Seven Words meme
Courtesy of cluegirl, my words are: Apology. Ivory. Stalk. Shine. Phantom. Raven. Subvert.
Leave a comment asking for 'em and I'll give you seven words too!
Apology: that it took me over a week to do this, because the first apology I thought of is not one I can make in public. Also an apology to my housemates, should they require it, for playing Hobbit music on repeat. An unrepentant apology. Which kind of defeats the purpose.
Ivory: is a very good example of "things that are pretty and that also cannot be gained without destroying something even more beautiful and amazing." Should it become possible some day to make realistic lab-grown ivory, I will suggest that people be all over that.
Stalk: I joke that I stalk people. But I don't, and I probably shouldn't except insofar as comparing my somewhat problematic actions to something far worse will get me to stop doing them. For people who've never been stalked or known anyone who's been stalked, the word denotes creepy but ultimately harmless actions. For people who have experienced stalking first or second-hand, though, I'm given to understand that it is truly, deeply terrifying and traumatic, and when I actually think about that I stop wanting to joke that I'm stalkery.
Also it probably says something about my headspace that I chose "stalk" the verb instead of "stalk" as in plant. I was thinking about social wrongs inflicted upon women for the crime of being independent human beings earlier; that probably contributed (specifically I had another spontaneous feminism-101 with my brother). But plants are awesome!
Shine: I want to shine. I want to be a noticed, radiant, light presence in the lives of those around me. I want the light of my beliefs and actions to (be light in the first place and) touch lives I've never met. But I also want to keep to the shadows, be silent and unnoticed save by those to whom I reach out. I want to be matte and dark and blend into the background so I don't have to deal with the universe when I don't want to. It's damned hard to hide a lit candle in a darkened room; I can't, perhaps, have it both ways. To hide is safe; to shine can be transcendent. Dare I aim for the stars?
Phantom: I have always believed in dark things in the shadows that literally want to eat my soul. It's deep in the core of my reptilian hindbrain, I think. The fear has lessened, over time, as I find that more and more darks do not try to eat me, but it is this fear, in large part, that has justified my search for something that feels like spiritual truth: if I cannot hide from the hunters, let me find something bright and big that will drive them away, be itself a hunter but protective of me, either in the way that a dog protects its master or in the way that a mama bear protects her cubs. It occurs to me now that maybe to drive away the phantoms all I need to do is shine myself.
Raven: The bird of Odin. A bird of battle. A trickster. Quoth he, "Nevermore." An intelligent, carrion-eating, big black bird. They're key imagery for parodies of Goths (the modern kind). These are things I know about ravens. Like so many animals, they seem simultaneously, and perhaps in equal measure, feared and praised. But for all that I know about them, I am surprisingly devoid of thoughts on them. I don't know if I've ever seen a raven in person; I think crows are far more common in my part of the world.
Subvert: I had to look this one up, because of how often it's used on TVTropes and with the way that words get their own meaning on that site. Quoth the Google: "Undermine the power and authority of (an established system or institution)." In that case, I spend much of my political blathering explaining why it is necessary to subvert various intangible things, mostly bits of the kyriarchy and also the Republichristians' stranglehold on our lawmaking bodies. Not that I have the slightest idea how to go about doing these things. I sense a theme: I aim high, fall short, and make excuses for myself. Perhaps I'd better subvert that pattern. Self-subversion: a long, hard slog, but probably ultimately worth it.
Leave a comment asking for 'em and I'll give you seven words too!
Apology: that it took me over a week to do this, because the first apology I thought of is not one I can make in public. Also an apology to my housemates, should they require it, for playing Hobbit music on repeat. An unrepentant apology. Which kind of defeats the purpose.
Ivory: is a very good example of "things that are pretty and that also cannot be gained without destroying something even more beautiful and amazing." Should it become possible some day to make realistic lab-grown ivory, I will suggest that people be all over that.
Stalk: I joke that I stalk people. But I don't, and I probably shouldn't except insofar as comparing my somewhat problematic actions to something far worse will get me to stop doing them. For people who've never been stalked or known anyone who's been stalked, the word denotes creepy but ultimately harmless actions. For people who have experienced stalking first or second-hand, though, I'm given to understand that it is truly, deeply terrifying and traumatic, and when I actually think about that I stop wanting to joke that I'm stalkery.
Also it probably says something about my headspace that I chose "stalk" the verb instead of "stalk" as in plant. I was thinking about social wrongs inflicted upon women for the crime of being independent human beings earlier; that probably contributed (specifically I had another spontaneous feminism-101 with my brother). But plants are awesome!
Shine: I want to shine. I want to be a noticed, radiant, light presence in the lives of those around me. I want the light of my beliefs and actions to (be light in the first place and) touch lives I've never met. But I also want to keep to the shadows, be silent and unnoticed save by those to whom I reach out. I want to be matte and dark and blend into the background so I don't have to deal with the universe when I don't want to. It's damned hard to hide a lit candle in a darkened room; I can't, perhaps, have it both ways. To hide is safe; to shine can be transcendent. Dare I aim for the stars?
Phantom: I have always believed in dark things in the shadows that literally want to eat my soul. It's deep in the core of my reptilian hindbrain, I think. The fear has lessened, over time, as I find that more and more darks do not try to eat me, but it is this fear, in large part, that has justified my search for something that feels like spiritual truth: if I cannot hide from the hunters, let me find something bright and big that will drive them away, be itself a hunter but protective of me, either in the way that a dog protects its master or in the way that a mama bear protects her cubs. It occurs to me now that maybe to drive away the phantoms all I need to do is shine myself.
Raven: The bird of Odin. A bird of battle. A trickster. Quoth he, "Nevermore." An intelligent, carrion-eating, big black bird. They're key imagery for parodies of Goths (the modern kind). These are things I know about ravens. Like so many animals, they seem simultaneously, and perhaps in equal measure, feared and praised. But for all that I know about them, I am surprisingly devoid of thoughts on them. I don't know if I've ever seen a raven in person; I think crows are far more common in my part of the world.
Subvert: I had to look this one up, because of how often it's used on TVTropes and with the way that words get their own meaning on that site. Quoth the Google: "Undermine the power and authority of (an established system or institution)." In that case, I spend much of my political blathering explaining why it is necessary to subvert various intangible things, mostly bits of the kyriarchy and also the Republichristians' stranglehold on our lawmaking bodies. Not that I have the slightest idea how to go about doing these things. I sense a theme: I aim high, fall short, and make excuses for myself. Perhaps I'd better subvert that pattern. Self-subversion: a long, hard slog, but probably ultimately worth it.