There’s a piece of advice regarding anxiety and panic attacks that I live by. Funnily enough, it had nothing to do with anxiety when I first heard it.
I was taking a workshop on better textbook reading habits, not of my own volition, mind you, but because we *had* to.
Anyways, the woman who was running it was really nice (I forget her name, but the topic that she was half-Armenian and half-Filipino came up and for some reason that stuck in my brain meat) and she brought up that what you’re thinking about when you study is very important.
“You control what you’re thinking at any given time, even when you don’t think you are,” she said. “For example, when I drive to work sometimes I start thinking ‘What if this car hits that car and I end up in a pile-up’? What I ask myself is this: is this train of thought necessary? It usually isn’t. The same can be said for when you read your textbook.”
Looking back it… wasn’t very good reading advice (as someone who has trouble shutting off her thoughts can attest) but the idea that I can redirect what I’m thinking wriggled its way in anr stayed there.
So the next time I had a panic attack, I told myself “I don’t need to think about this right now” and, surprisingly, it helped a little.
The next time I did it, it helped a little more.
What I’m trying to say is you’re the master of your own thoughts. If nothing else, when it comes down to it, you choose what to think about. You choose what to believe. The brain is an amazing muscle, even with flaws, and it – you – have the power to say no. No, I won’t think about this or that. I don’t need to.No no no.
It isn’t a sure-fire tactic, but when you’re lying in bed barely able to breathe because you’re remembering that everyone you care about could be dead in the morning via some unforseen but slightly plausible circumstances, any little bit helps. Just thought I’d share that.
I wish people wouldn’t make posts about how to deal with tear gas/protests unless they actually know what they’re talking about.
I am a trained street medic and I’ve personally been tear gassed more times than I can count.
– Do not use soda or water to wash tear gas out of your eyes. Use a combination of liquid maalox and water, 50:50. That’s what works.
– They can literally tear gas you anywhere you stand in relation to the police because riot cops have gas masks. I’ve been tear gassed within five feet of the front line of police. They do not care.
– Before my very first protest I asked my friend who’d been doing this for over 5 years if I should soak my bandana in vinegar. She laughed and said, “I have no idea who started that rumor but it’s never done shit for me or anyone I’ve ever known.”
– If you are bulimic or have chronic vomiting, please keep in mind that the mucus membrane in your throat is a precious tender baby and you will be much more effected by tear gas than everyone around you and you will feel it in your throat for weeks afterwards and NO ONE EVER WARNS YOU ABOUT THIS.
– The police probably won’t zip tie you with your hands in front, they pretty much know how easy it is to break out of those.
– People with asthma should always carry their inhalers because that shit is real bad when you get sprayed with tear gas.
– Never go to a protest alone. Always have a buddy there and always let someone who isn’t going know where you are, your legal name, and your birthday so if you get snatched they can check the jails and the online database for you. (note: this does not work when they grab hundreds of people at once or sometimes they just never put your name in the database yay!)
Seriously y’all, this is not the time for posturing. If you don’t know something, ask a street medic or google it.
→ Interesting notes: Food & water storage areas, refresher location, apparently Obi-Wan takes bladed weapons off Jawas, found artefacts from Tatooine pre-history, if you’re gonna be stranded on a place for ~20 years, you might as a well be a history nerd about it, I guess, and my favorite:
Amazing. Even in exile, without even trying, Obi-Wan is still terrifying the locals into giving him gifts to appease him. And probably tried to tell them, no, that’s not necessary, which only just made them more terrified, WE HAVE ANGERED THE WIZARD, DOUBLE THE RITUAL GIFTS!!!! until Obi-Wan just sighs and lets them do what they want.
Let’s say it’s 6.15pm and you’re going home (alone of course), after an unusually hard day on the job. You’re really tired, upset and frustrated. Suddenly you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to drag out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only about five miles from the hospital nearest your home. Unfortunately you don’t know if you’ll be able to make it that far. You have been trained in CPR, but the guy that taught the course did not tell you how to perform it on yourself..!!
NOW HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK WHEN ALONE…
Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness.
However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously.
A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest.
A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let-up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again.
Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating.
The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can perhaps buy precious time to get themselves to a phone and dial 911.
Rather than sharing another joke please contribute by broadcasting this which can save a person’s life!
*WHY WAS WAXER RANDOMLY SENT OUT SANS BOIL, AND HOW DID HE RECEIVE ORDERS FROM KRELL? WHY DIDN’T HE ASK OBI-WAN FIRST LIKE “HEY, GENERAL, GENERAL KRELL SAYS SOME UMBARANS STOLE CLONE ARMOUR SO THIS RECONNAISSANCE MISSION MAY TAKE A BIT LONGER THAN USUAL. TELL BOIL I LOVE HIM.” ?????
I can answer this question, actually! The answer is that Cody and Obi-Wan were “elsewhere.”
No no, bear with me for a moment here, okay?
See, Cody was the Marshal Commander of the 7th Sky Corps, which means he was in charge of A LOT of men – a full corps tallied 36,864 clone troopers.
Cody was, in any given battle, tactically deploying up to 256 companies simultaneously.
In comparison, Rex, as Captain of Torrent Company, only had 144 clone troopers under his command. It was never explicitly stated in the canon, but Cody actually outranked Rex by a kriffing lot. The 501st Legion led by Anakin was the GAR equivalent of a surgical strike team, whereas the 7th Sky Corps was a whole damn army (presumably to support Obi-Wan’s function as a Republic diplomat; when someone asked him, “who’s gonna make us sign this treaty? You?”, Obi-Wan could reply with, “no, them”).
So the reason why Obi-Wan and Cody weren’t present for the friendly-fire incident on Umbara is because it was a company-sized firefight in a corps-sized battle. Obi-Wan and Cody were engaged on the main battlefront; when Krell reported trouble with the local militia, Cody presumably tasked a single company, maybe even just a platoon, with tracking down the Umbaran guerillas. Compared with the primary battle to take the capital city, some Umbaran skirmishers hiding in the woods wouldn’t be a major concern or warrant the personal attention of senior officers, especially not with a large-scale, decisive battle going on at the same time.
Between Krell’s deception and the broken communication lines, Cody and Obi-Wan had no idea what was really going on until the whole thing was already over. 😦
As for Waxer and Boil, I personally headcanon that they had at this point been promoted to lieutenants and put in charge of a platoon each, to wrangle the influx of rookies to Ghost Company after the defence of Kamino (“Good choice,” Obi-Wan told Cody, smiling as he signed the promotion papers, “those two do seem to handle the young ones well”). Ghost Company specialised in reconnaissance (canonically, all named members of Ghost Company were scouts, had previously been scouts, or later went on to become scouts); Cody, who often took charge of Ghost Company on smaller missions, even wore a scout trooper helmet himself. When Cody was busy leading the 7th Sky Corps, the four platoons of Ghost Company presumably worked as independent recon units tasked with perimeter control and insertions behind enemy lines. It would be perfectly in character for Cody to ask his expert rangers and most trusted men to deal with disguised enemy skirmishers picking at the flank of his main force.
(Just.. don’t imagine Cody approaching Rex after the battle is over to ask him what the hell happened?! Don’t imagine Rex having to tell Cody that Waxer is dead from a blue-on-blue incident. Don’t imagine Rex realising he shot his own brothers too. Just… don’t.)
I don’t think it was ever confirmed which Systems Army the 501st Legion was under, but I’m thinking that it’s Obi-Wan’s, given that Anakin was his former Padawan and was probably the commander of one of the regiments before he was Knighted and promoted. Plus, the 212th and the 501st worked together a ton in TCW.
@thebibliosphere taught us all not to use the tab button to indent paragraphs a few weeks ago… after half an hour of playing with settings, buttons, and Google, I gave up on my Google Doc ever doing what I want it to do and just used the tab button while hating myself.
Okay, so, google drive doesn’t always play nice.
This is my document in gdrive with 0 formatting:
What you are gonna do is go up to here:
Select your text, and then select 1.5 (or double if it’s academia I know some schools will insist on double but most things are printed 1.5 these days)
And then see that other setting? “Add space before paragraph”? It doesn’t work for shit. What you actually need to do is go to the ruler:
And see that top one? “First Line Indent”? That’s the one you want to move. It wont affect your margin lines, only the first line of each paragraph. So select your text and slide that along to 0.5 mark, like so:
Et voila, formatted text in google docs without using tab or double spacing with the return key:
Also if you’re ever using Word (which I prefer for formatting because it’s more accurate than gdocs but Word is expensive and you gotta use what you gotta use I dig that), this is how to format via the paragraph settings.
I hope that solves your problem @fixgrammarnothearts ! Let me know if it doesn’t.
In the lead-up to and days following Samhain (Halloween) the veil between our world and the spiritual world is at it’s thinnest point. The whole season is ripe for strengthening magical intuitions – or beginning them. Sometimes the only problem is finding ways to keep the magic going all season long. Here are some of our favorite ideas:
1. Add some magical umph to your holiday recipes. This recipe here features pear, a known aphrodisiac, and walnuts, rumored to be associated with granting wishes. Serve some at a dinner party to start the holiday romance.
2. We here at RW are known for our love of bath magic, and what better way than to make your own soap? This apple cider soap recipe is great for Samhain as apples are often used to honor the dead, and it also has ginger, known for drawing new experiences.
3. Make some stovetop incense.This recipe is for Samhain in particular and includes apples, rosemary, cloves, and other herbs that attract benevolent spirits to your home. Tweak around with the ingredients for other magical intentions!
4. Sure, you could use a lighter to light your holiday fires, but why do that when you could make your own firestarters that smell like fall? Not only do they help get the fire going, but they’ll make your fire smell amazing with items like pine cones, which are known for promoting new beginnings and success.
5. For anyone who’s legal, try adding some magic to your alcohol. This fall sangria recipe is for anyone that loves fruity, summery drinks and wants to move to a fall palette. Here, cranberries add some much needed protection to this yummy cocktail.
6. Fashion some magical candles out of extra pumpkins. Unless you don’t have a soul, you probably hoard small and tiny pumpkins around your house. Great for moon magic, making these adorable candles ensures that your fall impulse buys go to some good use.
7. In the case that you loved your stovetop incense so much that you wanted to drink it, make some delicious mulled wine! This recipe here includes oranges, rumored to make you appear more beautiful to others.
8. For those that prefer to keep their pumpkins intact, try making some candles in jars instead. This recipe is modeled after chai, a favorite drink for fall, and features cardamom, another popular aphrodisiac, and nutmeg, often used to bring on luck.
9. Make some smoke cleansing bundles for fall, if you can’t let go of traditional cleansing and incense methods. While this link contains several combinations, our favorite contains cinnamon, a general herb to enhance spirituality, and thyme, which attracts loyalty among one’s friends.
There's a Mirror on the Wall 
