Harriet’s Year of Metal, Track 3: Crows Circled Overhead

[Harriet]

This is my CORVID special challenge, where crows circle overhead. Welcome to the road so dark and dreary.

 

Spoiler

 

 

I am currently struggling with really low motivation, having been sick for a fair bit of the last few months. I have also been deprived of the most powerful weapon in my ongoing battle against depression—barbells—due to the shelter in place order. Anyway, I need to be able to keep making progress toward my goals even during my low motivation phases. To that end, I am trying things that are supposed to increase one’s dopamine. I also read something that resonated with me in a thread about self-discipline. Someone mentioned ‘moving toward discomfort’ as a practice. It hit me that instead of trying to make things easier, or waiting for them to feel or seem easier, I need to practice choosing the hard thing. Every morning I’m going to remind myself of the mindset of moving toward discomfort.

The habits I want to work on this challenge are CAWWSSOME (the noise a crow makes when it approves of something excellent). I don't know if I'm going to stick to them, but this is what I should/want to be doing every day:

C: Cold showers for dopamine and practicing voluntary discomfort

A: Art for meaningful work

W: Writing for meaningful work

W: Walks for mental and physical wellbeing

S: Strength exercises for physical and mental wellbeing

S: Sunlight for dopamine and general wellbeing

OM: Meditation for dopamine, stress reduction & immune power

E: Intuitive Eating for avoiding asgerd (the asthma-GERD interaction) and Quarantänekummerspeck - the worry-bacon you put on during quarantine. 

 

Oh, and I’m going to draw some corvids, because I should be doing free drawing as well as doing my lessons (blasted boxes). Magpies, crows, ravens, rooks, choughs, jackdaws, jays, and treepies. What are treepies? I don’t know. Let’s find out together. Oh. I just learned Australian magpies aren’t corvids, and neither are butcher birds, nor currawongs. Might include them anyway. Anyway, corvids are appropriately dark and gothic symbols of death. And drawing COVID-19 would be really dull. So let’s crow.
 

[Sloth the Enduring]

In Ojibwe lore the crow is a healer of a sort. Their purpose is to help other’s find their own purpose. They remind you to continue to work and find good connections with others when you feel lost.

I’m here to watch you find your way.

[Harriet]

1 hour ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

In Ojibwe lore the crow is a healer of a sort. Their purpose is to help other’s find their own purpose. They remind you to continue to work and find good connections with others when you feel lost.

I’m here to watch you find your way.

 

Thank you! Is Ojibwe your culture/your people, or just an interest? I appreciate hearing about nature related symbolism. That's a nicer role for the crow, and I could do with some healing and a reminder to work despite being lost. An auspicious choice, then.

[Sloth the Enduring]

 
Thank you! Is Ojibwe your culture/your people, or just an interest? I appreciate hearing about nature related symbolism. That's a nicer role for the crow, and I could do with some healing and a reminder to work despite being lost. An auspicious choice, then.

Yes, I’m Ojibwe. Crow’s story is one I was told as a child, but didn’t pay attention to and had to find online.

[Harriet]

2 minutes ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Yes, I’m Ojibwe. Crow’s story is one I was told as a child, but didn’t pay attention to and had to find online.

 

 

I read a few dreamtime stories as a child, and one of them involved the crow (the story of how the birds got their colours). But the animals have human personalities rather than symbolic characteristics. I've forgotten most of the other stories. 

[Scaly Freak]

3 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

In Ojibwe lore the crow is a healer of a sort. Their purpose is to help other’s find their own purpose. They remind you to continue to work and find good connections with others when you feel lost.

 

I'm sad I have not head of this before now, so naturally I have added it to my list of Things To Learn About While In The Bunker.   

[KB Girl]

Those are really good! Crawwsome! 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following along. Crows are particularly metal, as a group of them is called a Murder. How much more metal can you get?

[Jupiter]

Love it! Following!

[bigm141414]

Oooo, here for some more metal and some Cawwsome activies!

 

[Harriet]

2 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Following along. Crows are particularly metal, as a group of them is called a Murder. How much more metal can you get?

 

...crows in full plate? 

[Scaly Freak]

4 minutes ago, Harriet said:

 

...crows in full plate? 

 

Bloodborne has a Crowfeather set of "armor".

 

[oromendur]

<mythologist de-lurks>

 

Collection of Raven Tales (Wikipedia)

 

How to salute a magpie

 

Shradh

 

I also imagine this thread will soon come to the attention of Huginn and Muninn and become Allfather-approved 

 

 

<mythologist re-lurks>

[Harriet]

48 minutes ago, oromendur said:

<mythologist de-lurks>

 

Collection of Raven Tales (Wikipedia)

 

How to salute a magpie

 

Shradh

 

I also imagine this thread will soon come to the attention of Huginn and Muninn and become Allfather-approved 

 

<mythologist re-lurks>

Oooh, thank you. This is great! 

 

I have never tried scratching the tongue of a magpie with the sharp edge of an unmilled silver sixpence and dripping human blood into the wound, but I will be sure to attempt it next time I get the chance. 

[Scaly Freak]

50 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Oooh, thank you. This is great! 

 

For really great stuff, look up connection between crows and valkyries...

[Xena]

Did you draw the pictures in your intro post? If so, I'm impressed!

[Harriet]

3 hours ago, Xena said:

Did you draw the pictures in your intro post? If so, I'm impressed!

 

I did. Thank you!

[Harriet]

I did all the things today, except get sunlight. That wasn't available. Working on a crow painting but it's not done yet. 

Huh. I had pretty much talked myself into buying a couple of kettlebells--one lighter and one heavier so I could get some challenging work in. But they're all out of stock or will take 1-3 months to ship. 

Grr. 

[Mad Hatter]

13 hours ago, oromendur said:

<mythologist de-lurks>

 

Collection of Raven Tales (Wikipedia)

 

How to salute a magpie

 

Shradh

 

I also imagine this thread will soon come to the attention of Huginn and Muninn and become Allfather-approved 

 

 

<mythologist re-lurks>

Ooh this is awesome. 

 

Here for cawwssomeness!

[raptron]

Let's get cawwssome, indeed. 

[miss_marissa]

On 3/23/2020 at 9:15 PM, Harriet said:

CAWWSSOME (the noise a crow makes when it approves of something excellent)

yisssssss

[KB Girl]

19 hours ago, Harriet said:

I had pretty much talked myself into buying a couple of kettlebells--one lighter and one heavier so I could get some challenging work in. But they're all out of stock or will take 1-3 months to ship. 

Ugggghhhh sorry 😔

[Harriet]

Today I wrote and did art. The writing is really plodding along without inspiration, but I decided to just show up. I win when I get 1000 words or spend one hour on it... so even if I just stare at the screen and stab a few keys, I will meet my goal for the day one way or another. 

I also went for a walk, got some sunlight, and am on track to get my exercises and meditations done (6 sets and 3 sessions per day, respectively). I had my cold shower. It was dreadful but I live yet. 
 

So... I was talking with my father about the virus crisis, and something hit me. I had looked at the shelter in place order and thought that I just have to get through three weeks. But this isn't going to be over in three weeks. It could be several months until we're considerably safer (either because they've com up with treatments, or the rate of infection has dropped, or enough people have had it already so that there is space in the hospitals). Even if they lift the shelter in place--which they will have to, because otherwise the economic costs will start ruining people--we will still have to decide for ourselves how much risk to take on and how to stay safe and sane. So I need to have a little think about what I'm going to do if, say, the gym doesn't open for five months i.e. the rest of my time here in the USA. Or if it does open but I decide not to go. Hmmm. I can't just keep eating pasta forever. And I probably need a more ambitious and comprehensive workout plan. I need more than just emergency coping plans. But I don't have to decide on that now. 

[Scaly Freak]

50 minutes ago, Harriet said:

So... I was talking with my father about the virus crisis, and something hit me. I had looked at the shelter in place order and thought that I just have to get through three weeks. But this isn't going to be over in three weeks. It could be several months until we're considerably safer (either because they've com up with treatments, or the rate of infection has dropped, or enough people have had it already so that there is space in the hospitals). Even if they lift the shelter in place--which they will have to, because otherwise the economic costs will start ruining people--we will still have to decide for ourselves how much risk to take on and how to stay safe and sane. So I need to have a little think about what I'm going to do if, say, the gym doesn't open for five months i.e. the rest of my time here in the USA. Or if it does open but I decide not to go. Hmmm. I can't just keep eating pasta forever. And I probably need a more ambitious and comprehensive workout plan. I need more than just emergency coping plans. But I don't have to decide on that now. 

 

Looking at countries where the epidemic started before it came here, can give us a good idea of what to expect. In some parts of China they have been quarantining for a couple of months and given the state of the US health care system and lack of direction from our pseudo-central government, the US as a country is probably going to be hit a lot harder than they were. So yes, we're in this for the long haul.

 

And bravo for you, for realizing you don't have to make decisions and long-term plans yet.

[Xena]

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

But I don't have to decide on that now. 

 

Yeah, it's hard to plan long-term yet. Take on what you can over the next week or the course of this challenge.

Your idea of trying some KB stuff seems good though. I know the gym is important to you, so I think figuring something out sooner rather than later is a good idea. It doesn't have to be a permanent solution, just something to try for a while.