Welcome to the Sagittarius season! This week was April's mom's birthday, Kira (April's cat that she got back when we were in 6th grade), and my birthday. It was a busy week. I went over to bring April's mom her gifts, and she was absolutely delighted by them, exclaiming that I always know the absolute best gifts to give people. To be honest, taking context clues isn't too difficult for me (she had been lamenting about how she wanted some dishes to display her crystals, fawned over the bowl I created for Iris for her birthday last month, adores crystals, and the stresses of the year have been getting to her); creating a set of Perler bead bowls, adding to her crystal collection, and getting her lavender bath items that help with calming and sleep seemed like obvious gifts to give. Maybe it's just me, but it seemed like a no-brainer. After opening her gifts she tentatively asked if I would go to the store with her to help her get cases of water (it's too heavy for her to lift at age 65, and she seemed convinced that I would shoot her request down). I didn't mind (not that I wanted to wear a facial covering, but it wouldn't be for that long), and it just made sense to help others where you can. Sure, I can see where needing healthy boundaries and not simply agreeing to every request when it may prove to be harmful to your wellbeing, but she rarely asks for help. I could help, I had planned to spend the day with her for her birthday, and I wanted to give back after all she did for me growing up (seriously, I spent so much time with April's family after we became friends in 6th grade--they were a second family to me). She also wanted to get some lights for the small tree they have, set it up, and get cupcakes to celebrate her birthday so we set out to complete the tasks. We ended up getting into deep conversations while driving; it dealt a lot with inner child wounding/healing, self-improvement, relationships between family members, the year of 2020 overall, learning lessons, recognizing that people often self-sabotage their own happiness, stepping back from needing to control everything, the tale of two wolves, setting healthy boundaries, etc. It easily spanned hours, and she was extremely grateful to be able to voice what had been weighing heavily on her heart; she emphasized that she always walks away from our conversations with a clearer picture, having learned so much, and I pointed out that the same held true for me--even if I understood something for myself beforehand, it always solidifies in meaning with new layers of understanding taking place. To be honest, if my 6th grade self would have known our relationship would take this turn, she probably wouldn't have believed it (you know, with adults seeming to have all the answers and all). I'm truly grateful I can help out; she's like a mother yet also like a friend. Life is really interesting with all its twists, turns, and developments. Iris is pretty much a physical embodiment of that, too. She's incredibly adorable as well as quirky, energetic, and unpredictable. She snuck into their laundry closet while playing some panda game and later decided that this plastic tub was her new bed (she also tried to claim her grandma's birthday present as her own, open her Christmas presents early, told me we could cut her pajamas in half to share them, decided all boys were stinky, carries her bowl I gave her for her birthday all over the place with her, told me that a purple square was purple flavored, danced around the store with her cupcake, etc.). I adore this kiddo, and I'm really lucky to be a part of their family (even if it's not official in the views of society because of blood ties and what not).
Like usual, my mom wanted to do a family outing to go see lights (and like usual it aligned with birthday celebrations as my birthday falls in the holiday season). We ended up going to see this new light display at an arena (they were trying to make up for losses with all the closures and cancellations this year). My dad was all grouchy about having to wait so long to get in (we ended up waiting a little over an hour), and he kept giving my mom grief about it. My mom was miffed and retorted that he should have said something about it before we left; my dad replied back that it was common sense that it'd be packed on a Saturday night. It wasn't a bad display by any means, but I wouldn't say that it lived up to the hype (I wouldn't recommend waiting an hour to go see them). Some of the displays didn't fit the holiday theme (i.e. like fairy tales, The Wizard of Oz, etc. They weren't particularly bad, but they're not what I would expect if I went to go see holiday lights). My dad's favorite was what he dubbed "the Christmas pickle." Despite the grouchiness of others and the unusual lights, I didn't have a bad time. It was interesting how they tried to make a "snow storm" with a couple of snow machines (they tried, but it fell a bit short--it was a neat idea, though). If anyone were thinking about going to see it, I'd recommend going when there's not a huge line (it doesn't particularly live up to the over hour wait that we had lol). I've seen light displays that were more lackluster than this one, but I'd have to say I prefer seeing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at Santa's Magical Kingdom over this light display. We tried something new, though, so it wasn't time wasted by any means. Has anyone seen any cool lights this holiday season?
My mom was also trying to be nice by bringing dinner and a piece of French silk pie home, but I was rather surprised when I opened the box. Instead of pie I found some chocolate soup (turns out, the employees probably shouldn't have put a piece of pie with a bunch of food, go figure lol). It was definitely a first--I could never say that I ordered a piece of pie and received chocolate soup prior to this day. Oh, life, you have a sense of humor.
Corliss and I met up so we could catch up (the last time I saw her was back at the end of September before she went to Texas to help out her dad). We mostly chatted. We did end up enjoying Weathering With You together (I had watched it before, but it was Corliss' first time). There's just been so much synchronicity with what we've watched (anime, movies, videos on YouTube, etc.) with our conversations and what we have been experiencing in our lives. We're in some interesting and crazy times right now. Like things are happening practically instantaneously. One second you'll think of something, and the next it will appear kind of crazy. One of my brothers hoped that I would do fun stuff for my birthday, but it was a very chill day (and I wouldn't change any of it--the relaxing vibe was a soothing balm to the soul). The highlight was definitely Weathering With You; I'll never get tired of watching it. If I had to pick a favorite of Makoto Shinkai's pieces, though, Your Name would come up on top (but by a small margin). His works are always breathtaking and soul-touching; I simply adore them!
Life is interesting. This popped up on YouTube, and I can't say I am mad at it--it's so strange, but I had a good laugh.
Fluffy cat has been super snuggly and cuddly again due to the cold weather; I love spending the morning with her snuggled up on me, purring. She's so freaking adorable. She's a goofy cat, though. She's been hanging out on chairs while I work on creating gifts for people (and only popping up when I working on using shirring elastic to thread Perler beads together to make 3D pieces, wanting to play and eat the thread). She also felt like hanging out while I was brushing my teeth the other night; she ended up laying on the toilet--I told her not to move as I went to get my phone so I could take a picture, but I came back to find her sitting up. She's a goof, but she's my goofy cat that I love.
Here are this week's Perler creations. I started experimenting more with 3D Perler creations. I hope everyone enjoys the gifts I've been making for them (I normally do artsy gifts, but this year is rather intensive on the Perler bead front).
I went on a Perler bead bowl making spree this week; it was lots of fun. I tried out a variety of sizes and color schemes. I hope everyone likes their gift (I know April's mom loved her set of Perler bead bowls that I gave her for her birthday this week---and that Iris loved them and wanted to take them all for herself lol).
This week I watched the most recent episode of YashaHime (I love the new characters, but I would appreciate learning more about what happened to the characters from InuYasha). I'm super hyped to see what happens next episode (Towa is going to revert to her human state--it makes me wonder if Setsuna has a different period of being a human since the preview made it sound like it was only happening to Towa next episode, and what does Moroha's human period look like/does she have one??). The fanfic I read this week includes: Silver and Black, Challenge Accepted, Affection and Admiration, Polar Attraction, The Wishlist, SessKag Boat Day, Honouring Tradition, Sengoku Love Story, Lonely Hearts, The Deal with the Yakuza, Dear Stranger, Tactical Retreat, and The Miko and the Daiyokai. This week Corliss and I watched Gamers, and it was pretty interesting. It doesn't feel like it has a real ending (it's 12 episodes long, and it felt like it just ended abruptly--Chiaki says that she'll tell the truth about her feelings in the 12th episode, but then the season/series is over; perhaps it's in the manga like how all the questions I had were answered in the Kiss Him, Not Me manga). It touched on the subject of soul mates. The biggest takeaway for me is the fact that the characters' assumptions just created drama, conflict, and anxiety. If they would simply stop jumping to conclusions and actually talk to the others openly, a lot of the conflict would be resolved (granted, it might be all the interesting of a story if they didn't have any conflict at all, but their assumptions and trains of thought lead to absurd conflict). It felt like it was mirroring how a lot of people's problems in real life derive from their thoughts rather than the truth of the situation. Rather than clearing things up and getting everyone on the same page, people opt to go based on what they perceive to be true (granted, things certainly look the way the characters are assuming if you view them through a certain lens). The message that seemed to be sent out was for people to stop getting so caught up in what we perceive to be true and find out what is actually true. It lined up with what I was discussing with April's mom, too; in our conversations this week, she came to realize that she was self-sabotaging her own happiness based on what she thought was going on/what she convinced herself other people felt. Even though others asked if she wanted to go with them to see lights, she convinced herself that they didn't want her to go so she didn't go even though she had been eagerly anticipating going. We really need to get out of our own way; the thoughts we end up believing prove destructive to our happiness. It's not wrong not wanting to be hurt, but when we hide our hearts away behind immense walls, we end up doing more harm than good. Opening up and communicating honestly (not in a cruel, brutal way but rather a loving, kind fashion) will do us a world of good.
Corliss and I were talking about Bofuri this week. One major topic that we discussed were names. While watching the anime, it made me wonder, so I asked Corliss, "When souls get ready to incarnate, do you think they ponder which name to go by?" When entering New World Online Maple/Kaede remarked, "I suppose I could use my real one [real name], but I don't know..." She ended up selecting Maple because it's an English translation of her real name. This event made me wonder if souls considered such things and expressed such sentiments. She asked me what my name meant. I wasn't exactly sure (not like my parents told me what my name meant or why they chose to name me Jessica), but I was pretty certain I remembered hearing that Shakespeare invented "Jessica" as a name. After doing some online searching, I informed her that apparently it had Hebrew origins ("Jescha"), which means God Beholds, but Shakespeare created "Jessica." Meanings for Jessica specifically included things like "rich," "to behold," "loving little girl," "Good is looking/gracious gift from God," "special gift," a girl that keeps the world spinning, that makes the sun warmer, that makes you smile, that shines when the stars don't, etc. Corliss seemed to approve of these and felt like they were fitting. The origins of "Jessica" made me think of Iris; Iris pronounces my name along the lines of "Jessha," which is interesting in the light of the Hebrew "Jescha." The universe is quite the interesting place. I'm curious to see what other people think about this topic; do you feel like the meaning of your name is a pretty accurate description of you and your soul? Do you get the feeling that your soul picked your name (not necessarily the name itself, but the associated meaning and vibration)? It's interesting ideas to consider.
2020 has been a big year, full of change, unexpectedness, and lessons. It feels like it's been jam-packed, almost as if multiple years/lifetimes have been crammed inside (even though it also feels like not much time has passed at all this year). Lots of people have been getting seriously sick (i.e. my dad's aunt getting leukemia, my mom's boss getting pancreatic cancer, my aunt having liver trouble, my friend's grandmother broke a hip a while back and just recently had to be revived, etc.) and people passing on (my uncle at the beginning of the year, my mom's uncle, my two of my aunts had their father-in-law pass away, etc.). It's been intense. We tend to look towards outside sources for the answers, but we can often find the answers we are looking for within ourselves (I keep thinking of Elsa's song Show Yourself: "You are the one you've been waiting for.") It feels akin to our souls undergoing tests, and Amanda Ellis discusses these topics in a recent video:
The energies are definitely intense and crazy right now; take care of yourself and rest when necessary. Personally, been feeling exhausted and having headaches off and on lately. Also plenty of ringing in my ears (but usually it's only one at a time). There was even a point where I experienced sudden, spontaneous, intense nausea. It lasted several minutes before suddenly and spontaneously leaving. These times are rather interesting.
I hope everyone is doing well as we conclude 2020. Things are heating up. Lessons are coming in hot and quick. Astrologically, we have the upcoming new moon and solar eclipse on the 14th as well as the winter solstice on the 21st. The sun's been super active recently, too, popping off big burst of solar energy. It feels a lot like we're undergoing universal exams, like we're being tested on whether we can proceed to the next level or not. It doesn't feel like we'll be penalized if we "fail" said exams, but it does feel like the universe is pushing us to proceed onto the next rather than remain complacent and limit ourselves to what we're accustomed to (it feels like the universe is kind of fed up with people selling themselves short and settling for "comfort zones" even if said comfort zones aren't all that enjoyable--they're merely familiar, and people are frightened by the unknown). It feels like the universe is prompting us to be like Elsa in Frozen 2, urging us to go into the unknown and show our true selves; we're the ones we've been waiting for all of our lives--we just need to recognize and embrace this. The holidays are fast approaching; however you choose to celebrate this holiday season, I wish you a season full of love, joy, peace, and fun. I wish you well. Remember to smile genuinely and savor what you enjoy. Stay blessed, everyone; love and light~
Here's some food for thought from Spirit Science:
Ralph Smart provides some food for thought on Infinite Waters:
Here's some food for thought to consider this week:
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