The one thing that never seems to get done, well there are many, but in the grand scheme of things they all roughly equal one thing, and that is take care of myself… all things seem to boil down to that.
Not getting baking done = not taking care of yourself
Not getting groceries done = not taking care of yourself
Not getting medication, medical assistance not doing the thinks on the list all boil down to not taking care of yourself
Category: Personal thoughts
APA Format
What do you think about APA formatting? Do you think it adds to a paper or does the need for attention to form detract from the ability to demonstrate knowledge of a subject? I had one professor who was so hung up on formatting that he completely disregarded the content of what I wrote as a result. If it were not for doing well on the class quizzes, I would have failed simply because not enough emphasis is placed on demonstrated knowledge, which makes me wonder if there were people who spewed absolute garbage and managed to pass simply on the form?
Story of the Man Tree and Maple Syrup
Interesting things you find out I was looking at street names in a local town today and decided to look one up to see what it means and it lead me to an Anishinaabe story of the discovery of Maple Syrop. So I thought I might share that story here … The Original source may be found here https://zhaawanart.blogspot.com/2019/04/giigidowag-mitigoog-trees-speak-part-1.html
In the beginning when the world was still young, GICHI-MANIDOO, the Great Mystery, decided to make life easier for the Anishinaabeg, who were starving. One day a man stood at the lake gazing across when he heard a voice behind him. It was the spirit of the Man Tree who addressed him saying that the Great Mystery pitied the starving Anishinaabeg and that from now on the trees would gift them with their stories and nutritious sap. The voice gave the Anishinaabe inini at the lake instructions on how to tap the trees. The maple trees were full of thick, sweet syrup that dripped out easily when a branch was broken from the tree and the Anishinaabeg knew they would never have to grow hungry again after the hardships of winter.
One day, Wenabozho, the supernatural hero and friend of the People, decided to visit the Anishinaabeg, but they were not in the village. No one was hunting, fishing, or working in the fields. Finally he found them in a forest of man-trees, lying around on the ground, catching syrup in their open mouths from the dripping maples.
Wenabozho decided that after all the hardships in the past, life had become too convenient for his People; they would all grow fat and lazy because they would never had to work anymore. So he made a basket out of birch bark, filled it with water, went to the top of the man trees and poured the water down their trunks. Suddenly, the thick syrup turned thin and watery, just barely sweet. From now on, Wenabozho said, the Anishinaabeg will have to work for their syrup by collecting it in great amounts in a birch basket like mine, and then boil off the water by heating the sap with hot stones. In this way, people will appreciate their hard earned syrup. But Wenabozho made it so that maples only produced the sap during certain times of the year, at the end of winter, so the Anishinaabeg would spend the rest of the year working in the fields and hunting and catching fish. And this is how it has been ever since.
Lugh goes to School Part 2
Well as things are there is not much at a college level for online/distance-learning Sociology courses so I am branching out and taking an Introduction to Psychology course starting July 5th. At the university level, there are many sociology courses, however, it would seem that you must be part of an undergraduate or graduate course load. and quite frankly I do not have the time or the money to support that endeavor. So I shall keep plugging away at the college courses I find interesting.
WOOT!!! Update
I just received my grade on the following https://unplugged-pagan.com/2022/11/21/second-assignment-done
I received an A+ with the following commentary from the course instructor “Great work! Insightful and thoughtful connections to the course content.” Now just have to wait for the final exam mark, but I think we can say one and done!!!!
I was a little apprehensive about the topic of my first analysis as it had to do with a sensitive subject matter but relieved it was received well from an academic standpoint. and this puts me in the realm of a 3.67 GPA
Well instructor went ahead and marked the final exam, my finishing GPA for the course was 3.8, percentage-wise 85 percent or a letter grade of an A.
It will do donkey. it will do!
Second assignment Done
Well, my second assignment has been completed. I am now eagerly waiting on my grade for it. I have uploaded my works here for all to look at if they care to. For those who may be interested, I received an A+ on the first assignment.
Role Conflict and Role Strain
Role Conflict
occurs when seemingly incompatible social expectations exist while attempting to act in multiple roles at once.
Role Strain
The strain individuals feel as they try to occupy two groups at once.
Simulacra
copies that depict things that either had no original or that no longer have an original
I am but a Junior in this whole study of sociology, but as I read I have to reason and evaluate and postulate upon the concepts I am encountering, there are times to I have to write things out and this is again one of them. As with most things I write about I draw upon personal perspectives and real-world occurrences. There are many who do not like what I write, they feel I should just shut up and go away. Sorry, that is not going to happen, If I can help but one person out there, if what I have written gives one person hope, or possibly even an “AHA” moment I will take that as being some measure of success.
I am trying not to live in the past, for I truly believe that one who lives there has no future, but there occasionally comes a time when I read or encounter something that thrusts me back there and I am left with a few options on how to deal with it. Stay up all night with the thoughts running around in my head or writing. More so lately I am choosing to write, I truly wish I could take my thoughts directly out of my head and place them on a computer screen. This writing thing is just way too slow. Although this may be a good thing because it is causing me to slow down and think. But just be forewarned that my writing may seem to go all over the place.
So tonight these three things came up in my reading for my sociology course 1/ Role Conflict, 2/ Role Strain, and 3/ Simulacra. now, what do these things hold in common in my mind at the moment? Simulacra: depictions of things that have no original or that no longer have an original. To put this in perspective this is how my head views the concept of Simulacra, going back to a place such as a vacation spot, job, group, or other such thing and you have created an image or expectation or memory in your head of that thing and not having that thing live up to your expectations. Role conflict, let us expand on that a bit and call this internal conflict, where your mind is trying to resolve the difference between what you believe should be and what is in fact real. Role strain your mind’s inevitable response to being incapable of resolving said role conflict, and IMHO sometimes results in depression.
Samhain
Life cannot be without Death,
nor the Light without the Dark.
As in spring we embrace the return of the Light and the Life,
so to must we pay homage to the Dark and the Dead.
Tonite I raise my chalice to celebrate the dark and the dead of my Ancestry for without them I would not have known the Light and the Life.
Have a good Samhain my friends.
Cults and Total Institutions
Well as i am going through my course materials for Intro to Sociology the required reading brought me to a section on Erving Goffman. Goffman was a Canadian Sociologist whose early works had him studying life in institutions, IE prisons, and mental health wards. His works brought me back to another subject I had looked at a while ago and that was Cults, and defining what cults were. In that subject matter, I read that studies on Cults were difficult to complete. The reasons are quite understandable, Cults usually are things that are Identified “posthumously,” and no one really goes out and says “Hey we’re a cult come join us.” Cults also evolve over time and do not usually begin as such. I would say they are more like the frog who has been put in a cauldron of water and had water temperature increase slowly and gradually over time until the water is boiling and it is too late for the frog to get out.
This all being said I think the claim that “cults” have not been studied I believe is not entirely true. I believe Goffman’s work on “Asylums: Essays on the Condition of the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates” is totally applicable to Cults. I think the only main difference between life in an institution and life in a cult, is the circumstance that brought you there. I believe that as an institutionalized person your overall goal is to get out and back into society as a whole person, whilst the mindset of those who are in a cult would probably be they never want to leave and immerse themselves further and further until mainstream society becomes something they avoid rather than embrace.
Now there are those who are in an institutionalized environment that never want to leave because they have been there so long they are afraid of the outside world we definitely know that there are those who realize they are in an unhealthy environment and once that realization attempt to leave. In either of those cases usually, the transition to normal society is difficult. In these cases what sometimes happens is re-institutionalization or winding up in another cult or perhaps even creating one. There is also the sad situation where the idea of leaving, or the realization they need to leave is so profound that suicides occur.
Neo-Tribalism
“According to Michael Maffesoli, a French sociologist, we are living in “the time of the tribes.” Our world is changing rapidly and is fraught with risk and unpredictability. The foundations of our beliefs and understanding of our history are being challenged and are changing. As individuals, we are seeking out new meanings to our lives and new places to belong.” (paraphrased)
New collectives, or tribes, have emerged says Maffesoli: They are dynamic, fleeting, and “Dionysiac”…..
— Source “The Sociology Book: page 291
Is tribalism positive or negative?
With a negative connotation and in a political context, tribalism can also mean discriminatory behavior or attitudes towards out-groups, based on in-group loyalty
— source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribalism
Unplugged Pagan 