Wishing a very happy birthday to my younger cousin, Charles! A fellow 13th birthday~ Hopefully, he had lots of fun on his birthday (and didn't have any complications or issues like we did--we had no power on his birthday).
I hope everyone is doing well! The world is a bit shaky right now. It feels like people are rather divided. I have no qualms about people possessing differing perspectives; I can respect that, even if I don't agree with the specific view. Everyone has the right to do what they feel is best for them. It's just really sad that people are getting so swept up into fear, judging and excluding others due to that same fear. It's rather tiring. Things could be going so well, people loving you so completely--not being unable to wait for you to help them/work with them--and then pulling a complete 180 at the drop of a hat. I realize that it's not personal--it's something they need to work on--but still, it's rather frustrating. They end up judging the whole--the whole which they had literally just been loving completely mere seconds before--by this tiny, miniscule piece. It's mind-boggling. Everyone is on their own journey; everyone is going at their own pace--I can respect that. It just feels like that respect isn't mutual. It feels like I'm being judged rather harshly, and it doesn't feel warranted. Sure, if I started being a complete jerk or whatnot, that'd be completely understandable. Nothing has changed--it's just that they now know that I haven't conformed, and somehow that's earth-shattering. Granted, maybe it is for them since maybe they don't come into contact with other people, who are willing to question things and follow their hearts. I don't know who they normally hang around, so it is a possibility. I just yearn for the day when people accept one another, wanting to work together and love each other, rather than judge one another and tear each other down. From what I've been hearing from various spiritual teachers/channelers, it sounds like that day is fast approaching. I guess I'm sort of feeling like a little kid that's on a long car drive, asking, "Are we there yet?" We've been in this car, traveling down this road, for so long; it feels like we should have arrived at our destination by now. We're almost there, and I think a lot of people are picking up on it (which is probably why people like me are getting frustrated by things like this). I'll do my best to take things one step at a time, focus on the now, and strive for my personal best. It's all we can do.
I've discussed the swiftly changing times with my friends. One of them asked about getting vaxxed and if I'd heard about any side effects. I had an open discussion with her and informed her that I wasn't going to conform to please others (I've had several job opportunities where the owners loved me, were eager to have me start working there, and then got all fearful because I didn't follow the herd mentality). I can understand why some people believe it's the right thing to do, but it just doesn't feel right. Feels too rushed and planned for my tastes. I have no qualms with others deciding what's best for themselves, but I do take issue if someone tries to force me to do something conflicting with my beliefs. My friend stated that she would flip out if someone tried to make it mandatory. I told her that people could try, but I couldn't see it going over well for a variety of reasons. For starters, there are plenty of people who are avidly against it--there's even companies starting to speak out about it (there's even a taxi company that is refusing to drive vaxxed/masked customers). There's also official evidence that cases are highest in vaxxed individuals and relatively low in unvaxxed from Massachusetts's Department of Public Health (see image below for the data chart). I was skeptical about things before there was hard evidence out, and I feel like more people are going to recognize the fishy nature of it all. I know that some people are going to cling to their beliefs despite whatever evidence is procured, even if it's from official sources, but when even the official government sources are admitting it, it has to at least make one wonder about the reliability and safety of such things. I'm not going to tell anyone to believe one way or the other--it's best to use discernment and decide for oneself. I know that for individuals, like myself and my friends, it can feel like the whole world is against you. Don't lose heart, though; it's not a lost cause. There's even companies that are speaking out now. We're not alone. Certain groups may wish for us to believe it, but that doesn't mean we are in actuality alone.
April texted me this week, sharing a story about Iris. She informed me that she had asked Iris who her favorite person was. Iris did not merely have a sole favorite person. Iris provided her with a list. This list included: "1. Iris. 2. Mommy! 3. Mommy. 4. Jessha!" It's so cute. April extra-special since she made the list twice, but it warms my heart that I made the list. Iris is too adorable for words.
A lot happened in my dream, but it was shrouded in a haze when I woke up on Monday morning. I remembered more from my dreams when I woke up Tuesday morning. I knew a lot happened in my dream from Monday night/Tuesday morning, but I didn't remember everything that transpired--I remembered two main parts. The first thing I remembered was being at Sonic with April and her mom. I think my sister and Iris were there, as well, but I'm not 100% certain about that. I think April walked over to one of the signs to order something. I'm pretty sure her mom was talking to me about something, but I don't remember what, though. I looked up to the sky and dark storm clouds were swiftly rolling in. They seemed extremely unnatural. The clouds weren't limited to the sky; there was so much that it reached the ground, similar to fog but not, and it seemed dangerous. I had an instinctive/intuitive gut reaction to it, alerting the others about it and how we should avoid it. We got into the car, and April drove. I think her mom had planned on doing so, but she got into the back after seeing April in the driver's seat. April drove to the shopping plaza. We passed where Famous Footwear normally is, but it now seemed to be some TV station (the sign on the outside of the building said something like "AM TV").
We ended up going inside Target. We began browsing that dollar spot right on the inside (I think we were just waiting for the strange stuff outside to pass). As we were leisurely browsing, not particularly interested in anything, there was either an announcement or a staff member informing other shoppers that masks were required. We shared an "oh shoot" look amongst each other and tried to find something to work because whatever was going on outside was way worse than wearing a mask. I pulled out a blue bandana/scarf. I don't remember what the others did. I think April started pushing Iris around in a cart. Not sure where her mom went. I went with April and ended up finding this little alligator toy for my cousin. There was some group of kids in some kind of summer camp there. Their camp counselor informed them they could each get one toy/game. The kids were excited and seemed to follow us around. In the toy section I found this super cute alligator towel that I wanted to get for my cousin. I checked the price and almost choked when I saw it. The price tag read $84.95. I put it back. The summer camp kids were all excited. A couple of them picked out toys right away. One of them ended up breaking a game, and the counselor informed them that would be what they got from the trip--you break it you buy it. I think the group was getting ready to leave. One girl was whining about how one of the boys got food. I guess she didn't realize it was fake because it was like this prank chili dog for jokes, not a real one.
That's pretty much all I remember from the dream. I know at one point there was some kind of school that gave off vibes similar to the one in Blue Exorcist. It looked like a normal brick school building on the outside, but apparently it was massive on the inside. One of the instructors was taking me to one of the upper levels, and there was at least 195 floors. At one point I was helping out with chickens and collecting eggs. Some of them were the normal white and brown eggs, but some had bright and vivid coloring. I think some of the eggs had purple spots. That's all I can remember.
I remembered two main things from my dream when I woke up Wednesday morning, although I knew a lot more happened. The first thing I recalled was that I was visiting my grandma. I walked over to her house, carrying a puppy. It was rather large and resembled a husky; the color scheme was a cream and tan one, though, as opposed to the stereotypical grey and white. It was rather fluffy, too. I knocked on her door, and we ended up taking the puppy on a walk. I think more happened, but that's all I could remember.
The next thing I remembered involved Ariel from The Little Mermaid. She was hanging out by the beach and became worried that humans would find out that she was a mermaid. She ended up on the beach, and when she got on the sand she somehow turned into a human. There was a small group that approached. Based on their reactions, it seemed like she hung out there a lot because they knew her and specifically wanted her help. One member of the group (I think it was a female, but it's kind of fuzzy) was stuck in a log. The person seemed mostly fine (aside from wanting to be free) but they had some sort of injury. The others asked Ariel if she could look at it. It might have been a jellyfish sting or something. I think it was on the upper legs or hips, but they seemed paranoid about checking themselves since the person/lady was stuck in a log (I guess they thought it was improper and indecent to do so). That's all I could remember about this part. I think there was another part involving travel and a former coworker having a red sports car, but it's all super fuzzy.
What I remember from my dream heavily involved school and anime from Wednesday night/Thursday morning. In one of the classes we were studying for a social studies/history test. My classmates got into a deep conversation about InuYasha. I don't remember everything that was said, but they were delving into the story, discussing it's strengths and why they love the characters/show. Upon closer inspection the classmate that started the conversation, Tony, was wearing a t-shirt that had a huge image of InuYasha covering most of the shirt. I feel like the teacher would have been upset if he had known; he had been pretty adamant about studying for the test. We had asked to leave since we recognized the class was over, but he insisted the class wasn't actually over, demanding we stay. An announcement came on the intercoms, informing us we only had a minute to get to our next class. We looked at the teacher pointedly, but he didn't even apologize, merely stated that we should hurry.
The next thing I knew I was in another class, this time with a female teacher. Either the class as a whole or the specific assignment was about anime, much to my delight. The two girls in front of me began talking one another, and one (no idea who she was) gave the other, Michelle, a tiny portable battery so she could use this miniature fan in the class; she was excited about being able to use it (apparently the other girl had several of those tiny portable batteries). The teacher began outlining the current assignment by writing on the white board. I was excited, wanting nothing more than to start, since school never seemed to appreciate anime. As the teacher was wrapping up the assignment explanation, someone new entered the class. She was rather large and excited to see me. Apparently, she had been like a buddy (much like how kindergarteners have 5th grade buddies) and she was back to visit me after graduating. I had no qualms against the girl; she was fine. I wasn't too keen on leaving the class, though. Apparently, she would be making weekly visits, which was fine in and of itself. What bothered me was the fact that it would take place on Thursdays at 2, which meant that I would constantly be missing out on the anime class. I was unhappy about the prospect. I ended up leaving, albeit a bit reluctantly, to meet the buddy in the office. The teacher merrily waved as I left, not bothered in the lest that one of her students would be constantly missing her class. I ended up walking through the hallways. There was some chaos transpiring in the cafeteria for whatever reason. I thought it a bit peculiar that so many people would be eating so late in the school day but decided not to be concerned. There were Poptarts involved somehow. Not really sure. Someone ended up stopping me in the commons area, but I don't remember what for. I woke up before meeting the buddy, so I have no idea what she wanted.
The first thing I remembered when I woke up Friday morning was being with Corliss. I think we moved somewhere together (maybe kind of like a city, but it didn’t seem to be a majorly busy city). She had gotten me to work at a job with her at the very least. She got pissed off at the job and said I was the only reason she was there—if I hadn’t joined she would have left a long time ago (I was the only redeeming factor). I made a comment about the song from Mulan and being a girl worth fighting for. I think that’s what initiated the transition in the dream because the dream was then heavily focused on Disney’s animated Mulan for a while, highlighting her creativity, individuality, ingenuity, intelligence, and all-around awesomeness (kicking butt and saving the day—no one else could have pulled it off).
After the Mulan part, I was back at a school, specifically in a gym. Kids were playing volleyball (or something very close to it). It was getting kind of heated. It was difficult to tell why I was there—to spectate, to play, to teach, or whatever it was. There was supposed to be a teacher there, but they were missing for the game itself. I ended up eventually intervening so all the kids could take a turn playing—they didn’t want to switch out to give classmates a turn playing. The teacher showed up when the class was supposed to clean up. Each team turned out to be a separate class. For some reason I was supposed to take the one class back to their room. I didn’t know them or how many were supposed to be there in their class. One student told me “35” so I began counting to make sure they were all there. It was not easy because they kept moving. The first count was “29” so I tried again. The next time it was “39.” I was getting frustrated; new classes were entering the gym and mixing with the class that somehow became my responsibility and that I was trying to count, making it all the more difficult. All the kids were intermixing and talking, making it near-impossible to do anything efficiently. The class’s teacher suddenly appeared to pick them up, apparently finished with whatever meeting she was at. I left the gym. Some other teacher spotted me in the hallway, remarking it had been quite some time since we had last seen each other—she had apparently been on maternity leave. More happened, but that’s all I really remember.
A lot of my dream was surrounded in a haze when I woke up Saturday morning (I'll admit, it's because I finished my book the previous night--I have no regrets about finishing it, but when I closed the finished book and looked at the time, it was 1:23 am to my surprise). I remembered one part where these two individuals fell in love and wanted a baby. Apparently, they were vampires and to get a baby, they had to be like the Chao in the Sonic games and just be near one another. They cuddled a lot and danced, hopeful that they could have a baby. I'm pretty sure that they were a little wary of their family because they weren't sure if they would approve. That's all I remember from this part.
Another part involved being at a store like Target. I was going to pick up something for an elderly individual; a couple of them were holding garage sales/yard sales for some reason. I think they wanted me to pick up paint brushes and water color paper. I think it was like an online order and in store pickup kind of deal. I went to get it (I think I checked the aisles first and couldn't find anything). The person working the pickup was a classmate from college, Stacey. She went to get the items but asked if I saw about working on Wednesday (I had inquired about a job apparently). I asked if the email had just recently been sent. She gave the affirmative, and I replied that that was why I hadn't known; I hadn't checked my email yet. I think I went to check out afterwards. I ended up finding Laurali and her mom. There were all these massive lines for checkout, reaching all the way back to the store. The next thing I remember i was heading out to the parking lot. I think I was supposed to pick up my sister and parents. I ended up driving around the lot, looking for them. I think my sister might of started walking home. The details are fuzzy, and I don't remember anything else.
I felt like a lot happened in my dream when I woke up this morning, but the main thing I remembered was that I was traveling with Corliss. We were on a boat somewhere on the ocean. The staff/crew offered a unique experience. People could ride with whales. Many people have swam with dolphins, but this took it to a whole new level. People would ride in their mouths, and it was deemed perfectly safe. Corliss and I were watching from the deck as two people went for a ride. To be honest, the creature seemed like a cross between a whale and a seal. It was larger than a dolphin/seal, but it was smaller than whales. People would ride in the "whale's" open mouth. They said it tickled. As we watched the whale creature, we waved. The whale being seemed to get distracted and came up to the boat. It sort of seemed like it was trying to climb up the side of the boat. It saw some object floating by and tried to eat it. In the process of doing so, it swallowed the people. Corliss and I shared an "oh shit" look. She kept an eye on the whale while I tried to find staff to alert them of the situation. I found a lady that was a staff member and informed her, "So, there's an issue. A whales just swallowed some guests." She seemed extra shocked, like that had never EVER happened before. The lady went to the rail and started calling the whale over (apparently it's name was Ashley). She was quite peeved at the whale and kind of yelled, "Ashley, get up here!" Ashley seemed confused, like it/she couldn't fathom what was the matter. The lady checked her mouth, not finding people. She called into the blowhole for some reason, asking if anyone was inside. The people seemed relieved to hear a staff member, remarking, "Oh, good! We hadn't thought anyone saw us or what happened!" I imagine the people got free (without harming Ashley), but I don't remember actually seeing it happen.
The next thing I remembered was coming up on this large, flat screen TV. It was playing Dragon Ball Z (but I suspect it was like a parody because it didn't seem like the normal dialogue--it seemed more like jokes). I don't remember exactly what happened, but I think the two realms/realities merged, causing me to be in the Dragon Ball Universe or for the Dragon Ball Universe characters to be in our universe. I remembered Trunks hair being unruly, and that I helped him by using a barrette to clip it to the side, out of the way and out of his face. The last thing I recall is him thanking me for the help.
Corliss and I talked about dreams. Turns out she had a dream where she was at Target Friday night/Saturday morning, too. She also had a dream where she was with her mom. They were in a field, and she found 5 meteorites. She decided that she would give two to her mom. She wanted to give some to me, too, and was debating on how many to give me, knowing that I would love two of them--she debated because she wanted some and realized she could sell them, too. She was a little lost at what to do because there wasn't as many meteorites as she wanted to do things with. She ended up deciding to give me some, and then they went to the other side of the van they had apparently driven and found a massive amount of additional meteorites. Corliss was stoked. She knew that she had more than enough to share with others (specifically me) and do whatever she wanted with them.
Corliss had come over to meet Tsuki for the first time this weekend. She was so excited about finally meeting little Squeakers in person. She fell in love with her and was so happy that Tsuki let her hold her (Tsuki is a major people kitty--she adores people and wants all sorts of attention). Tsuki showed off and played like a champ, jumping, flipping, racing, rolling, tumbling--the works. She's such a goof. It was really nice seeing Corliss again, and the moon was epic. We had noticed it earlier (it had been white and tiny), but when we left to drive her home it was MASSIVE and yellow. It seemed like it had grown like ten times the size it had been earlier. It was so peculiar but interesting and amazing. Another strange incident occurred on the drive to Corliss's place. Corliss had been talking about a dream I told her about a while back (one where there was like this restaurant called like Onion Rings or something but was run by aliens and the deliveries were made via UFO). It was strange because a "!" light appeared on my dashboard. Corliss said it might be a low tire pressure notification, but my car will angrily flash "low pres" at me where the mileage normally is displayed when the tire pressure is low. It was after it went off just as suddenly as it had turned on that I realized that it turned on when Corliss started discussing the dream and that it turned off when we stopped talking about it. She had also mentioned Orion, so I would imagine that has some significance. I'm not sure exactly what the universe was trying to tell us, but it did want us to pay attention. Has anyone else experienced anything peculiar like this lately?
Iris was super excited this week because she and April got to meet Tsuki finally (and because she got to see me--she's always excited to see me--April often tells me about how Iris will ask to see me). Iris loved Tsuki immediately and wanted to play. She was constantly laughing and thought Tsuki was the silliest. She got hungry and ate some cereal that was at my house; she giggled with Tsuki jumped up on the chair and tried to eat cereal with her. She thought it was the greatest thing ever that Tsuki drank the leftover milk after she finished eating the cereal, and then she wanted to feed Tsuki herself. It was adorable. She got a spoon out for Tsuki to play with, and she played with a bunch of cat toys with her. At one point she brought up Alex again (the person she said that drowned before), but this time it was about a new baby brother. She said she put a baby brother in her tummy because Alex wanted one. It was strange, mostly because it was out of the blue. There was no rhyme or reason for why she said it. She then proceeded to play with Tsuki again, giggling like crazy. She didn't want to leave. She was rather cross when April said it was time to go; Iris tried to lock the door so they wouldn't be able to leave. She agreed to leave after I said I would go with them, and we ended up playing at the park. We met her friend, Cooper, from another time at the park; it was extra hilarious because I said, "Hi, Cooper." to him and he flipped out asking if I was his stalker (I know him because his older sister, Olivia, went to before/after care, and I'd often see him when he came to pick up his sister). Olivia recognized me and said hello. His mom thought it was the funniest thing; apparently Cooper's new thing is to think people are stalking him (one of his friend's mom recognized Cooper when she was with the younger brother and said hello--Cooper didn't recognize her out of context and decided she was stalking him). Iris had a blast with Cooper and Olivia. They didn't want to leave the park. Their mom said that Iris could come over any time--they live right down the street. It was really sweet.
There was another intense storm this week, and we lost power once again. Thankfully, it was not as long as last time (38 hours is rather long), but it still lasted quite a bit. It ended up lasting nearly 24 hours. The worst part, again, was the unrestful sleep. It proves to be rather difficult to sleep properly when it get so hot and sticky with humidity (and summer time heat). Tsuki and I spent the day playing and reading together. It was a nice, chill day. The lack of power isn't that big a deal. It can easily be worked around. Sure, I wouldn't have minded to have power (fans and AC would have been nice), but living without is doable (but not preferable). Spending all that quality time with Tsuki was extra nice, though. It was a lot more fun this time since I had a little Tsuki to play and cuddle with. Hopefully, we won't have any more of these mishaps. If they do, it'll be fine, though, because Tsuki can easily keep people entertained and there's never a problem with reading a great book. The only strangeness that occurred was after I took a shower. I had a strange sneezing fit. Occasionally, I'll sneeze a few times in a row suddenly. Sneezing in and of itself isn't strange. The thing is, I ended up sneezing around 10 times in a row. I can't ever remember anything like that happening before. I kind of wish I had an exact count. At first I noticed the abnormal sneezing but didn't think too deeply about it. Following that, however, was a strange occurrence with the smoke detector. The power was still out (it wouldn't come back on until hours later that night), but the smoke detector started going off. It was just me and Tsuki. I had been finished with my shower for awhile. The detector would go off for about 30 seconds, be quiet for maybe 15 seconds, and then go off again. It did this 11 times. This has never happened before. It was so strange. It gave me a bit of a headache. It made me wonder if I had sneezed 11 times since the smoke detector happened literally right after it. I know there are no coincidences in this universe, so I know it's significant (but I'm not particularly sure what it all means). Anyone else experience anything strange on Friday (which happened to be Friday the 13th)?
I received more goodies from Spiritual Supermall's Divine $9! Spiritual Supermall always has such awesome goodies; I can't wait to see what goodies come out next! I got goodies for me as well as gifts for loved ones.
Here are the paintings for this week:
I did a lot of reading this week. I played a lot with Tsuki (especially during the power outage). Corliss and I did some writing. I read the book, Starry Eyes, on Friday (due to the power outage and simply because I love reading), and fanfic for this week included: A Musician Playing Outside Tea-Houses, Changed Beginnings, Could Be Raining, A Completely Innocent Addiction, Something Entirely Different, Inexcusable Nature, An Inexcusable Death, Running Blind, The Five Stages, Not The Fall, 1001 Futures, The Looking Glass Has Broken, and Honor and Glory. Corliss and I worked more on short stories. We had some refining sessions to help our stories shine. We submitted stories for the Raging Bull Challenge. My story is Living Authentically: Work is Child's Play, and Corliss's is On Thursdays We Wear Our Hearts On Our Sleeves. We have other stories in the drafting/revision/editing stages. Let us know if you have any suggestions for future stories; we'd love to hear them! I watched some more anime and got super excited by what the InuYasha group shared. Why you ask? The trailer for YashaHime Season 2 is out! AHHHH!!! Hooray for season 2!!!
I watched season 2 of Dr. Stone this week. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was a bit confused when I saw there was only 11 episodes (season 1 had 24 episodes). I looked it up to see if maybe there had been a delay in the release of episodes (I know some anime experienced delays due to restrictions, closures, fear, and the like over the past year and a half). Turns out, season 2 is only 11 episodes. I was surprised but not particularly upset. It kind of feels like it aligns with the current times; everything is accelerating and happening and a more and more rapid pace. The conclusion of the war resonated with the accelerated occurrences in the real world. As they say, there are no accidents or coincidences in this reality. Synchronicity is a very real thing. I'm curious about what season 3 will look like; it has an exciting premise. Hats off for Senku, though; while others would write things off as impossible to get back, he perseveres and makes them a reality. I feel like society as a whole could benefit learning from his mindset, especially in these trying times. Even though the universe has our backs, sometimes it feels quite to the contrary, and things feel rather uncertain, shaking our faith. The human experience is quite the roller coaster.
Things have been kind of crazy on my end, and I imagine many people are going through similar experiences right now. The world is rather unpredictable and constantly changing. Sometimes it feels a bit difficult to keep up with everything. Do your best not to get caught up in all of it--take things one step at a time. You don't have to do everything all at once (and it's impossible to do so, so you might as well save yourself from the stress of even trying). Breathe. Take your time. If you need a break, if you need rest, honor yourself and give yourself the time to do so. You're human; humans require rest (even if there are times when we wish it wasn't so). This advice is just as much for me--I'm in the same boat, and sometimes forget. These aren't the easiest times to navigate, so we've got to give ourselves due credit. We're doing the best we can, and all things considered, we're doing fairly well. Granted, maybe there's room for improvement and growth, but that's always the case. It's okay to have emotions; humans come with those. Even though it might be easier not to have emotions, I wouldn't want to be a robot. Sure, you wouldn't have to deal with emotions like despair, fear, depression, fury, anxiety, etc., which has tempting potential, but it goes both ways--such an existence would suck all the joy, excitement, gratitude, adventure, and life out of living. It'd be existing. That doesn't sound appealing. Sad thing is, many people live that way. It's rather heart-breaking. I can see a reality where we all thrive rather than merely struggling to survive in our not so distant future. Oh, it'll take quite a bit of work and effort to get there. We won't get there over night. Drastic change will need to occur, but it'll be well worth it. Not everyone will want to put for the effort, unfortunately. It's improbable that it'll be an "easy" path to take. If it was, everyone would take it. It's okay, though. Everyone has the right to choose. They have the right to decide which path to embark on as they journey through life. No two paths are entirely identical. You'll share paths with others, but at times they will break off into separate trails. That doesn't mean that your paths will never re-converge. Your paths might cross again in a day, a week, a month, a year, a decade, whatever timeframe. Some people may choose to take the long route. Some might choose to take the straight shot. Neither is inherently wrong. Do what fits best for you. It's okay to choose something different than those around you. I know I've been making such choices (but it isn't always easy). At the end of the day, live a life you can enjoy, thrive, and be proud of. If your story is worthwhile to you, that's the most important thing. Take care, be gentle with yourself, and give yourself some self-love. You're precious and irreplaceable. Stay blessed with love and light, everyone~.
Here's some food for thought from Ralph Smart:
Overall food for thought for this week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVS5uGEAIFQ
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