ad[rawr]able.

Katara from ATLA

The girl in the video is Sámi. The Sámi are an indigenous people from the region of Sápmi, which encompasses northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.

The traditional clothing of Sámi people look different depending on which area tradition they belong to. This girl is north Sámi and she’s wearing a Lyngen dress (ivgu gákti in the north Sámi language), which means her family/ancestors came from Lyngen, Norway. Lyngen’s proximity to the sea made fishing a common means of livelihood for the Sámi living there, which earned them the name “sea Sámi”.

And he raised his eyebrow at me. We'd been discussing addictive medications a few minutes before, like the Tramadol I finally got from the pain specialist to take once a week or so to give me a break from my chronic pain, so I reassured him that methylpenidate (Ritalin/Concerta) is not addictive (at least not in people with ADHD).

His response? To raise his eyebrow even harder and say "Well it sure SOUNDS like it's addictive!"

And I had to explain to this man - who works in a healthcare related job by the way - that just because medication makes you feel good and helps you, just because you look forward to taking it, that doesn't make it addictive or dangerous. And he wasn't convinced.

The simple fact that I was excited to take a daily pill that has literally changed my life, after decades of fighting to get that medication, made him think I shouldn't be taking it so often. That it must inherently be dangerous.

I'm not even in America, but I'm pretty sure this attitude began there and then spread over here to Europe. This Puritan idea of "if something feels good, you must beware of it. Pleasure is dangerous, it is sinful, it is addiction, it is evil."

I know too many people who subconsciously believe that pleasure = addictive = dangerous = bad. Joy is a slippery slope to hell.

So here is your reminder for today that you don't need to be afraid of feeling good. If something improves your life, use it. Even if it is addictive - learn what that addiction means, whether the addiction is inherently dangerous or not, and whether the benefits outweigh the drawbacks and risks.

My ADHD meds are, in fact, not addictive. But I will take them every day because they make my life orders of magnitude easier. I will enjoy them every time I take them.

My tramadol is addictive. I will still take it. I will keep it on a schedule to avoid becoming addicted, primarily because addiction in this case would mean reduced effectiveness. But I am not afraid of my painkillers. They are life changing.

Played a sport where your place only had a men's team? Played a sport in a league where you couldn't go very high cause there is no pros version for women?

Most trans people do not have the option to quietly "switch teams", there are a fuckload of trans people in sports who will not come out because they will lose their careers, and then a lot of us just left!

I played a coed sport once that practiced coed and played friendly matches coed, but split by gender for ranked competition. I was fortunate I even had a supportive team and supportive captains and yet the league wouldn't let me compete. I was told I could play for my AGAB tho. It wasn't a sport I had played long, but if it had been one of my main sports I'd have maybe taken them up on it for a chance to play.

Lots of sports have "alum" games where graduated high school or college players can come back to play a game (sometimes for charity) against current players. Lacrosse was my main sport and I *was* a decorated goalie (with gendered awards). I wanted to come back and play one year but let my old coach know I had transitioned and wasn't sure if that was an issue but I'd still love to play. I was told not to come. To a causal friendly scrimmage. No stakes, just love of the game. Not welcome anyway.

If sports are your career or your way into college or your way out of poverty, you're not gonna risk shit! I wish when we talked about sports in America it wasn't just as if it was simply a hobby.

jewel

ink +watercolour