Omegalomania

According to many local wizards, this is a seasonally appropriate question. What are healthy boundaries? How can you tell if your boundaries are being ignored? How are your boundaries different in your different relationships?

I can see myself in Reigan and Mob from Mob Psycho. I think the OCEAN framework for understanding personality is interesting, so I want to look at these characters in terms of that. Here is each letter/dimension:

Openness to exploration: a general appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity, and variety of experience.

Conscientiousness: a tendency to display self-discipline, act dutifully, and strive for achievement against measures or outside expectations.

Extraversion: ‘surgency’ (positive vibing) from external activity/situations, and energy creation from external means.

Agreeableness: general concern for social harmony and getting along with others.

Neuroticism: tendency to experience ‘negative’ emotions, such as anger, anxiety, or depression.

As I’m writing these out, I can’t help thinking that this anime does a really good job exploring all these dimensions! But I’m mainly interested in looking at the tendencies for each character and comparing them to my own.

Both of these characters are creative and hardworking, but also have insecurities and difficulties. I think the main dimension that gets interesting is Neuroticism, since sensitivity to Bad Stuff (i.e. evil spirits and such) is a main theme of the show. I weirdly relate to both characters since I’ve always been hyper-sensitive, but have had to learn to tone it down in order to accomplish anything, which makes me feel like I’m full o’ B.S. at times.

Is there some core tenant of your being that stands firm in supporting who you are? Some long held belief that you cannot, nor want to, let go of? A lesson you have been taught time and again that you refuse to be caught off guard of once more?

On the 4th of July, 2021, I was in the Black Rock Desert. In addition to losing the soulmate of the above pictured sandal, I met Merlin (who had caught the marlin 30 years ago that day), I found I could have a fun time partying with weirdos on a dusty dry lakebed without using any drugs or alcohol, and I met someone who has me reconsidering the idea of soulmates for humans - not just footwear. 

I also experienced a difficult loss, but was emboldened by the support I found myself surrounded by.

I rolled onto the Playa with my good friend Shawn, who let me borrow a teepee. It was very nice until 60 mph winds took it out along with many folx shade structures, and much of the necessary (and debatably not-so-necessary) items I had packed. After being made homeless in the desert by a truck made of wind, I felt pretty shitty. I didn’t want to ask for help, because it made me feel unprepared. It also felt discouraging to have something I had tried to make beautiful destroyed by nature. But I did find I was able to ask for help. I needed space to feel the loss, so I asked another generous friend if she would let me be with myself in her trailer, which is also a zebra. 

Camouflage is crucial in these moments.

I cherished the moment to feel the devastation. I had time to remember that I came to the desert by choice, and that I was surrounded by well prepared people who were glad to help. I ended up borrowing a bed, a sleeping bag, a small trailer. I even had help brining the my belongings over that hadn’t blown away.

Among those belongings, I found the one flip-flop. This was a pair of flip-flops I had owned since I lived in Monterey, before my daughter was born. I had planned to visit Monterey with my good friend Peter after the desert. When we eventually did, I wrote about the whole experience on highly flammable paper, put some birthday candles in the sandal, and asked Peter to make a chaos-altar on the shore of Santa Cruz for me. He did, and he sent the picture.

Prompt 002: Your Character Type

Character Type: Chaos Wizard