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2023: The Year of the Trickster
Ever since I read Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, I have taken a lot of what she said to heart. The purpose of the book was to discuss the perspectives people take on their art and creativity. One of my favorite things that she wrote about was Tricksters and Martyrs. When I was a little…
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Who Would Elsa Vote For?
Last year I read a book that changed my perspective on political ideologies. It is called the Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haight, and I have read it twice now. In this book he describes the thoughts and tendencies that then play out to create political differences between people. At the very end of the book,…
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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: My Own Invisibility
I’ve been reading the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and I don’t know that I’ve read too many other characters in my life that were so much like me. She grows up as a strange child in France, learning to draw in charcoal. She develops a deep fear of marriage and motherhood. She shuns the…
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Perspective: Suffering is Optional
So today I heard of Camus’s theory of absurdism and I loved it. It fits well with Gilbert’s view of Tricksters and trickster energy. I had no idea someone had laid out my philosophy before. The meaning of life, the eventual necessity of death, creates a conflict within us all. Not only is our own…
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Zoe and Bios
Today I was reading Twyla Tharp’s book, the Creative Habit, and I nearly put it down for good a couple weeks ago. But today I picked it up, I suppose my ruffled feathers from before have been forgotten. I am not a very habitual person, consistency is something hard won from me and someone telling…
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His Dark Materials: My Dæmon Settles
Kind of for my birthday, kind of for my project with the children’s book, I bought some pastel pencils. I had never heard of pastel pencils until I was on instagram this year and watched people use them. They aren’t the kind of thing public schools buy for children, and high school was the last…
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Shrugging the Burden of Potential
Hi, my name is Cassandra and I am 30 years old. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder type two nearly exactly a decade ago. That is not precisely true, as I was initially only diagnosed with major depressive disorder. The antidepressants sent me rapid cycling and a few months later I was on lithium. I…
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My Picture Book
Today I’ll tell you the story of how I first was inspired to write a book. It was the most magical, nearly fully formed idea I’ve ever had, and I am so excited to realize it as well as I can. It starts with the book Big Magic by Liz Gilbert. Yes, the Eat, Pray,…
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Ego Is the Enemy: The Ultimatum
Yesterday I was procrastinating, so I picked up a book my mother had given me a few months back. I had been meaning to read it. It was small, and short, and had a rather confrontational title: “Ego is the Enemy.” It was by a man named Ryan Holiday, who I had never heard of.…