I Love The Pain, Its Means My Body Is Getting Stronger! 👏🙌 Pain =gain 👏

You know the world is messed up when you need to use chocolate covered raisins to explain racist shit.

This is a jar full of major characters 

Actually it is a jar full of chocolate covered raisins on top of a dirty TV tray. But pretend the raisins are interesting and well rounded fictional characters with significant roles in their stories. 

We’re sharing these raisins at a party for Western Storytelling, so we get out two bowls. 

Then we start filling the bowls. And at first we only fill the one on the left. 

This doesn’t last forever though. Eventually we do start putting raisins in the bowl on the right. But for every raisin we put in the bowl on the right, we just keep adding to the bowl on the left. 

And the thing about these bowls is, they don’t ever reset. We don’t get to empty them and start over. While we might lose some raisins to lost records or the stories becoming unpopular, but we never get to just restart. So even when we start putting raisins in the bowl on the right, we’re still way behind from the bowl on the left. 

And time goes on and the bowl on the left gets raisins much faster than the bowl on the right. 

Until these are the bowls. 

Now you get to move and distribute more raisins. You can add raisins or take away raisins entirely, or you can move them from one bowl to the other. 

This is the bowl on the left. I might have changed the number of raisins from one picture to the next. Can you tell me, did I add or remove raisins? How many? Did I leave the number the same?

You can’t tell for certain, can you? Adding or removing a raisin over here doesn’t seem to make much of a change to this bowl. 

This is the bowl on the right. I might have changed the number of raisins from one picture to the next. Can you tell me, did I add or remove raisins? How many? Did I leave the number the same?

When there are so few raisins to start, any change made is really easy to spot, and makes a really significant difference. 

This is why it is bad, even despicable, to take a character who was originally a character of color and make them white. But why it can be positive to take a character who was originally white and make them a character of color.

The white characters bowl is already so full that any change in number is almost meaningless (and is bound to be undone in mere minutes anyway, with the amount of new story creation going on), while the characters of color bowl changes hugely with each addition or subtraction, and any subtraction is a major loss. 

This is also something to take in consideration when creating new characters. When you create a white character you have already, by the context of the larger culture, created a character with at least one feature that is not going to make a difference to the narratives at large. But every time you create a new character of color, you are changing something in our world. 

I mean, imagine your party guests arrive

Oh my god they are adorable!

And they see their bowls

But before you hand them out you look right into the little black girls’s eyes and take two of her seven raisins and put them in the little white girl’s bowl.

I think she’d be totally justified in crying or leaving and yelling at you. Because how could you do that to a little girl? You were already giving the white girl so much more, and her so little, why would you do that? How could you justify yourself?

But on the other hand if you took two raisins from the white girl’s bowl and moved them over to the black girl’s bowl and the white girl looked at her bowl still full to the brim and decided your moving those raisins was unfair and she stomped and cried and yelled, well then she is a spoiled and entitled brat. 

And if you are adding new raisins, it seems more important to add them to the bowl on the right. I mean, even if we added the both bowls at the same speed from now on (and we don’t) it would still take a long time before the numbers got big enough to make the difference we’ve already established insignificant. 

And that’s the difference between whitewashing POC characters and making previously white characters POC. And that’s why every time a character’s race is ambiguous and we make them white, we’ve lost an opportunity.

*goes off to eat her chocolate covered raisins, which are no longer metaphors just snacks*

http://naturallysayde.tumblr.com/

Current booty situation, needs more work IMO.

Beauty spots on every body part.

I don't hate men

Some of them have done me wrong but I still don't hate them all cos some of them have treated me like a queen.

👍👍😘😘

# on We Heart It - http://weheartit.com/entry/175833119

Yes lmfao FINISH HIM!!!!!! Dirty lil fucker 👏👏😕😕

Men make me fucking sick. Deleted me before I can report

Below is a list of some of the more effective ways of raising your vibration and thus your energy level to a place where you operate and experience life at your best. As you read the list, pay attention to the ones that jump out at you and resonate with you the most, and start there. Biologically raise those vibes!

Closing your eyes and taking 5-10 deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth is incredibly helpful in getting you unstuck and releasing any feelings of fatigue, stress, worry or anxiety. We typically breathe very shallowly throughout the day, and our brains & bodies do not get the proper amount of oxygen necessary to operate at our maximum potential. Drinking plenty of water and replacing your normal diet coke or coffee can work wonders, too. Dehydration can be sneaky, and often causes the symptoms listed above, which can in turn cause a bad mood. And smile! When you smile, you are actually causing a chemical reaction in your body that releases dopamine (happy hormones) and makes you feel good. Do all three of these things and you can pretty much watch yourself transform into a happier person!

Spend time in gratitude. Take a few moments to write down or think of at least 10 things you are currently grateful for, anything from the wonderful people in your life to your comfy slippers. The energy of gratitude is one of the highest, and when you choose to participate in it, miracles can happen.

Affirmations galore! Our bodies respond to the thoughts that we have, so if you intentionally have an empowering and positive thought, phrased in the present tense, your body can’t help but respond accordingly. Start simple, with something like, “I am better and better every day and in every way”, or “I am loved”. The two words “I am” are the two most powerful words in the English language. (Read my most recent post on how positive/negative thoughts impact your energy field.)

Move your body! Put on music that lights you up and inspires you to sing and/or dance, you know the kind, those songs that it seems like you have no choice but to sing or dance along. For me, that song is “Dog Days Are Over” by Florence and the Machine. But don’t stop there, run, skip, jump, twirl, kick, spin, exercise, etc. Get those endorphins flowing!

Release the negative by clearing space. I mean this physically, mentally and emotionally. Make that bed, delete those unwanted emails, pay those stack of bills that you keep avoiding, say no to things you don’t want to do, write out all of your frustrations and emotions in your journal or vent to a friend. It may not exactly feel good while you’re actually doing these things, but afterwards you will feel much lighter, and in turn have a higher vibration.

Wear something that makes you feel beautiful or sexy. Even if you have nowhere special to go, dressing in a way that makes you feel good does just that: it makes you feel good. This can be a complete outfit, wearing your makeup or hair in a way that compliments you, or perhaps wearing a piece of jewelry you save for special occasions.

Reach out and connect to the world around you! This is so important, and can look many different ways. Hug a child, play with your cat or dog, call an old friend, tell a loved one how much you care about them, make eye contact with and smile at a perfect stranger, open an inspirational book to a random page and read it.

Doing any of the above things to raise your vibration can be downright magical in getting you to a better place (i.e. higher vibration), but like with anything else, it is you who has to give yourself the proper kick in the butt to do them. Try any or all of these out and pay attention to the ones that really get you going; knowing how you work and what you best respond to can make all the difference in giving yourself that kick in the butt. http://www.gowithincoaching.com/creating/7-ways-to-instantly-raise-your-vibration-and-enjoy-your-life-more