Autonomic Machine

Juvenile Pinnate Batfish

Sunrise

(Obviously these are just a few things that work for me - they might not work for everyone, or work for everyone the same way)

Yourself

If you’re weighed down by guilt or feeling overwhelmed from not cleaning for a while, don’t beat yourself up. It will make your executive dysfunction and your mood worse.

Focus on the positive and validate yourself. “I deserve a functional space. I feel better when I make my space functional. It will be nice to make dinner in a clean space. I took out the trash - I’m making my space more comfortable and pleasant!”

If you’re still struggling, make sure you’re well-rested, full, and hydrated before beginning. If you’re hungry and tired, it will be difficult to begin.

Music. Find or make a cleaning playlist, with or without lyrics, that makes you feel upbeat and happy. It will help you feel stimulated while cleaning. Experiment with podcasts or videos, but if they’re too distracting stick to music.

Make cleaning time pleasant. Light your favorite candles. Wear clothes that are comfortable and make you feel nice. Suck on candies while you work or keep a favorite drink nearby. If it helps, make up a fantasy where you are a Cinderella or maid character with a dramatic backstory.

Focus on the functionality of your space. Why do towels always end up on the bathroom floor? Why do cups build up in this particular spot in your bedroom? Rather than just telling yourself you’ll try really really really hard to not leave towels and cups there anymore, try adding a tray in that spot for easier cup carrying, or an extra hook or hamper in the bathroom.

Containers

Fill your spaces with containers. Buy ones that are attractive and you like and put them in high-traffic areas or areas where you spend the most time.

This includes trash cans and hampers wherever there is trash or clothes. Stick-on hooks are great too.

Even if you don’t always put things back in their designated space, misc items can go into these containers or...

Put items in groups in containers. A box by the door for mail, a basket for pet toys, one hamper for dirty clothes and one for “still-good” clothes, etc. This can be “as you go” or something done at a set time each day, like when you arrive home from school/work.

This way, when you’re looking for an item, you’re looking inside one or two containers instead of all over the house.

Beginning

Beginning is almost always the hardest part of cleaning, especially when you have executive dysfunction.

Starting a task for the largest time you KNOW you can stand can help. If you know you can clean for fifteen minutes, or five minutes, or thirty seconds, start a timer and clean for that long. Often, once you’ve started, it gets a little easier. (This also works for breaking down the task similarly: e.g “I know I can wash ONE plate.”)

I’ve found I’m more motivated by cleaning one room at a time, but you might find it’s easier to focus on a kind of cleaning rather than the room (gathering all the dishes, or all the laundry, etc.) Either way, break up your tasks into smaller tasks and you’ll be able to see your progress.

This might mean breaking them up into the smallest tasks possible. “Get all the trash and take it out” might start with “pick up all the trash in my room” which might start with “go get a trash bag from under the sink to put trash in” which might start with “stand up and walk to the sink.”

This is part 1 because I uhhh... have ADHD.

woke: midsommar is a horror movie about a manipulative cult

to preface—ari aster is a Jewish man. he’s writing this story from someone directly affected by white supremacy (and if one doubts this: feel free to look at the white supremacist response to the film! it wasn’t positive)

anyway, the hårga are canonically neo-pagan white supremacists. ari aster has pointed this out in interviews explicitly, but if one pays attention and is familiar with white supremacy, it becomes painfully obvious.

many of the runes used commonly used among white supremacists.

the odal especially is seen throughout the film, down to the tables they sit at being arranged in an odal. this rune is used constantly by white supremacists to denote a love of White Heritage. what’s especially interesting about the use of the Odal is this—the particular way it’s drawn on many tapestries has the inclusion of “wings” or lines on the ends. The odal is most commonly drawn without these wings in modern usage....except, of course, used in the context of white supremacy. the odal with wings was the insignia of the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen, and is still commonly used by neo Nazi groups today.

their leader, an old white woman who snarls about The Black One, wears the ansuz, despite them not seeming to worship Odin—this is, of course, another symbol used by white supremacists (hell, there’s a hate group that has a prominent presence in Sweden but exists worldwide calls the Soldiers of Odin). the inclusion of The Secret Nazi Language of the Uthark in the set at the beginning of the movie makes it clear this was intentional

also, there’s not a lot of evidence for the “age old rituals” they use (the ättestupa and blood eagle) actually existing—the idea of them though? absolutely relished by many white supremacists.

just getting into the rest of the movie—the colors are blindingly white, bright, and the characters of color stand out clearly against it. josh, who is the more obviously respectful and dedicated academic, is deliberately passed over in favor of Christian by the harga for information for their dissertations, and Christian outright rips off his topic. they kill the white characters for disrespecting the cult’s heritage—but kill the characters of color to show their devotion.

the movie is a MASTERFUL commentary on how white supremacists grow their numbers—they don’t start out with swastikas and genocide. they start out with a kind word, with a promise of understanding, of community.

“i lost my parents too” pele tells dani. he draws for her, he wishes her a happy birthday. the women dance with Dani, dress her up, comfort her. the cult makes her the may queen. she feels safe with them. she feels comforted, wanted. has an emotional bond with them, even as they slowly isolate her, and prime her to believe what they do.

as a Jewish person myself—this was all intentional. the horror for me isn’t just the cult. it’s that this happens every day, and more often than people would think. the horror is in the knowledge that this is how people are radicalized to scream “Jews will not replace us”, or shoot up a synagogue.