Meme: A handful of words - PurpleVenus's
purplevenus gave me 6 words. If you want to swap words with me, comment!
Dance
Analytical: Formalized or inspired physical movement, usually for the sake of expressing something rather than, or in addition to accomplishing a task. Of course, it's also used as a metaphor for anything that requires multiple people to understand protocols of interaction on a subtle level.
Emotional: Freedom, ecstasy, joy, abandon... sharing.
The most sensual thing I ever saw was a woman belly dancing after hours on the stage near Mullah's at Ren Faire at Black Point. She wasn't wearing anything particularly revealing, and she wasn't enticing the audience. She was dancing entirely for herself, without regard for anyone else's attention.
I grew up taking dance lessons at least once a week for about ten years, and I do miss it. That was, admittedly, dance for stage performance - ballet, jazz, and tap. But I also learned some ballroom dancing and other social dancing, and I enjoy that just as much. What bothers me about dancing these days is basically that my muscle memory is no longer matched to my body, so what I feel like I'm doing and what I'm actually doing aren't the same. That's fine if I'm alone, or at least have plenty of space around me and nobody snarking about whatever they're seeing, but most of the time I'm in a dancing situation, one or both of those conditions are not available. I need to dance more. There is no way in which I would not be healthier if I did. I've thought about taking up belly dance lessons many times, but time and money are just enough of an obstacle that, at least without friends keeping up my emotional momentum on the idea, it just doesn't happen. Someday, if I'm very very good, I'll learn Irish step dancing.
Song
Analytical: A vocalization with some form of repetition, rhythm, rhyme, and/or melody - preferably artfully combining several of these. The purpose may be to entertain, to invoke, to communicate, to teach, to entice, or simply to express.
Emotional: Expression, openness, passion, outpouring...
It has been pointed out by humans and gods alike that I am most confident and relaxed and open when I am singing. I sing to share pieces of myself with the world.
Singing is the one artform I have taken lessons in that I have never had any instructor tell me I couldn't do professionally. I am often complimented on my voice, both speaking and singing. This gives me a certain ego on the subject and I know it, so I try to keep it in check.
I remember reading Dragonsong and Dragonsinger, and thinking that there could not be a better way to spread information and learning throughout the world than by teaching everyone to sing together, to memorize the lessons in the songs. I am biased heavily in this by the fact that I am far and away strongest in a Musical learning style. I feel like the Universe makes sense in song, and in the patterns that make song.
I have long wanted to be a bard, and equally long thought it was an impossible goal. I will never be popular enough, dedicated enough, passionate enough, or talented enough to accomplish it, will I? And besides, I'm always being derailed into other tasks that I am apparently better suited to, like counseling, or tech support. I am learning, slowly but surely, that this is a fallacy - that I can and should be a problem solver AND a counselor AND a bard, because "Priestess" means all of these things.
Dependency
Analytical: Effects which require particular causes. Bodies which require particular support.
Emotional: All things are interdependent. Understanding how and in what ways is the sum of all knowledge.
In a more practical, everyday sense, I value independence and interdependence, and am extremely wary of dependence for fear of codependence. What's all that about? Children every reason and right to depend on their parents. It is the nature of children to require that support until they are adults. Humans are social creatures, so we are emotionally and economically interdependent, and that's as it should be.
But I was raised to believe that an adult needs to hold their own in society, or get up the resources to survive apart from society entirely (which is often much harder). Holding my own doesn't mean not needing anything from outside sources, but it does mean being able to exchange fairly other resources for my own resources. Things get very messy very quickly because there are so many different ways, some measurable, some not, in which to have equitable exchanges. These days I think we hyper-focus on monetary exchange - I know I do. Perhaps that's because money is one of the two most measurable forms of exchange (the other being time).
I do worry a lot, maybe too much, about the degree to which I am dependent, the degree to which I can't afford NOT to be dependent if I want to ever reach a point of stable independence. I could try for a measure of independence now, but it would be inefficient, unstable, and generally miserable, and I don't think that's an effective use of the resources I do have. So fine, I've made the best choices I can with fellow consenting adults who are interested in my taking the high road towards long term self-sufficiency. That's good right? So why do I still freak out? *Sigh* Wash, rinse, repeat.
Green
Analytical: A primary color (hue) of light. A secondary color (hue) of pigment. The dominant color of photosynthetic organisms, for which reason green is heavily associated with plant life. Accordingly, the color is often used in religious or fantasy settings to symbolize a connection with wildlife or agriculture. Similarly, the word is used to refer to ecologically friendly values. Complementary to, and thus contrasting highly with, shades of red (which is why I wear so much of it :D).
Emotional: Well, it's my color, eh? Even today if you ask me "what's your favorite color" I'll give you different answers for looking at or wearing. I've always liked to look at purple, but I prefer to surround myself with shades of green because they make me happy, and they make me look good. I don't know whether this is the reason for, or the result of it, but over the years I've felt a deep afinity to plants. This is especially true of indigenous plants in the wild, but really any plant allowed to grow as it will, whether placed by nature or human activity can make me very happy. Yes, I really am a tree-hugger. I go nuts photographing flowers and growing fruit starting each spring.
I do find manicured gardens beautiful, but sort of alienating, the same way I can appreciate the architecture of corporate buildings and not feel like I belong there. Fake flowers, like in the craft store feel strange and wrong to me. Real plants have a glow about them that just can't be replicated. Even dead they feel more natural than the best fakes. Not that I don't appreciate a fine silk flower if it's crafted with love and care, but mass-produced realistic fake plants make me twitchy.
Oracle
Analytical: A person who serves others by providing divination, especially non-token-based divination, in the form of visions, which may then be communicated quite cryptically. (Also: A company in the process of buying Sun Microsystems, which matters to me primarily because my Mom works for Sun, and I want her to be happy and well-paid and such.)
Emotional: I am trained in several forms of divination which I perform for free for friends and strangers alike. I have been told many different ways that I have a natural talent, if not more like a compulsive habit to divine constantly as I go about my life, so I suppose it all goes together. Most of the time if I try to have divination done on my behalf I get told some variation on "you already know".
I do enjoy divination, both giving and receiving, but there are times I worry it is taken either too seriously, or not seriously enough, or somehow both. People seem to want to replace their own responsibility for making decisions with divination, which I believe is a very bad idea. Divination doesn't make decisions for you, it gives you information with which to make decisions. The future doesn't already exist, it's just reasonably predictable given sufficient information about the present and the past. There's no point at all in bothering to try and divine the future if you didn't have any choices, right?
But all that is as though I was given the word "Divination". Oracle is subtly different, I think, because it really requires a separation both socially and physically between the querant and the diviner. One can do a rune reading or a card reading for themselves only ever, and get along just fine indefinitely. As an Oracle I cannot divine for myself. Someone else has to ask the question, and for me to go out far enough to be able to answer questions in that manner, there must be others there I trust to keep a handle on everything while I make myself that vulnerable. A guide at least, but I prefer to have someone I trust standing chair behind me to protect me personally. If I want to answer my own question, I could give it to the guide or someone else to ask, but it won't really work if they can't put the need into the question that produces an answer. So by definition, if I'm being an Oracle, it's not for me. By definition, if I'm a querant, I'm not the Oracle. That doesn't seem like much, but it illuminates whole layers of social significance. An Oracle cannot exist outside of some kind of social setting in which to serve - there is neither mechanism nor purpose to it.
Innocence
Analytical: Lack of guilt, especially of sin. Traditionally this also refers to lack of the sorts of knowledge that might cause one to become guilty of sin, often for lack of applicable experience. Used as a euphemism for behaviors, traits, and states of being characteristic of such lack of knowledge or experience (e.g. virginity).
Emotional: I actually don't think about innocence very much. I suppose I associate it with nature. The values that render one "guilty" are social, and thus particularly human. I think we tend to assume that anything or one is innocent who is not mature and intelligent enough to "know better". Ah, now THERE is a bag full. "You know better" - a phrase used to admonish others without elaborating on what is actually wrong. Perfectly reasonable when the recipient a) is clear what they're being scolded for and b) does in fact know better. Not so good when they don't. Particularly bad when the message is effectively "stop being who you are".
--Ember--
Dance
Analytical: Formalized or inspired physical movement, usually for the sake of expressing something rather than, or in addition to accomplishing a task. Of course, it's also used as a metaphor for anything that requires multiple people to understand protocols of interaction on a subtle level.
Emotional: Freedom, ecstasy, joy, abandon... sharing.
The most sensual thing I ever saw was a woman belly dancing after hours on the stage near Mullah's at Ren Faire at Black Point. She wasn't wearing anything particularly revealing, and she wasn't enticing the audience. She was dancing entirely for herself, without regard for anyone else's attention.
I grew up taking dance lessons at least once a week for about ten years, and I do miss it. That was, admittedly, dance for stage performance - ballet, jazz, and tap. But I also learned some ballroom dancing and other social dancing, and I enjoy that just as much. What bothers me about dancing these days is basically that my muscle memory is no longer matched to my body, so what I feel like I'm doing and what I'm actually doing aren't the same. That's fine if I'm alone, or at least have plenty of space around me and nobody snarking about whatever they're seeing, but most of the time I'm in a dancing situation, one or both of those conditions are not available. I need to dance more. There is no way in which I would not be healthier if I did. I've thought about taking up belly dance lessons many times, but time and money are just enough of an obstacle that, at least without friends keeping up my emotional momentum on the idea, it just doesn't happen. Someday, if I'm very very good, I'll learn Irish step dancing.
Song
Analytical: A vocalization with some form of repetition, rhythm, rhyme, and/or melody - preferably artfully combining several of these. The purpose may be to entertain, to invoke, to communicate, to teach, to entice, or simply to express.
Emotional: Expression, openness, passion, outpouring...
It has been pointed out by humans and gods alike that I am most confident and relaxed and open when I am singing. I sing to share pieces of myself with the world.
Singing is the one artform I have taken lessons in that I have never had any instructor tell me I couldn't do professionally. I am often complimented on my voice, both speaking and singing. This gives me a certain ego on the subject and I know it, so I try to keep it in check.
I remember reading Dragonsong and Dragonsinger, and thinking that there could not be a better way to spread information and learning throughout the world than by teaching everyone to sing together, to memorize the lessons in the songs. I am biased heavily in this by the fact that I am far and away strongest in a Musical learning style. I feel like the Universe makes sense in song, and in the patterns that make song.
I have long wanted to be a bard, and equally long thought it was an impossible goal. I will never be popular enough, dedicated enough, passionate enough, or talented enough to accomplish it, will I? And besides, I'm always being derailed into other tasks that I am apparently better suited to, like counseling, or tech support. I am learning, slowly but surely, that this is a fallacy - that I can and should be a problem solver AND a counselor AND a bard, because "Priestess" means all of these things.
Dependency
Analytical: Effects which require particular causes. Bodies which require particular support.
Emotional: All things are interdependent. Understanding how and in what ways is the sum of all knowledge.
In a more practical, everyday sense, I value independence and interdependence, and am extremely wary of dependence for fear of codependence. What's all that about? Children every reason and right to depend on their parents. It is the nature of children to require that support until they are adults. Humans are social creatures, so we are emotionally and economically interdependent, and that's as it should be.
But I was raised to believe that an adult needs to hold their own in society, or get up the resources to survive apart from society entirely (which is often much harder). Holding my own doesn't mean not needing anything from outside sources, but it does mean being able to exchange fairly other resources for my own resources. Things get very messy very quickly because there are so many different ways, some measurable, some not, in which to have equitable exchanges. These days I think we hyper-focus on monetary exchange - I know I do. Perhaps that's because money is one of the two most measurable forms of exchange (the other being time).
I do worry a lot, maybe too much, about the degree to which I am dependent, the degree to which I can't afford NOT to be dependent if I want to ever reach a point of stable independence. I could try for a measure of independence now, but it would be inefficient, unstable, and generally miserable, and I don't think that's an effective use of the resources I do have. So fine, I've made the best choices I can with fellow consenting adults who are interested in my taking the high road towards long term self-sufficiency. That's good right? So why do I still freak out? *Sigh* Wash, rinse, repeat.
Green
Analytical: A primary color (hue) of light. A secondary color (hue) of pigment. The dominant color of photosynthetic organisms, for which reason green is heavily associated with plant life. Accordingly, the color is often used in religious or fantasy settings to symbolize a connection with wildlife or agriculture. Similarly, the word is used to refer to ecologically friendly values. Complementary to, and thus contrasting highly with, shades of red (which is why I wear so much of it :D).
Emotional: Well, it's my color, eh? Even today if you ask me "what's your favorite color" I'll give you different answers for looking at or wearing. I've always liked to look at purple, but I prefer to surround myself with shades of green because they make me happy, and they make me look good. I don't know whether this is the reason for, or the result of it, but over the years I've felt a deep afinity to plants. This is especially true of indigenous plants in the wild, but really any plant allowed to grow as it will, whether placed by nature or human activity can make me very happy. Yes, I really am a tree-hugger. I go nuts photographing flowers and growing fruit starting each spring.
I do find manicured gardens beautiful, but sort of alienating, the same way I can appreciate the architecture of corporate buildings and not feel like I belong there. Fake flowers, like in the craft store feel strange and wrong to me. Real plants have a glow about them that just can't be replicated. Even dead they feel more natural than the best fakes. Not that I don't appreciate a fine silk flower if it's crafted with love and care, but mass-produced realistic fake plants make me twitchy.
Oracle
Analytical: A person who serves others by providing divination, especially non-token-based divination, in the form of visions, which may then be communicated quite cryptically. (Also: A company in the process of buying Sun Microsystems, which matters to me primarily because my Mom works for Sun, and I want her to be happy and well-paid and such.)
Emotional: I am trained in several forms of divination which I perform for free for friends and strangers alike. I have been told many different ways that I have a natural talent, if not more like a compulsive habit to divine constantly as I go about my life, so I suppose it all goes together. Most of the time if I try to have divination done on my behalf I get told some variation on "you already know".
I do enjoy divination, both giving and receiving, but there are times I worry it is taken either too seriously, or not seriously enough, or somehow both. People seem to want to replace their own responsibility for making decisions with divination, which I believe is a very bad idea. Divination doesn't make decisions for you, it gives you information with which to make decisions. The future doesn't already exist, it's just reasonably predictable given sufficient information about the present and the past. There's no point at all in bothering to try and divine the future if you didn't have any choices, right?
But all that is as though I was given the word "Divination". Oracle is subtly different, I think, because it really requires a separation both socially and physically between the querant and the diviner. One can do a rune reading or a card reading for themselves only ever, and get along just fine indefinitely. As an Oracle I cannot divine for myself. Someone else has to ask the question, and for me to go out far enough to be able to answer questions in that manner, there must be others there I trust to keep a handle on everything while I make myself that vulnerable. A guide at least, but I prefer to have someone I trust standing chair behind me to protect me personally. If I want to answer my own question, I could give it to the guide or someone else to ask, but it won't really work if they can't put the need into the question that produces an answer. So by definition, if I'm being an Oracle, it's not for me. By definition, if I'm a querant, I'm not the Oracle. That doesn't seem like much, but it illuminates whole layers of social significance. An Oracle cannot exist outside of some kind of social setting in which to serve - there is neither mechanism nor purpose to it.
Innocence
Analytical: Lack of guilt, especially of sin. Traditionally this also refers to lack of the sorts of knowledge that might cause one to become guilty of sin, often for lack of applicable experience. Used as a euphemism for behaviors, traits, and states of being characteristic of such lack of knowledge or experience (e.g. virginity).
Emotional: I actually don't think about innocence very much. I suppose I associate it with nature. The values that render one "guilty" are social, and thus particularly human. I think we tend to assume that anything or one is innocent who is not mature and intelligent enough to "know better". Ah, now THERE is a bag full. "You know better" - a phrase used to admonish others without elaborating on what is actually wrong. Perfectly reasonable when the recipient a) is clear what they're being scolded for and b) does in fact know better. Not so good when they don't. Particularly bad when the message is effectively "stop being who you are".
--Ember--