the field archaeologist, however, we have living access to the cultures and knowings of the various strata within ourselves and therefore can learn on site how to tap our hidden dimensions for the benefit of our existential lives. It is also possible, with the help of those primordial patterns of meaning and relationship known as archetypes, to build sustaining bridges to, and networks among, these strata, thereby encouraging an ongoing communication and exchange of content- a kind of commerce of the psyche.” introduction, pg vii

There are quotations scattered throughout the text that I found very enlightening, such as: “Myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human cultural manifestation. Religions, philosophies, arts, the social forms of primitive and historic man, prime discoveries in science and technology, the very dreams that blister sleep, boil up from the basic, magic ring of myth.” -Joseph Campbell, pg 17 Makes you want to start meditating right now!

This book is extremely positive and affirming. I liked that in addition to the meditation prompts, Alexandra provides further exercises and questions to help heal and creatively examine the mind. She says: “It is only when we learn to evaluate ourselves in terms of our own inner values that we can exist in a positive emotional state, aware of the continual opportunities for growth and for feelings of satisfaction.” pg 138

She also provides hope for those who may be going through the darkness of depression or despair:“Often when we find ourselves in a state of stupor, hopelessness, pain, loneliness, depression, and even madness, we may be on the verge of great vision and inspiration. Our condition of desperation is often only a stopping place on the road to greater self-development. By looking inward, we can find a way past destruction, to salvation and to a new life.” pg 244 So, if you’re going through hell, keep going.

If you enjoyed this book, you may want to look at The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life by Jessa Crispin. If you want numerous examples of tarot card pathwalkings, take a look at my book, The Light Congress: thelightcongress.com

Happy meditating and thanks for reading!

Active Dreaming: Journeying Beyond Self-Limitation to a Life of Wild Freedom by Robert Moss

Active Dreaming: Journeying Beyond Self-Limitation to a Life of Wild Freedom by Robert Moss

Active Dreaming is more than just another book about lucid dreaming or dream interpretation. Moss takes the Aboriginal practices of his native Australia and develops a living practice wherein one treats the world, whether waking or sleeping, like an lucid dream.

Moss invites the readers to fully live their lives and to “wake up” through drumming circles, sharing and interpretation of dreams, choosing your names and how you define yourself, practicing mindful creativity, noticing synchronicities, journaling, storytelling, creative visualization (and more).

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Some of the concepts in this book were a bit far out there- things like shared dreams or visions in which, theoretically, you invite another person into your dreamspace to help you address whatever is going on for you or instructions on how to start Dream Groups.

Active Dreaming is a call to action, but in so many directions that it is difficult to really know where to start. I think I’m going to cherry pick a few of Moss’s techniques and see how I do.

Robert Moss’s definition of Active Dreaming: “This approach includes paying attention to night dreams, but it is not only, or even essentially, about what happens at night. It is a method for conscious living. When you become an active dreamer, you’ll notice that the world speaks to you in a different way.” pg xii introduction

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Here are some of the benefits of practicing Active Dreaming: “The journey opens gateways for soul recovery and the release of life blockages. It introduces and strengthens connections with the animal guardians and brings their vitality, tracking skills, and healing energies richly alive in the body. It encourages spontaneous art and creativity and offers rich personal mythology, which is healing in itself. Properly conducted, the journey raises a tremendous amount of life force and channels the movement of that energy into harmonious, unrestricted flow.” pg 98

And finally, a passage that really resonated with me: “You must know your story and tell your story and have your story received. … Learn to do that, and you can survive the worst nightmares of history and bring heart and healing to others…” pg 134

Tell your story. I can do that.

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This review has really only touched the tip of the iceberg that is Active Dreaming. Read this book if you want to adjust the lens with which you perceive reality or if you just want to read a book that is completely different from anything else that you’ve ever read.

Robert Moss is not for everyone, but, if you can set aside any preconceived notions about what this book should be, I think that you’ll find at least some chapters that will speak to you.

If you’re looking for more spiritual books like this, look no further than another of Moss’s titles: The Boy Who Died and Came Back: Adventures of a Dream Archaeologist in the Multiverse

Thanks for reading!

The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life by Jessa Crispin

The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life by Jessa Crispin

The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life is an excellent tarot card reading manual for beginners to the more experienced card reader.

I loved that Crispin gives novel, art, and film suggestions for each card so that the reader can immerse herself in the “feel” or “mood” of them. That was a lovely touch and different from any other book on tarot cards that I’ve read.

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Mainly, the books that I’ve picked up have been about tarot card theory and how the cards tie in to the Tree of Life. It’s a complex system and can only be talked about in metaphors.

Imagine my relief to read a book about just the cards themselves and not an arcane “theory of everything.”

A.E. Waite was the co-creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot. He had some interesting thoughts about the tarot card reading qabalists, many of whom wrote books like the ones I’ve mentioned above.

A.E. Waite’s beliefs, which Crispin includes in the chapter entitled, A History of the Tarot, were: “Waite believed that the magical systems (tarot) of the Golden Dawn and other systems were not about imposing your will on a situation… or about telling the future… He believed they were for elevating the soul and for bringing what is unconscious conscious.” pg 7.

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I believe that too. But, if you can’t explain the system in a way that makes sense, then what’s the point of writing a beginner’s manual. There can be no “elevation of the soul” if the beginners can’t understand the first thing about reading tarot cards.

Thankfully, Crispin’s interpretations are simple and clear. This is a book that will see some use, not become another expensive paperweight.

I liked Crispin’s description of Temperance: “Temperance is an easily misunderstood card, as it has become associated mostly with abstention. Not drinking, not participating, denying yourself something. But that breaks away from the origins of the card, which traditionally portrays a hermaphrodite blending two cups of water- one hot and one cold- to create something in the middle between these two extremes.” pgs 76-77

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Temperance is about finding the middle way, not skirting along the edges from one extreme to another. Kind of ruins the idea of a “temperance movement,” doesn’t it.

I also liked this blurb about the Tower: “Remember that scene in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, where Amy throws Jo’s stories into the fire? That’s the feeling of the Tower: the realization that all is lost, and you will have to start over from the beginning.” pg 83

Yes, I’m a bookworm. Yes, Little Women is one of my favorite books. I think Crispin nailed the card’s description with that scene.

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I thought this description of The Moon was brilliant: “The Moon rules our dreams, and that’s a good way to think about this card. They don’t make sense on a logical level, but on a personal level, on an emotional level, they do. The location in a dream will shift without warning; dead people will walk beside the living; your mother will show up, say something nonsensical while wearing a jellyfish on her head, and then stab you in the heart. And you wake up and think, “Oh, of course, this is about that incident that happened when I was five.”

My dreams are just like that. In fact, I had that exact dream last night. 🙂

The tone in The Creative Tarot is very friendly and conversational, as if you asked your best friend to teach you a little bit about her favorite hobby- tarot cards. Highly recommended for artists, dreamers, and aspiring tarot card readers.

Its only weakness, in my opinion, is that I wanted more… more stories, more examples. I understand that we’re dealing with 50 plus cards and they can’t all receive extremely detailed treatment, otherwise we’d get the George R.R. Martin version of Tarot card books, but a girl can dream.

Jessa Crispin has modernized a system that seems to want to stay inaccessible to the beginner. I wish more of the books about the tarot were like this one.

Thanks for reading!