thismightgetweird

TGIF: Big Trickster Energy

Added 2022-12-02 20:38:56 +0000 UTC

Hello and happy Friday, Patrons! I am on day 4ish of a head cold which has been a reeeeal hoot. It seems like a few of you are also sick/ailing at the moment so it's a germy Friday rager! Tis the season! High five! Sike, don't touch me with those nasty hands!

Speaking of the holiday season, I really need to start Christmas shopping. This is what I've said to myself for the last 4 days. I don't know why it seems harder for me to figure out gifts this year. Maybe because I have a tinge of cringe about getting people stuff (read: crap). Buuuuut, I also kinda love the game of trying to figure out what stuff (read: good crap) people might not know they could use or need or love? Anyone else get into it that way? To me, it's like a psychological puzzle game. You assess a person and their experience in the world to decode what might make their lives better, albeit in a practical or ridiculous sense. That part is fun. Until I find myself down the rabbit hole of wondering if anyone in my family likes Elvira enough to buy them Elvira's Salt and Pepper Shaker Boobs. Then I realize the game has gotten away from me. What kind of gifts are you going for this year? Any recommendations on interesting directions to take with it? I try to aim to get thoughtful gifts that are either practical, absurd, helpful, or hilarious-for-a-moment-and-it's-obvious-I'm-okay-if-you-get-rid-of-it-in-the-near-future. I think we all hate the feeling of someone we love getting us something we don't love but we pretend we love it because we love them. I write this after I cleaned my office yesterday and gently tucked an angel figurine my mom sent me for my birthday in my closet. Hey, the closet is not the trash! It's just a lil trash purgatory. 😬

I also just finished Elizabeth Gilbert's "Big Magic" this week. My first official non-school read! Woo! Some of you have probably already gobbled up this book, but if you haven't I definitely recommend! It's got a lot of really nice/easy thoughts and take aways for living a creative life and creative living beyond fear (literally what it says on the cover). It's the kind of stuff you read thinking you already knew that but somehow the easy tone she writes in presents it in a new way that sparks some freshness in the brain. At least that was my experience. Towards the end she talks a lot about 'trickster' energy, which is something I really honed in on in school - the trickster archetype is a depth psychological concept and though she doesn't call that out directly in her book it was kewl to see some of what I've mulled over the last two years being woven into pop culture self help stuff. The general ideas attached to it are about not taking things so seriously...about finding the playfulness, the humor, and the joy in relation to your own creativity rather than marinating in the heaviness we often attach to it. The trickster finds the game that is to be played rather than forfeiting before hearing all the rules (that they could most likely have fun breaking). It's a fun reminder to approach creativity with fun. Walking up to a scared dog with your own scared energy won't get that lil scrappy thing to come play with you. You gotta approach your own creativity/ inspiration pup with some treats of cheerful friskiness or literally a funny bone. It's apparently how I approach gift-giving too. Remembering to connect with your inner trickster was one of the many great take aways I had from the book, if you've read it let me know your thoughts!

Right when school ended I went on a self-help book shopping spree and picked up Big Magic and three different Brene Brown books. I've never read any Brene books but I love saying her same out loud. It's like a baby trying to say the name Renee. How fun. I think I'm gonna move on to one of those next and will keep you updated on the progress. Look at me go! Or, rather, look at me thinking about going!

What do you have going on today/this weekend? The rest of my day today is pretty wild, y'all. I'm going to be talking myself into a shower and MAKING MORE SOUP. Yes, I made soup on Wednesday if you watched lens and it was so good I got more ingredients and I will be making that same soup again today! If it ain't broke! And it ain't! *cut to me having immediately regretful diarrhea from too much soup* Let me know what you got going on and if you have any new TV recs. We hopped on that White Lotus train this week and CHOO CHOO we're off and the ride is so good! We started with season 2 and now we're (im)patiently riding this out before we go back and watch season 1. Jennifer Coolidge is a god damn national treasure. I think I could watch hours of her doing literally anything and mostly nothing. Ugh. She's so good! Anyway, the soup sirens are calling and it's time for me to cut (onions) and run. Hope you have great weekends! ❤️G