The fever dream of life continues. Birthdays and brotato; a hazy trip to Rochester and the siren song of quiet nights bathing in the glow of an Atari 2600 emulator.

Work is ferocious and I am not and I need to find time - make time - to write. As if time is something that can be pulled up out of the earth and molded like clay; something to the idea of making time that reminds me of the delicate process of balancing fuel for rockets to escape earth's gravity; it is a game in which all returns are diminishing.

Playing these retro games again, I'm reminded how much they were all about timing; knowing when to jump and when to wait and when to look for the pattern unfolding around you, the one that will tell you how to safely navigate the moment without making some twitchy, calamitous mistake. Like life, most of the games are timed - there's pressure to do, to go, to make - but then I think maybe the high score is a red herring and the only thing that matters is whether you're playing a game that feels fun.

Nonsense thoughts for a nonsense day. I was warm last night. I was happy.

#streamofconciousness #transaf #journal

I was diagnosed with OCD when most people are diagnosed but not when the first symptoms appear. Puberty. But the first time I ever remember symptoms was first grade when I made my first perfect 'o' then skipped recess trying to replicate it. The thing is that it was invisible until it wasn't.

My mother is where I got my OCD from. Not like she gave it to me. Like Genetically and I never knew. One of the driving factors of OCD is shame. So it was not until I was almost 30 and recently divorced that my mother was cleaning my dishwasher and said,

"My number is the same as yours and you scared me half to death. I could never tell you because I was so ashamed"

The number. A lot of people with OCD have a number that is perfect. A number we count to. Pair to and jive to. I probably picked it up from small compulsions my mother performed. Once again the unseen.

I was always curious about how my wifish was so good with OCD then she asked her mother if she was sure she had the right keys. She went outside and checked every. single. lock. this key opened. There was nothing Tally could do to stop her. With dawning horror I understood the patterns, cleaning and methodical habits. I knew why I recognized them. They were the same as mine.

My mother was raised to believe this was religious. There was no help for her and this was just the devil shaming her. My mother in law was raised in a barn. I was diagnosed. Given help. Years of therapy. Just one or two generations and there was no help. Another one or two and the answer was a life in Hospital. My grandfather saved my grandmother from a lobotomy but not electroshock therapy. My dad deals with abandonment trauma like I do because his mom was constantly in hospital.

These illnesses are silent not by choice but because most people can barely deal with me being in a mental hospital twice, they would look at me like I was demon possessed if I started countin outloud. I appreciate that they are getting louder. That tolerance is increasing. But I hold space for those that couldn't. I give patience for those that were never told something so simple as "it's okay, it's gonna be okay".

LikeI know left handed people that were beaten in catholic school and they are in their thirties. Not 80. This world is cruel enough without me shoooting down the trenches, or questioning why people are the way they are. Why they are maladapted. This world is a cruel place. It was cruel to me, my mother, my sister, my brother and my grandmother. I won't make it crueler because help wasn't available or for any reason at all. It's cruel enough without my critique on a society that runs on rules I was never given but punished for not following.

#streamofconciousness #mentalhealth #ocd #bipolar #schizophrenia
Just ate 6 dates and am about to start my 2nd cup of coffee (decaf). My morning walk was interrupted by needing to help a fellow human out who just needed someone to be kind to them and help. I’m tired and sore but have undercurrents of love and gratitude. I’ve had a headache for multiple days now. It’s gloomy here so I might light a candle. I wish it was teatime because I’m looking forward to that meal. Can I swap places with my cat right now?
#StreamOfConciousness

i will miss the hidden moments
buried in the space between
the connective tissue of the hours
that keep a familiar face
from becoming something strange

#poetry #streamofconciousness #blechk2025

These images are windows into a fractured reality, where the familiar mutates into the uncanny. Each scene whispers of decay, transcendence, and grotesque beauty.

#neuroaether #ai #aiart #aiartwork #midjourney #midjourneyartwork #psychological #streamofconciousness #digitalart #darkness

The pieces do not fit. They were never meant to.

Hands that stretch through shadow, faces disassembled, moments of anguish preserved in fragments. A puzzle with no solution.

Each piece: a memory. Each memory: a prison.

#neuroaether #ai #aiart #aiartwork #midjourney #midjourneyartwork #psychological #streamofconciousness #digitalart #darkness

So this is a strange observation to share, but why not.
I realized something about what I consider my "introvert bias" , by basically running an experiment...
What I learned that is I'm absolutely opposed to calling attention to myself in any way in a public group setting, where people are personally-identifiable to each other, and their "group", especially if I'm alone. Even for "romantic purposes".
I'm only willing to call attention to myself in groups where I already know all the people somehow. And maybe even then with the help of a few alcoholic beverages.
But in a large-group setting where I'm semi-anonymous, there exists a null-space. Not "no inhibitions", but that there is a large group, none of whom I have individual consciousness of, nor do I expect they know who I am, or will remember me in 30 minutes.
This is the feeling I've had when performing music on a stage before 100 people-or-more. Or posting on social media.
#StreamOfConciousness
“Everything, everywhere, all at once”
When you can’t decide what to draw so you turn on a stream of consciousness and turn off your internal filter and draw whatever comes out of your head. #MastoArt #Inktober #inktober2022 #ink #cartoon #streamofconciousness

#streamofconciousness Could we make feedback more accessible by giving it through hashtags? That way you dont need to sign up for anything and you dont need to pay attention to yet another account. This wouldnt replace the current feedback system, but it would give greater representation to those who want to give some short feedback to a project.

This could also be very useful for small projects. The hometown fork could for example use #hometown_feedback.

#Cultivate_Democracy #hometown #orange